Victoria's A$12.3b retail property sector needs support, industry says

He named two measures as discouraging investment: the Absentee Owner Surcharge and the Windfall Gains Tax. The release says Victoria has sound economic fundamentals and could draw more investment with the right policies.

The numbers

The BDO research, as reported in the release, puts the national retail property contribution at A$47.5 billion, supporting about 239,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Victoria’s A$12.3 billion is 26 per cent of that national figure, the second-largest share of any state or territory.

The release gives these state figures:

• New South Wales: A$14.7 billion
• Victoria: A$12.3 billion
• Queensland: A$9.8 billion
• South Australia: A$3.1 billion

BDO also found that 62 per cent of Australia’s A$436 billion in annual retail turnover flows through bricks-and-mortar retail property. The sector generates at least A$11.9 billion a year in revenue for governments at all levels, including A$3 billion for state and territory governments.

The research defines economic activity in retail precincts as covering tenant operations, property operations, development and construction, and transaction-related activity.

What’s next

The release is framed as a call to the Victorian Government, and the two taxes Power named are the Absentee Owner Surcharge and the Windfall Gains Tax.

The release also points to One Middle Road at Chadstone, described as a fully leased mixed-use precinct, and contrasts it with a Melbourne CBD office vacancy rate of about 19 per cent. Those two points come from the release.

The release was issued by the Property Council of Australia, and Mirage News republished it at 9:06am AEDT on 5 November 2026. Power speaks for Retail Property Australia in the release, and the figures come from BDO research.

Related tax coverage: NSW land tax reform.

Source: Property Council of Australia release, republished by Mirage News. The Australian Developer.