An application to sublet a lease is required when the current lessee does not hold an aquaculture permit, or they would like another permit holder to use their lease for aquaculture activities.
If a lessee holds an aquaculture permit in a different name to what is shown on the lease documents, a sublet agreement may be required. For example, the lessee is an individual however the permit is held in a company name and the lessee is a director of that company. In these cases, a sublet agreement is required as the individual and company are different legal entities.
A sublet agreement authorises another person or company who is not the lessee to undertake aquaculture on a lease. It does not change ownership of the lease.
When a permit is held by one or more individuals and the associated lease is held by at least one of those individuals, then a sublet agreement is not required.
Lessee - the individual or corporation who owns the lease and is making application to sublet the lease to another permit holder.
Sub-lessee - the individual or corporation whose aquaculture permit will authorise the lease under the sublet agreement. The sub-lessee must hold a current class A or class B aquaculture permit.
In this document, the sub-lessee is simply referred to as the permit holder.
An application to sublet a lease may be submitted at any time while the lease is current. A lease that has expired or is otherwise terminated cannot be sublet.
Lease rent remains the responsibility of the lessee.
After the sublet has been completed, relevant permit fees will be redirected to the new permit holder in the next billing period (on 1 July). Until then, any permit fees that have already been invoiced remain the responsibility of the lessee or former permit holder.
No. The permit holder must:
Payment options are provided on the lease sublet application form.
If an application to sublet an aquaculture lease is withdrawn or refused, NSW DPI is not required to refund the application fee. NSW DPI may, however, refund the whole or part of the fee if appropriate.
NSW DPI will check to ensure the applicants have addressed all matters relating to the sublet agreement. If anything is missing or outstanding, the application will not be progressed until the outstanding requirements are met. If these are not met in a reasonable timeframe, the application may be refused.
Once all requirements are met, NSW DPI will update its records with the details of the sublet. An updated aquaculture permit is sent to the relevant permit holder.
The sublet will remain in force until either the lessee or permit holder terminates the agreement, or until the lease expires or is otherwise terminated.
If the lease expires, the sublet agreement is automatically terminated. However, if the lessee applies to renew the lease and the renewal is approved, the sublet agreement will continue until either the lessee or permit holder terminates the agreement.
The Minister may terminate a sublet agreement at any time for any reason.
Either the lessee or permit holder may terminate a sublet agreement at any time via a written request.
If the permit holder requests the termination, the lessee will be given 30 days to make alternative arrangements for the lease, before the lease is removed from the permit. If no other arrangements are made by the lessee within this timeframe, NSW DPI may move to cancel the lease.
If the lessee requests the termination, the permit holder will be given 30 days to remove any material from the lease that belongs to them, before the lease is removed from the permit.
An application to sublet an aquaculture lease may be refused if:
Before an application is refused, NSW DPI may write to the applicants inviting them to lodge objections to the refusal of the sublet application.
The lessee is responsible for the covenants and conditions of the lease including:
The permit holder is responsible for:
Yes. All current aquaculture leases must be covered by public liability insurance (PLI). This is the responsibility of the permit holder. Each year, NSW DPI undertakes an audit on PLI and may request information from permit holders regarding their PLI.
For more information, contact Aquaculture Administration via email at aquaculture.administration@dpi.nsw.gov.au.
This checklist will help you to lodge a successful sublet application.