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About the Bill 

On 21 May 2024, Hon Yvette D’Ath MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, introduced the Trusts Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Housing, Big Build and Manufacturing Committee for detailed consideration.   

View: Explanatory Speech
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

The objective of the Trusts Bill 2024 (Bill) is to replace the Trusts Act 1973 (Act) with new, modernised and simplified trusts legislation, and introduce new or substantially changed provisions which streamline the legislation to meet modern needs and address existing gaps in the Act. 

The Bill is drafted broadly in accordance with the recommendations of the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC) in its review of the Act.

As set out in the explanatory notes, the Bill seeks to achieve its objectives by:

• repealing provisions that are obsolete, are no longer appropriate in modern trusts legislation
• redrafting the provisions in modernised language
• modernising a trustees’ powers and duties, by: ­
  • conferring on trustees all the powers of an absolute owner of the trust property, subject to the trustees’ duties
  • stating trustees’ minimum or ‘core’ duties that apply generally in administering a trust
  • conferring a new power for a trustee to authorise another person to exercise the trustee’s investment powers
  • limiting a trustee’s power to delegate the administration or exercise of the trusts, powers, authorities and discretions vested in the trustee to 12 months’ duration
• addressing gaps in the existing legislation
• modernising the provisions to reflect modern community standards
• conferring additional statutory powers on the court for the efficient and effective administration of the trust including the power
• streamlining the administration of a trust by granting a new power for an administrator or attorney (for all financial matters) of a last continuing trustee who has impaired capacity for administering the trust to appoint a replacement trustee or trustees; and for the last continuing trustee who is a bankrupt, or taking advantage of the laws of bankruptcy as a debtor, to appoint a replacement trustee or trustees
• reflecting modern trust instruments by allowing appointment of a trustee not only by the appointor of the trust, but also by any other mechanisms under the trust instrument
• providing safeguards for beneficiaries of a trust by preventing certain persons from being appointed as a trustee.

For more information on the above, including positions in the Act which are altered by the Bill, please refer to the explanatory notes above.

Further information

Further information including written briefings, correspondence, response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice can be accessed under the Related Publications tab.

Committee’s report

The committee is required to table its report by Friday, 2 August 2024. The report will be published here.

Once the committee’s report has been tabled, the Queensland Government has three months to respond to the report’s recommendations (if any). At that time, the Government Response will be published here.