Big changes are on the horizon for trustees, beneficiaries, and advisors involved in trusts in Queensland. Major reforms impacting how trusts are managed, who can act as trustee, and what information must be shared with beneficiaries has been tabled in parliment.
The Trusts Bill 2025 (Bill) will replace the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld) (Act) with modernised and simplified legislation, streamlined with some new or substantially changed provisions to meet the needs of modern Queensland and remedy existing issues with the Act. The Bill broadly reflects recommendations from the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC). This new legislation aims to ensure greater transparency and efficiency in the management and administration of trusts.
Key aspects of the Bill include:
Repealing and Replacing Obsolete Provisions
Repealing of provisions which are now obsolete or no longer appropriate/relevant in the context of modern trusts legislation, and replacing obsolete provisions with modernised powers, including:
- conferring on trustees all the powers of an absolute owner of the trust property, subject to the trustee's duties;
- stating trustee's minimum or 'core' duties that
apply generally in administering a trust including:
- a general duty of care;
- a duty to act honestly and in good faith; and
- a duty to keep trust accounts and make them available to beneficiaries upon request;
- conferring a new power for a trustee to delegate the trustee's investment powers;
- limiting a trustee's power to delegate generally to 12 months duration.
Trust Deeds may provide greater powers than the Bill, but the intention in modernising the legislation is to provide a greater 'baseline' set of powers for trustees.
Appointment and Eligibility of Trustees
Codifying a simplified process for appointment of trustee, meaning that such appointment is not necessarily exercisable by an appointor only, but rather by any other mechanism under the trust instrument, to be exercised in a reasonable period, after which time new mechanisms of appointment under the Bill will apply. However, the Bill also includes explicit restrictions on who is eligible to be appointed as trustee, as it prevents the following persons being appointed as a trustee:
- children;
- an individual who is insolvent under administration;
- a Chapter 5 Body Corporate (a company which is being wound up, is under administration, or an receiver/manager has been appointed etc); and
- any person who has been disqualified from being appointed as a trustee by a court under a new enshrined in clause 168 of the Bill.
Stronger Rights for Beneficiaries
The Bill strengthens the rights of beneficiaries, providing clearer guidelines on their entitlements and the information they are entitled to receive from trustees. This is accomplished through increasing the explicit threshold of capital which may be applied for the maintenance, advancement and education of beneficiaries and by empowering the court to more efficiently and effectively review administration of the trust, including new powers to:
- review and reduce the amount of a trustee's excessive remuneration;
- to disqualify a person from being appointed as a trustee; and
- to remove and replace office holders who have been appointed under the trust instrument where the court deems appropriate.
The Trusts Bill 2025 represents a significant step forward in the regulation of trusts in Australia, promoting transparency, accountability, and fairness in the management of trust assets. We will provide additional updates regarding the progress of the Bill through Parliament as they become available.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
