{"id":"tas:sr-2021-001","name":"COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) (Financial Hardship Cessation Day) Notice 2021","slug":"covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"1 of 2021","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":182219,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2021-001-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"### 1 Short title\n\n> This notice may be cited as the [COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) (Financial Hardship Cessation Day) Notice 2021](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/sr-2021-001) .","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"### 2 Commencement\n\n> This notice takes effect on 31 January 2021.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Financial hardship cessation day","content":"### 3 Financial hardship cessation day\n\n> For the purposes of [section 31](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2020-013#GS31@EN) of the [COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-2020-013) , 31 January 2021 is declared to be the financial hardship cessation day.\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 28 January 2021\n\nThis notice is administered in the Department of Justice.","sortOrder":2}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice performs exactly the function its title describes — it declares the cessation day for financial hardship protections under the COVID-19 commercial leasing emergency regime. There is no evidence of scope creep or departure from its original intent. It is a narrow, administrative instrument with a single operative purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Very narrow and specific in purpose — it sets a single date, nothing more","Relies on understanding the broader COVID-19 commercial leasing emergency framework to interpret its significance","The document itself contains minimal substantive content — it is largely metadata and administrative information rather than operative legal provisions","No complex cross-referencing, definitions, or multi-stage legal tests involved"],"plain_english_summary":"This notice sets the official \"Financial Hardship Cessation Day\" in Tasmania, ending the temporary COVID‑19 protections for commercial leases. From that date pandemic-era relief ceases and normal lease law, including landlords’ rights to recover unpaid rent or pursue evictions, resumes.\n\nIt affects Tasmanian commercial tenants, landlords, and anyone managing or negotiating commercial leases — signalling tenants must resolve outstanding arrears or arrangements."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The notice does not change the substantive scope of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020. It only specifies the cessation date referred to in section 31, leaving the Act’s content and eligible parties unchanged while altering the date on which its financial-hardship provisions stop applying."},"complexity_factors":["Single, short declaratory provision (one operative clause)","Legal effect depends on external Act (reference to s31) rather than new substantive rules","Immediate commencement date fixed in instrument (no phased implementation)","Administrative provenance (Department of Justice) limits procedural complexity","Downstream legal effects hinge on interpretation of the referenced Act and existing lease arrangements"],"plain_english_summary":"This notice declares 31 January 2021 to be the “financial hardship cessation day” for the purposes of section 31 of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020. Mechanically, it is a statutory declaration (effective 31 January 2021) administered by the Department of Justice that fixes when the Act’s financial-hardship regime ceases to operate for affected commercial landlords and tenants, changing the timing for relief, obligations and compliance."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice performs exactly the narrow function it was designed for: setting a cessation date for financial hardship protections. It does not expand beyond the original purpose of the parent Act."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 3 operative sections","No defined terms (relies entirely on definitions in parent Act)","Single substantive provision: setting a calendar date","No conditional logic, exceptions, or cross-references beyond one reference to section 31 of the parent Act","Straightforward declaratory language: 'is declared to be'"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a very short legal notice that sets a specific end date for COVID-19 rent relief protections for commercial tenants in financial hardship.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Declares that **31 January 2021** is the \"financial hardship cessation day\" under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act 2020\n\n**What this means in practice:**\n- The main Act gave commercial tenants (businesses renting shops, offices, warehouses, etc.) special protections if they were in financial hardship due to COVID-19\n- These protections included things like rent reductions and restrictions on landlords evicting tenants for non-payment\n- This notice sets the cut-off date: after 31 January 2021, those special financial hardship protections no longer applied\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Commercial landlords and tenants who were relying on the COVID-19 rent relief scheme\n- Once this date passed, commercial lease disputes returned to normal pre-pandemic rules\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- This was the government's way of winding down emergency COVID-19 support for businesses\n- It told landlords and tenants: \"the special rules end here\" — after this date, tenants couldn't claim financial hardship protections under this particular scheme"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Currency of version / Status Information","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A file modification date that precedes the instrument's own stated commencement date is internally inconsistent. Either the commencement date is wrong, or the file was modified before the instrument legally existed, raising questions about whether the published version accurately reflects the instrument as made.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The legislation purports to be 'current from 31 January 2021 to date (accessed 5 April 2026 at 16:13)' while the file was last modified on 28 January 2021 — three days before the instrument's own commencement date."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Title / Entire instrument","severity":"high","reasoning":"A notice whose sole statutory purpose is to declare a specific cessation day but which contains no operative provision declaring that day is a legal nullity in practical effect. Parties subject to the parent Act cannot comply with or rely upon a notice that declares nothing. This may reflect a document-capture or publication failure, but as presented the instrument is incapable of achieving its stated purpose.","confidence":0.88,"description":"The instrument is substantively empty. It purports to establish a 'Financial Hardship Cessation Day' — a date of legal significance under the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Commercial Leases) Act — yet no such date is specified anywhere in the published text. The instrument's entire operative content is absent."},{"type":"other","section":"Status Information — 'current to date'","severity":"low","reasoning":"Emergency instruments are by design temporary. A notice fixing a 'cessation day' for financial hardship provisions that remains operative and unchanged more than five years after enactment suggests the cessation day was set far in the future, or the instrument was never properly superseded — both of which are in tension with the emergency rationale underpinning the parent Act.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The instrument is described as current through 5 April 2026, approximately five years after a piece of emergency COVID-19 legislation from January 2021. Emergency legislation is ordinarily time-limited or tied to a declared state of emergency; a cessation-day notice remaining 'current' and unamended for over five years is anomalous and suggests either the emergency framework was never properly wound up or the currency description is misleading."},{"type":"other","section":"Document structure — repeated headings","severity":"low","reasoning":"Duplication of operative or definitional text in legislation can create interpretive uncertainty. Though almost certainly a technical error in the document capture process, the published version as presented contains no clean, singular authoritative text, which undermines the principle that legislation must be accessible and certain.","confidence":0.6,"description":"Every heading and section in the published instrument appears duplicated verbatim (e.g. 'Status Information Status Information', 'Currency of version Currency of version', 'Authorisation Authorisation'). While likely a rendering or HTML-capture artefact, if taken as the authoritative text it creates a document with no singular, definitive provision — every statement is doubled, which could theoretically raise questions about which instance governs."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"File last modified: 28 January 2021","section_b":"Version current from 31 January 2021","confidence":0.74,"description":"The file modification date (28 January 2021) predates the instrument's stated commencement date (31 January 2021) by three days. The instrument cannot have been in its final, authoritative form on a date before it commenced, yet the modification timestamp implies the file was finalised prior to commencement."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021","history":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021/history","analysis":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/covid-19-disease-emergency-commercial-leases-financial-hardship-cessation-day-notice-2021/documents"}}