Section 32 vendor statement in Victoria: what it must contain, what it costs, and what happens if it is wrong

If you are selling a house, unit or block of land in Victoria, the Section 32 is the one legal document you cannot skip and cannot get wrong. Named after section 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962, it is the vendor statement: the disclosure you give a buyer about the property before they commit. Get it right and it is a formality. Leave something out and the buyer can cancel the contract any time up to settlement.

This guide sets out what the Act actually requires, in the Act's own order, then covers who prepares it, what it costs, what it does not cover, and what happens when it is wrong. Figures are as at September 2026 and the sources are listed at the end.

What a Section 32 is, and when it has to be given

Section 32(1) of the Act says a vendor "must give to a purchaser, before the purchaser signs the contract, a statement signed by the vendor that contains the matters and attaches the documents specified in this Division". Three things in that sentence matter.

• Before the buyer signs. Not at exchange, not at settlement. If the buyer signs a contract without having been given the statement, they can rescind (see below).
• Signed by the vendor. Your conveyancer or solicitor prepares it, but you sign it and you are responsible for what is in it. An electronic signature is allowed (section 32(2)).
• Contains the matters and attaches the documents. Some items are statements of fact written into the document; others are certificates and searches that must be physically attached. Section 32J lets the vendor satisfy a requirement by attaching the relevant certificate or notice instead of restating it.

Because the statement must be ready before any buyer can sign, and because an interested buyer at the first open home may want to sign that week, the practical rule is: have the Section 32 complete before you advertise. Start it when you engage your conveyancer, not when you find a buyer.

What it must contain, section by section

The requirements sit in sections 32A to 32I. In plain terms:

32A. Financial matters

• Particulars of any mortgage over the land that will not be discharged before the buyer takes possession.
• Particulars of any charge over the land imposed under an Act to secure money owed under that Act, with the amount owing.
• The amount of rates, taxes, charges and similar outgoings affecting the land and any unpaid interest, including outgoings the buyer may become liable for because of the sale; or, alternatively, a statement that the total does not exceed a stated amount.
• Since 2024: whether the land is "tax reform scheme land" under the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Reform Act 2024, its AVPCC code and, if applicable, its entry date. For an ordinary home this is a one-line "no".
• For a terms contract with two or more payments before transfer, the information in Schedule 2 of the Act.

32B. Insurance

• If the contract does not leave the property at the vendor's risk until the buyer takes possession, particulars of the vendor's insurance against damage or destruction.
• If there is a residence on the land and section 137B of the Building Act 1993 applies (owner-builder work), particulars of any cover under the statutory insurance scheme.

32C. Land use

• A description of every easement, covenant or similar restriction affecting the land, registered or unregistered, and particulars of any existing failure to comply with it.
• If the land is in a designated bushfire prone area under section 192A of the Building Act, a statement saying so.
• If there is no road access, a statement saying so.
• Where a planning scheme applies: the name of the scheme, the responsible authority, the zoning, and the name of any planning overlay affecting the land.

32D. Notices

• Particulars of any notice, order, declaration, report, recommendation or approved proposal of a public authority or government department that directly and currently affects the land, where the vendor might reasonably be expected to know of it.
• Whether there are any notices, plans, reports or orders about livestock disease or agricultural chemical contamination affecting ongoing agricultural use.
• Particulars of any notice of intention to acquire the land under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986.

32E. Building permits

If there is a residence on the land, particulars of any building permit issued under the Building Act in the preceding seven years for a building on the land. This is where unpermitted renovations surface: if work was done and no permit exists, the statement will show nothing, and a buyer's inspector may ask why.

32F. Owners corporation

If the land is affected by an owners corporation (most units and townhouses), either the prescribed information under section 151(4)(a) of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 or a copy of the current owners corporation certificate, plus the documents that must accompany that certificate. If the owners corporation is inactive, meaning no annual general meeting, no fees fixed and no insurance in the previous 15 months, the statement can say so instead.

32G. Growth areas infrastructure contribution

Whether the land is subject to a GAIC or a work-in-kind agreement under Part 9B of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, with the relevant certificates attached where there is a GAIC recording. Relevant mainly to land in Melbourne's designated growth areas.

32H. Services not connected

The statement must say if any of electricity, gas, water, sewerage or telephone is not connected. Connected services need not be listed; unconnected ones must be.

32I. Evidence of title

• For land under the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (almost all Victorian property): a copy of the Register Search Statement and the diagram or plan that identifies the land.
• If the vendor is not the registered proprietor, evidence of the right or power to sell, such as probate for a deceased estate or a power of attorney.
• For land in a subdivision that is not yet registered: the certified plan, or the latest version if not yet certified, plus staged-subdivision details where relevant.

Who prepares it and what it costs

A licensed conveyancer or solicitor prepares the Section 32. They order the title search, the planning and property certificates from the council and water authority, the land tax and owners corporation certificates where relevant, and assemble the statement for you to sign. Published Victorian conveyancing fee guides in 2026 put a fixed-fee Section 32 at roughly $660 to $990, and the seller's full conveyancing, statement and settlement together, at about $1,050 to $1,500 for a straightforward property. Complex titles, owners corporations and rural land cost more. Certificate fees charged by councils and authorities are usually on top.

Turnaround is set by how quickly the certificates come back rather than by your conveyancer, so start it before the photographer, not after. If you are choosing between a conveyancer and a solicitor, or wondering what else the sale will cost, see our conveyancing guide and the full cost of selling.

What a Section 32 does not tell a buyer

It is a disclosure of legal and administrative matters, not a condition report. It does not include a building or pest inspection, boundary measurements, a survey, whether the property floods, the condition of the roof, or whether appliances work. Buyers are expected to find those out themselves, and the Act makes that explicit: under section 33B a due diligence checklist in the form approved by Consumer Affairs Victoria must be made available to prospective buyers from the time a residential property is offered for sale. If you have a licensed agent, that duty falls on the agent; if you are selling privately it falls on you, with a penalty of 60 penalty units for not doing it.

If it is missing, late or wrong

This is where the Section 32 has teeth. Under section 32K, if the vendor supplies false information in the statement or its attachments, fails to supply all the information the Act requires, or fails to give a signed statement before the buyer signs, the buyer may rescind the contract at any time before they accept title and become entitled to possession. In practice that means up to settlement. A buyer who finds an undisclosed covenant or an unpaid charge a week before settlement can walk away and recover their deposit.

There is one protection for an honest mistake. Section 32K(4) says the buyer may not rescind if a court is satisfied that the vendor acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused, and that the buyer is substantially in as good a position as if the Act had been complied with. Both limbs must be met, and it is the vendor who has to persuade the court, so it is a fallback rather than a plan.

Separately, section 32L makes it an offence to knowingly or recklessly supply false information, leave required information out, or fail to give the statement before signing. The penalty is 60 penalty units for an individual and 300 for a company. At the 2026-27 penalty unit value of $209.10, that is $12,546 and $62,730.

Three smaller rules round it out. You cannot contract out: section 32N makes any contract term that excludes, modifies or restricts these requirements void. If a sale falls over and you sign a new contract with the same buyer on substantially the same terms, section 32O says you do not need a fresh statement. And if the government serves a notice of intention to acquire the land after contracts are signed, section 32M gives the buyer a separate right to rescind.

The mistakes that catch sellers out

• Starting it late. A buyer at the first open home wants to sign, and the certificates are still two weeks away. Order the statement the day you appoint your conveyancer.
• Unpermitted work. The section 32E permit list shows nothing for the deck, the carport or the bathroom. Tell your conveyancer about every alteration before they prepare the statement, so the disclosure and the marketing tell the same story.
• Owner-builder work. If you did the work yourself, the Building Act adds warranty insurance and defect-report requirements that feed into section 32B. Raise it early; it cannot be fixed at exchange.
• A stale statement. A statement prepared in March is not necessarily right in August. New notices, a rates change, an owners corporation levy or a new overlay all need updating before a buyer signs.
• Selling from an estate or under a power of attorney. Section 32I(c) requires evidence of your right to sell if you are not the registered owner. Waiting on probate is a common reason a deceased-estate sale cannot go to contract when a buyer is ready.
• Treating it as the buyer's problem. The rescission right is the buyer's, but the deal that collapses a week before settlement is the seller's loss, along with the marketing spend and the next buyer's leverage.

If you are the buyer: five things to check

1. Title and plan. Does the registered proprietor match the seller, and does the plan match the fence lines you saw?
2. Easements, covenants and overlays. Anything that limits what you can build, demolish or run from the property. A heritage or flooding overlay changes the value of a renovation plan.
3. Building permits. Match the seven-year permit list against what is physically there. Extensions and second bathrooms with no permit are a negotiating point and an insurance question.
4. Notices and outgoings. Any council or authority notice, and the rates and any special levies you are inheriting.
5. Owners corporation. Fees, the maintenance fund, any special levies, insurance, and the minutes for disputes or planned works.

Have your own conveyancer review the statement before you sign anything. The cooling-off period in Victoria is three clear business days, does not apply to auctions, and costs you 0.2% of the price (minimum $100) to use.

Where this fits in the sale

The Section 32 is step one of the paperwork, not the whole process. Our guide to how to sell a house in Australia covers the campaign end to end, the Victorian commission guide covers what an agent will charge, and if you want an agent who sells in your suburb to give you a figure first, request a free appraisal. The free selling guide personalises the whole sequence to your suburb.

Sources

• Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), Part II Division 2 (sections 32 to 32P) and Division 2A (sections 33 to 33C), authorised version 174 in force from 9 September 2026: legislation.vic.gov.au. Section summaries above paraphrase the Act; quotations are from section 32(1).
• Penalty unit value for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, $209.10: Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria.
• Due diligence checklist: Consumer Affairs Victoria, approved form under section 33B.
• Preparation fees: published 2026 fee schedules of Victorian conveyancing practices, collated 20 September 2026; ranges quoted are typical fixed fees, not quotes.