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ARTICLE · 09 MARCH 2022

Abandonment of contract

Rostron Carlyle Rojas
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Take steps to actively show intention to perform terms or risk a conclusion of abandonment.

AustraliaCorporate/Commercial Law
Michael Sing
Michael Sing
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Commercial agreements and dealings can frequently be delayed by other events.

By parties failing to act upon or attempt to perform their separate contractual obligations, or by not expressly stating an intention to perform or be bound, a contract can be found to have been abandoned and unenforceable.

A key issue to consider in such circumstance is whether the parties showed any intention to meet or fulfill contractual obligations. Often this issue of abandonment is concurrent with issues of frustration of a contract.

In Woolworths Group Ltd v Gazcorp Pty Ltd [2022] NSWCA, such a situation arose.

Facts

Agreement for Lease (AFL)

On 20 February 2008, Woolworths Group Limited (Woolworths) and Gazcorp Pty Ltd (Gazcorp) entered into an AFL in relation to a proposed commercial and retail development in Green Square, Sydney.

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