Section 32 Explained: What Every Victorian Buyer and Seller Needs to Know Before Settlement Day

A plain-language guide to the disclosure document at the heart of every property sale in Victoria

Last Updated: 23-February-2026

A first-home buyer in Pakenham decided to save money by handling the contract herself. She downloaded the Section 32, glanced through it over a coffee break, and signed the next morning. Six weeks later, a surveyor confirmed a drainage easement ran through the exact spot where she had planned to extend the kitchen. A conveyancer would have flagged it on page four before she ever picked up a pen.

Around the same time in Drouin, a seller chose to relist a weatherboard cottage using the same Section 32 from a campaign that had fallen through the year before. He never had the document reviewed or updated. The rate figures were out of date and a recent building permit for a carport was missing entirely. When the buyer’s conveyancer spotted the gaps, the sale stalled for three weeks, and the buyer nearly walked away. A fresh Section 32, prepared properly by a professional, would have kept the transaction on track from day one.

Two different sides of the same transaction. Two preventable problems. And both traced back to the same decision: skipping the professional advice that exists to catch these issues before they become costly.

What is a Section 32?

A Section 32, formally called a Vendor’s Statement, is the legal disclosure document a seller must provide to a buyer before that buyer signs a Contract of Sale for property in Victoria. It takes its name from section 32 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), the legislation that sets out what a seller is required to reveal.

For sellers, it is the document that proves they have disclosed everything the law requires about the property they are offering. For buyers, it is the document that reveals what they are purchasing: not just the house and the garden bed, but the legal and financial strings attached to the land underneath.

A licensed conveyancer or solicitor typically prepares the Section 32. It is usually attached to the contract or provided separately before signing, and every prospective buyer should receive a copy during the sales campaign, well before they commit.

What does a Section 32 contain?

The disclosures required under the Act cover a broad range of matters that can affect ownership, use and ongoing costs. While the exact requirements vary depending on the property and its circumstances, a Section 32 will commonly address the areas set out below.

Disclosure area	What it covers	Why it matters
Title details	Certificate of Title, registered proprietors, any mortgages or caveats	Confirms legal ownership and whether any debts are secured against the property
Easements and covenants	Rights of way, shared access, restrictions on use or building	May limit what can be built, where it can be built, or who else can access the land
Zoning	Planning zone and any overlays under the local planning scheme	Determines permitted use and what future development is allowed
Outgoings	Council rates, water rates, owners corporation fees and other charges	Shows ongoing costs a buyer will inherit, and confirms what a seller has been paying
Building permits	Permits issued under the Building Act 1993 (Vic) in the preceding seven years (s 32E)	Reveals whether renovations or additions were properly approved and compliant
Services	Connected utilities, including water, sewerage, gas, electricity and telephone	Confirms which services are available (particularly relevant in newer estates and on rural fringe properties)
Risk and location declarations	Bushfire-prone area status and other relevant location-based risks	Affects insurance costs, building requirements and personal safety considerations
Owners corporation details	Fees, rules, insurance and financial statements (if applicable)	Relevant for units, townhouses and properties in subdivisions with shared common areas

Important: this table covers the most common disclosure areas, but it is not exhaustive. The exact list of required matters and attachments is set by the Sale of Land Act 1962 and its associated regulations, and can vary by property type and transaction. Neither sellers nor buyers should rely on generic assumptions about what should or should not appear in the document.

What a Section 32 does not do

A Section 32 is a legal disclosure about the title, planning and financial obligations attached to a property. It is not a building inspection, a pest report, or a guarantee about the physical condition of the home. Consumer Affairs Victoria makes this point clearly in its published guides for property buyers.For sellers, this means a compliant Section 32 does not shield them from separate obligations, such as representing the property’s condition with accuracy or complying with building and planning regulations.For buyers, it means the Section 32 is one piece of the puzzle, not the whole picture. Building and pest inspections, finance pre-approval and any specialist assessments (such as soil testing on newer lots in growth areas like Clyde North or Officer, where fill and compaction can vary across estates) remain the buyer’s responsibility.

What happens when a Section 32 goes wrong?

For sellers: the cost of getting it wrong

Under the Sale of Land Act 1962, if a Section 32 is not provided or contains false or incomplete information, the buyer may have the right to rescind (cancel) the contract. This right is set out in section 32K of the Act, and the consequences can be significant.

Seller risk	What it means in practice
Contract rescission	The buyer may walk away from the sale entirely, even after contracts have been exchanged
Financial loss	The seller may face compensation claims, wasted marketing costs, or a lower price on the second attempt
Settlement delays	Incomplete or inaccurate disclosures can stall the transaction while matters are resolved
Criminal liability	In serious cases, providing false or incomplete information in a Section 32 may be an offence under the Act.

The most common issues involve outdated search certificates, missing or incorrect rate figures, undisclosed building works, and easements or covenants that were overlooked during preparation. All of these are preventable when a qualified conveyancer is engaged early in the process.

For buyers: the cost of not reading it

Buyers who sign a contract without properly reviewing the Section 32, or without having it reviewed by their own conveyancer, risk discovering restrictions, costs or encumbrances only after they are legally committed.

Common surprises that catch buyers out include easements that affect building plans, zoning overlays that limit intended use, higher-than-expected outgoings, owners corporation rules they were not aware of, and infrastructure contributions payable in designated growth areas.

The Section 32 is specifically designed to prevent these surprises. But it can only do its job if the buyer reads it, or has a professional explain it, before signing.

A seller’s guide: preparing the Section 32 properly

The Section 32 is not a box-ticking exercise. It is a legal disclosure step that supports a smoother sale, can help reduce the risk of post-contract disputes, and demonstrates to buyers and their advisers that the property is being sold transparently.

Best practice steps for sellers:

Engage your conveyancer early. Ideally before the property is advertised, so all searches and disclosures can be compiled, checked and ready before the first open inspection.

Provide accurate, complete information, including current outgoings, any notices received from council or authorities, works undertaken on the property, and anything that might affect the buyer’s use of the land.

Ensure the statement is signed by all vendors before it is provided to prospective buyers.

Do not rely on old searches. Certificates and title information can change between campaigns, and outdated documents are one of the most common causes of defective Section 32 statements.

Update if circumstances change. If something material changes about the property between the Section 32 being prepared and settlement (such as a new notice from council), speak to your conveyancer about whether a supplementary disclosure is required.

Common seller mistakes to avoid:

Mistake	Why it matters
Reusing a Section 32 from a previous failed campaign without updating it	Searches, rates and certificates may have expired or changed
Failing to disclose known issues (such as disputes, notices or unapproved works)	The buyer may rescind the contract or pursue compensation
Leaving preparation to the last minute	Delays the sales campaign, increases stress, and reduces buyer confidence
Not disclosing recent building works or permits	Missing compliance documentation may surface during the buyer’s due diligence
Relying on the real estate agent to handle legal disclosures	Agents are not qualified to prepare Section 32 statements; this is the role of a conveyancer or solicitor

A buyer’s guide: reading the Section 32 before signing

Before signing anything, take the time to review the Section 32 carefully. Better yet, have your own conveyancer review it and explain any restrictions or risks in plain language.

Buyer checklist:

Confirm you received the Section 32 before signing the contract, and keep your own copy
Check the title for restrictions (easements, covenants, caveats) that could affect building plans or intended use
Review the zoning and any planning overlays to confirm the property can be used for your intended purpose
Look at the outgoings, including council rates, water rates and any owners corporation fees, to understand the ongoing costs you will inherit
If the property is in a growth area (such as Officer, Pakenham or Clyde North), pay particular attention to infrastructure contributions, developer covenants and estate rules that may apply
Check building permit disclosures to confirm any recent renovations or additions were properly approved
If anything is unclear, ask your conveyancer to explain the practical impact before you commit

Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes a free Due Diligence Checklist for residential property buyers, designed to be used alongside the Section 32. It covers additional matters the Section 32 may not address, including neighbourhood character, noise, flooding risk and heritage considerations. It is available on the Consumer Affairs Victoria website and is worth downloading before any inspection.

The cooling-off period: a safety net, not a strategy

Most buyers of residential property in Victoria are entitled to a cooling-off period of three clear business days after signing the Contract of Sale. This right exists under section 31 of the Sale of Land Act 1962.

What buyers need to know:

For most residential purchases in Victoria, the buyer may cool off by giving notice within three clear business days after the buyer signs the Contract of Sale. The day the buyer signs is not counted as a ‘clear’ business day.
If the buyer withdraws during this period, the penalty is $100 or 0.2% of the purchase price, whichever is greater
Written notice must be provided to the vendor, their conveyancer or solicitor, or their estate agent before the period expires

What sellers need to know:

The cooling-off period applies only to the buyer. Sellers do not have an equivalent right once the contract is signed.
Where the cooling-off right applies under the Act, it generally cannot be removed simply by a contract clause.
Properties sold at auction, or within three clear business days before or after an auction, are exempt from the cooling-off period.

Common exemptions include: purchases where the buyer is a company or licensed estate agent, properties over 20 hectares used mainly for farming, properties used primarily for industrial or commercial purposes, and situations where the parties have previously entered into a contract for the same property on substantially the same terms.

Understanding the cooling-off period matters for both parties. Sellers should not assume a signed contract is final until the cooling-off window has closed. Buyers should not treat it as a substitute for proper due diligence before signing.

How electronic settlement works in Victoria

The settlement process itself has changed significantly in recent years.

In Victoria, most land dealings are lodged electronically using an Electronic Lodgment Network (ELN), such as PEXA, rather than paper lodgment. The platform PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) creates a digital workspace where conveyancers, solicitors and financial institutions complete settlement online.

In many transactions, there is no paper Certificate of Title exchanged at settlement
Funds are transferred digitally, documents are lodged with Land Use Victoria for registration, and stamp duty is paid, all in a single electronic process on settlement day.

For both buyers and sellers, the practical benefit is speed and transparency. Parties can track the progress of their transaction in real time. For conveyancers, being registered with PEXA and proficient in the platform is no longer optional; it is a requirement of practising in Victoria. Buyers and sellers should confirm their conveyancer is PEXA-registered before engaging them.

The bottom line, for both sides of the transaction

For sellers, a properly prepared Section 32 is not just a legal obligation. It is the foundation of a smooth, defensible sale, one that is far less likely to stall, renegotiate or collapse because of a disclosure issue that should have been addressed from the start.

For buyers, the Section 32 is the single most important document to read and understand before signing a Contract of Sale. It reveals the legal reality of the property: the restrictions, the costs, the risks. No amount of open-inspection charm can tell you what is buried in the title.

In both cases, the investment in professional conveyancing advice, from a qualified conveyancer or solicitor who understands the local area and the legal requirements, pays for itself many times over. Whether the property is in Cranbourne, Berwick, Clyde North, Officer, Pakenham, Drouin or Warragul, the fundamentals are the same: get the Section 32 right, and the rest of the transaction is far more likely to follow.

General information only. This article does not constitute legal advice. Legal requirements can vary depending on the property, the transaction type and individual circumstances. Readers should obtain independent professional advice before acting on any information contained in this article. Examples are illustrative only.