Sue Harris

Practice Areas:
Property
Retirement Villages and Aged Care

Sue has a broad range of experience in large, small, CBD and country law firms, practising for over 25 years mainly in the areas of property, commercial law and commercial litigation. She has extensive experience in the negotiation and documentation of sales, purchases and joint ventures in commercial property.

An expert in the Retirement Village and Aged Care industry, Sue has worked closely with clients for over 12 years on all aspects of investment, transactions and operations including:

• Victorian and interstate aged care facility sales, retirement village sales & rental village sales;
• Developing standard resident contracts and related documentation for retirement villages (both strata and loan/lease models);
• Developing and negotiating aged care leases; and
• Preparing and negotiating a range of specialist agreements for the retirement village and aged care industry, including option agreements, side deeds, management agreements and investment agreements.

Since it's inception Sue has been a member of the Law Institute of Victoria's Elder Law Committee, with a background in alternative decision-making, succession planning and disputes as well as experience in accommodation issues for the elderly.

Additionally, Sue has advised on various agribusiness issues including farm leases and dairy share-farming agreements and disputes. Sue has a keen understanding of the farming industry gained from operating her own farming business in the Otway Ranges.

Some of Sue's major property projects have included:

• Acting on the sale of 13 aged care and retirement facilities across three states;
• Negotiating & completing the contract of sale for, and the remediation of, a large, contaminated, development site;
• Developing specialist resident agreements in consultation with Consumer Affairs Victoria for a retirement village to operate as part of a general residential development;
• Acting on the sale of 11 rental villages across three states;
• Completing the acquisition of a substantial business park in metropolitan Melbourne; and
• Negotiating and settling the acquisition of a sizeable mixed use development site.

Holding an honours degree in law and an arts degree and having graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Melbourne in 2000, Sue has an excellent capacity to grasp and manipulate extremely complex ideas.

This, coupled with her strong practical skills enable her to gain a deep understanding of her client's commercial and legal issues. Sue is passionately committed to achieving the best commercial outcome for her clients through the provision of sensible, tailored advice.