Law Compliance Report - current edition - Report - Page 8
Queensland Update
Trusts Act 2025 (Qld)
On 28 April 2026, the Trusts Act 2025 (Qld) (the Act) commenced,
repealing and replacing the former Trusts Act 1973 (Qld) (the
Repealed Act). The Act intends to simplify Queensland’s trusts
laws streamlining the trusts legislative framework by modernising
outdated provisions and removing unnecessary provisions.
What's new?
The key new provisions of the Act:
place restrictions on who may be appointed as a trustee
and provides a mechanism to replace a last continuing
trustee who has impaired capacity by allowing an
administrator or attorney to act;
provide a structure by which trustees may delegate their
responsibilities;
introduce statutory trustees’ duties, such as a general
duty to exercise care, diligence and skill in administering
trusts; and
increase the amount of trust capital which may be
applied for a bene昀椀ciary’s maintenance, education, or
advancement.
Further Information
Appointment of trustees
Notably, the Repealed Act did not place any restrictions
on who may be appointed as a trustee other than former
section 12 which allowed for an infant trustee to be
removed and replaced. Section 13 of the Act has expanded
the restrictions on who may be appointed trustee to
prevent a person being appointed as a trustee if they are:
a child;
an individual who is an insolvent under administration;
a Chapter 5 body corporate (which is de昀椀ned under
section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and
includes, for example, a body corporate that is being
wound up or under administration); or
a person disquali昀椀ed from being appointed as a trustee
by a court order made under section 168.
The Repealed Act also provided no mechanism to replace
a trustee where the sole continuing trustee had impaired
capacity (previously referred to as ‘incapacity’) which
necessitated a court application for the appointment of
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a successor trustee. Section 22 of the Act addresses
this by introducing a practical alternative by allowing an
administrator or attorney of the last continuing trustee
(who is authorised to act in relation to all 昀椀nancial
matters) to exercise the power of appointment to appoint
a new trustee (including by appointing themselves).
Importantly, if there is more than one administrator or
attorney for the last continuing trustee, this power must be
exercised jointly. Further, this power will only arise where:
there is no appointor under the trust instrument, or no
appointor willing and able to act; and
any other mechanism in the trust instrument for
appointing a new trustee has not been exercised within
a reasonable period after the last continuing trustee
became with a person with impaired capacity.
Notably, where the Repealed Act referred to ‘mental
capacity’ and ‘incapacity’, section 10 of the Act expressly
de昀椀nes that a person has impaired capacity for a matter
if the person does not have capacity for the matter.
Relevantly, a person has capacity for a matter only if the
person is capable of:
understanding the nature and effect of decisions about
the matter;
freely and voluntarily making decisions about the
matter; and
communicating the decisions in some way.
Delegation of trustees’ powers
The Act introduces a structured approach by which a
trustee may delegate their powers. In recognition of this,
section 99 of the Act requires a trustee who delegates a
matter to give written notice of the delegation to:
any co-trustee; and
if there is an appointer for the trust who is not also the
trustee, the appointor.
August 2026 Edition | Law Compliance Report
