The fourth edition of this work is, like its predecessors, an essential part of the library of all practitioners’ who practice in the area of conveyancing and land transfers. It is also of great use and relevance in relation to contractual matters generally. This latest edition deals with the substantial changes wrought by the repeal of the relevant PAMDA provisions and the enactment of the Property Occupations Act 2014 and the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014. Those legislative changes have necessitated the deletion of substantial parts found in the third edition concerning warning statements. There is additional material concerning the proposed amendments to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act and related legislation. Numerous other pieces of legislation which have been recently enacted and which impact on land sales contracts have been considered, analysed and explained. Most importantly, this edition references the most up-to-date land contracts for residential properties.
         It goes without saying that the book is extremely well researched and carefully structured. The writing style is relatively uniform and always concise. It is unashamedly a practitioner’s book but nevertheless complete with extensive and thoughtful analysis. As with the earlier editions it is brilliantly referenced and provides a most valuable research tool for both barristers and solicitors.
         This latest edition of the work lives up to the description of a “Queensland legal classic” given to the earlier editions.

Queensland Law Reporter – 29 July 2016 – [2016] 29 QLR

Reviews of previous editions:

The writing is clear and accessible but thoroughly supported by footnoted references. … This is a substantial text of 600 pages written for use by practitioners. It is not a practice manual or practice guide but rather the law a practitioner needs in practice.

Tim Tierney, Law Society of Tasmania, Law Letter, Summer 2011

This book has now become a Queensland legal classic. … An up to date edition of this text is an essential tool for those who have to deal with legal issues in real estate contracts on a daily basis in Queensland.

The Queensland Lawyer, April 2008

The seminal volume of this work, published in 1978, was The Standard Land Contract and Conveyancing Thereunder in Queensland by Duncan & Weld. I still have my copy. It is well thumbed – tattered really. Should you purchase a copy of Land Contracts in Queensland, it will quickly reach a similar condition. … There are now four separate standard contracts for houses and land, residential and commercial lots in a Community Title Scheme, and commercial sales. Needless to say the courts have had occasion to consider the area frequently since 1996. All of these changes and the relevant case law have been addressed. … The scholarly and lucid fashion in which the subject’s many issues are approached would see few practitioners requiring further research on a frequent basis. The book therefore fulfils its comprehensive purposes, taking the reader from the initial involvement in a conveyance by a real estate agent to the remedies, which are available upon breach of contract, and provides a valuable aid and first port of call for all who practise in the area.

The Queensland Lawyer, December 2004