New Queensland trust legislation has introduced a number of changes to trustee duties, beneficiary rights and court powers. The changes affect trusts subject to Queensland trust law, including discretionary trusts, testamentary trusts, unit trusts and self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
Background
The Trusts Act 2025 (Qld) (Act) received royal assent on 19 May 2025, with many of the provisions coming into force from 28 April 2026. The Act replaces the Trusts Act 1973 (Qld).
The changes are part of a broader update to Queensland trust law and follow the introduction of the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld), which replaced the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld). Notably, this act made Queensland the only state other than South Australia with a statutory perpetuity period of greater than 80 years (up to 125 years). For more information on vesting date changes, see our prior article, here.
Changes to trustee duties, beneficiary rights and court powers
The Act introduces a number of changes to duties, rights and court powers in relation to the key parties of a trust. We summarise below some of the notable changes.
Trustee duties:
Part 5 of the Act outlines new trustee duties, including the general duty to exercise care, diligence and skill when administering trusts under ss 60–62, as well as the duty to act honestly and in good faith under s 63. Trustees are further required to keep accurate accounts and records, including for a period of up to 3 years following the termination of the trust under s 64. The prior act’s requirements to exercise care, diligence and skill in relation to investment powers has largely been retained under Part 6.
Beneficiary rights:
A beneficiary’s rights to receive copies and inspect accounts of a trust documents has been codified under s 65 of the Act. A beneficiary must be provided such accounts within a reasonable period after the request is made, unless the request is unreasonable.
Court powers:
In addition to the court’s powers to remove trustees under s 166 (which existed under the previous act), the court now has the power to remove particular officeholders from a trust. A person holding a ‘relevant office’ can now be removed by the court under s 169 where that person can exercise powers in relation to the trust or trust property and acts in a fiduciary duty when exercising the power. Notably, this may include appointors of a trust where they exercise powers in a fiduciary nature.
SMSF individual trustee limit
SMSFs are a type of trust and can be subject to the relevant state trust legislation based on the relevant governing law of the SMSF.
Prior to 1 July 2021, the definition of an SMSF in s 17A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SISA) provided that an SMSF could have no more than 4 members. However, this provision was updated to expand the number of members to no more than 6 from 1 July 2021. To meet the definition of an SMSF under s 17A, all members of an SMSF must be individual trustees or directors of the corporate trustee of SMSF unless a relevant exception applies.
Where state trustee legislation imposed a limit on the number of individual trustees of a trust to less than 6, the updated definition of an SMSF was broadly inconsistent with the state legislation. However, new s 14 of the Act now expressly confirms that the 4-person trustee limit does not apply to SMSFs or charitable trusts.
Numerous older SMSF deeds that were drafted prior to 1 July 2021 expressly limit the number of members of the fund to 4 based on the prior version of s 17A of the SISA. Accordingly, it is vital that trustees and advisers are aware of any limits in the SMSF deed when seeking to add new members to a fund. Where such a limit applies, we generally recommend that the deed be updated.
Naturally, DBA Lawyers’ SMSF deed and governing rules permits trustees to admit members in accordance with the relevant standards prescribed by the SISA. However, we strongly recommend sole purpose corporate trustees which generally overcomes this issue in any event.
Trust review service and deed history review
In light of changes to Queensland trust law, trustees and advisers should consider having their deeds reviewed for potential updates and historical issues.
For discretionary trusts, we offer a trust review service that involves a lawyer reviewing the trust deed to ensure there are appropriate and up to date provisions for income streaming, appointor powers, investment powers, financial reporting requirements and the vesting date. We report back our feedback on possible amendments and let you decide what changes you may like to make. Further information on our range of discretionary trust services (including extending the vesting date of an existing discretionary trust) can be found here.
For SMSFs we offer a deed history review service, where a lawyer reviews the full deed history of the SMSF to determine if there are any issues that require remedial work to minimise future risks. More information on this service can be found here.
Conclusions
Trustees and beneficiaries of trusts governed by Queensland law should be made aware of the changes on trustee duties and the rights of beneficiaries set out in the new Act. In light of these changes, it is prudent to review relevant trust and SMSF deeds and receive feedback from a lawyer.
Naturally, DBA Lawyers would be pleased to assist.
Related articles
- Queensland extends trust vesting date to 125 years
- Adding a member to an SMSF – pros and cons
- Should your SMSF have a corporate trustee or individual trustees?
- Why you should order discretionary trusts from DBA Lawyers
- Does your trust deed have appropriate income characterisation and streaming powers?
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By Daniel Butler, Director ([email protected]), Shaun Backhaus, Director ([email protected]) and Fraser Stead, Lawyer, ([email protected]).
Note: DBA Lawyers presents regular SMSF Online Updates. For more details or to register, visit www.dbanetwork.com.au or call 03 9092 9400.
For more information regarding how DBA Lawyers can assist in your SMSF practice, visit www.dbalawyers.com.au.
This article is for general information only and should not be relied upon without first seeking advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
11 May 2026
