What is a Section 32 vendor statement and what has to be in it?
A Section 32 vendor statement is a document a Victorian vendor must give a purchaser before the purchaser signs the contract of sale, disclosing what the purchaser cannot see by inspecting the property. It covers title, mortgages and charges, easements and covenants, planning and zoning, outgoings, building permits, owners corporation details, connected services and bushfire-prone status.
The Section 32 is the document that tells a buyer what they cannot learn by walking through the property. In Victoria it is not optional, its contents are set by statute, and getting it wrong gives the purchaser a right to walk away.
What is a Section 32 vendor statement?
A Section 32 vendor statement is a signed statement that a vendor selling land in Victoria must give to a purchaser before the purchaser signs the contract of sale. It takes its name from section 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), and it is often just called “the vendor statement” or “the 32”.
Its job is disclosure. The contract of sale sets the commercial terms. The Section 32 tells you about the things attached to the land itself: who else has rights over it, what the council says can be built on it, what it costs to hold, and what is owed on it.
The statement may be signed electronically. If the vendor later sells the same land under a subsequent contract in substantially the same terms, a fresh statement is not required.
What has to be disclosed in a Section 32?
The obligations are spread across sections 32A to 32I of the Act. In practice a compliant statement covers the following.
Title. A Register Search Statement and the diagram or location document, or for general law land the last conveyance or other evidence of title. If the vendor is not the registered proprietor, evidence of their right to sell. The plan of subdivision, and details of any staged subdivision.
Mortgages and charges. Particulars of any mortgage, registered or unregistered, that is not going to be discharged before the purchaser becomes entitled to possession or to the receipt of rents and profits. This catches people out, because it is the opposite of what the name suggests: an ordinary mortgage the vendor pays out at settlement does not have to be disclosed under this limb. Statutory charges must be disclosed along with the amount owing.
Easements, covenants and restrictions. Particulars of any easement, covenant or other similar restriction affecting the land, whether or not it appears on title — and particulars of any existing failure to comply with them. That last part matters if a previous owner built over a covenant or an easement.
Planning. The name of the planning scheme, the responsible authority, the zoning of the land, and the name of any planning overlay affecting the land. Overlays are frequently the most consequential thing on the page, because they are what turns an ordinary block into one with heritage, bushfire or flooding controls.
Road access. A statement if there is no road access to the land.
Outgoings. Rates, taxes, charges and other similar outgoings, and any interest payable on them.
Notices and orders. Three separate limbs: notices, orders, declarations, reports or recommendations of a public authority or government department, or approved proposals, directly and currently affecting the land, of which the vendor might reasonably be expected to have knowledge; notices, property management plans, reports or orders about livestock disease or agricultural chemical contamination affecting ongoing agricultural use; and particulars of any notice of intention to acquire the land under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986.
Building permits. If there is a residence on the land, particulars of any building permit issued under the Building Act 1993 in the preceding seven years.
Insurance. Particulars of the vendor’s damage or destruction policy where the contract does not keep the land at the vendor’s risk until possession, and, where section 137B of the Building Act 1993 applies to a residence on the land, particulars of any cover under the statutory insurance scheme.
Owners corporation. If the land is affected by an owners corporation, either the prescribed information or a current owners corporation certificate with the required accompanying documents, or a statement that the owners corporation is inactive.
Services. A statement specifying which of electricity, gas, water, sewerage and telephone are NOT connected. Again, note the direction: the statement lists what is missing, not what is present.
Bushfire. Whether the land is in a designated bushfire-prone area.
Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution. Work-in-kind status and the relevant GAIC certificates or notices, where applicable.
Commercial and industrial property tax reform. Whether the land is “tax reform scheme land”, the most recently allocated Australian Valuation Property Classification Code, and the entry date if applicable.
Terms contracts. Where the sale is a terms contract, the vendor finance cost details.
The due diligence checklist is a separate obligation
The due diligence checklist is not part of the Section 32, and treating it as though it were is a common mistake.
It is a separate duty under Division 2A of the Act. For vacant residential land, or land with a residence, the vendor — or the licensed estate agent, if one is engaged — must make the Consumer Affairs Victoria checklist available to prospective purchasers from the time the land is offered for sale. It must be offered at inspections and be accessible from the online listing.
The checklist is a consumer-facing prompt sheet, not a disclosure of facts about the particular property. It tells a buyer what to investigate. The Section 32 tells them what the vendor knows.
What if the Section 32 is wrong or incomplete?
This is why the document is taken so seriously. Under section 32K, a purchaser may rescind the contract if the vendor supplies false information in the statement, fails to supply all the required information, or fails to give a signed statement before the purchaser signs.
The right to rescind runs at any time before the purchaser accepts title and becomes entitled to possession or to the receipt of rents and profits. That is potentially a long way past the cooling-off period.
The vendor can defeat that right only in narrow circumstances: a court must be satisfied that the vendor acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused, and that the purchaser is substantially in as good a position as if the Act had been complied with. Both limbs, not one.
Knowingly or recklessly supplying false information, or failing to supply required information, is also an offence. And a contract cannot sign these protections away — contracting out is void.
What this means if you are selling
Preparing the Section 32 is the first real task in a Victorian sale, and it usually sets the timetable. The certificates it depends on are ordered from councils, water authorities and Land Use Victoria, and they take as long as they take. Starting early is the single best thing a vendor can do to avoid a delayed listing.
It also pays to be complete rather than minimal. A thin vendor statement does not protect a seller; it hands the buyer a rescission right that survives long past the cooling-off period, at a point where the seller may already be committed to their own purchase.
What this means if you are buying
Read it before you sign, and have someone read it who knows what the overlays and the covenants actually do. The Section 32 is where you find out that the block is in a bushfire management overlay, that there is a sewer easement through the back yard, or that the previous owner’s extension never had a permit.
Our guide to cooling-off rights in Victoria explains the very limited window you get to change your mind if you sign first and read afterwards.
A change to watch
The Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 will change when a vendor statement has to be provided, moving from “before the purchaser signs” to making it available from a defined “sale availability time” tied to advertising and auction dates, and adding a duty to notify the purchaser in writing of changes to the statement.
Those provisions had received assent but were not yet in force when this guide was last reviewed, with statutory commencement backstops in 2027. This page describes the law as it currently stands. We review it as the commencement dates are proclaimed.
How Lodgedwell handles vendor statements
We prepare the Section 32 for vendors across Victoria as part of the fixed fee, ordering the certificates ourselves rather than passing you a list of things to chase. For buyers, we read the vendor statement and tell you what is in it in plain English, including the things that are technically disclosed but easy to miss.
Common questions
When must a Section 32 be given to the buyer in Victoria?
The vendor must give the signed statement to the purchaser before the purchaser signs the contract of sale. Giving it afterwards does not satisfy the Act.
What happens if a Section 32 is wrong or incomplete?
Under section 32K the purchaser may rescind the contract at any time before accepting title and becoming entitled to possession or to the receipt of rents and profits. The vendor can defeat that right only by satisfying a court that they acted honestly and reasonably, ought fairly to be excused, and that the purchaser is substantially in as good a position as if the Act had been complied with.
Is the due diligence checklist part of the Section 32?
No. The due diligence checklist is a separate obligation. For vacant residential land or land with a residence, the vendor or their estate agent must make the Consumer Affairs Victoria checklist available to prospective purchasers from the time the land is offered for sale, including at inspections and from the online listing.
Does a Section 32 list the mortgages on the property?
It discloses any mortgage that is NOT going to be discharged before the purchaser becomes entitled to possession. A mortgage the vendor is paying out at settlement does not need to be disclosed under that limb, which is why most vendor statements on ordinary sales do not list one.
Can a Section 32 be signed electronically in Victoria?
Yes. Section 32 expressly permits the vendor's statement to be signed electronically.
Sources
This guide is general information about Victorian property law, current at 10 September 2026. It is not legal advice and does not take your circumstances into account. Conveyancing law differs between Australian states, and this page describes Victoria only.