My business partner and I bought an investment property in a company trust. My family has subsequently moved into the property and I have agreed to buy my business partners share. Is there a way I can buy them out without having to change property ownership and pay stamp duty, thanks ?

Hi Phil. is it a company or a trust?? there is no such animal as a company trust.
I presume it is owned by a trust, most property purchases are held in a trust to manage CGT more efficiently than a company.
The transfer might be a transfer of UNITS in the trust, rather than property.
If this is the case the bad news is that you are still up for stamp duty, however the good news is that the rate of stamp duty on the transfer of units is potentially much lower than stamp duty on real property.

I STRONGLY recommend you get in front of a good CA or CPA to talk about this: there are all sorts of issues that can take the jam right out of your doughnut here so the smart thing to do is PLAN CAREFULLY so you dont accidentally shoot yourself in the foot. The last thing you need is to save yourself $3-400 in accounting fees to land yourself a $25,000 stamp duty headache....and CGT needs to be looked at too,and potentially Fringe Benefits Tax, and Land Tax, and and and...........

regards
Brendan