Every inspection starts at the door
A routine inspection of a rented home is fixed by three things: how many days’ warning the law requires, which hours on the day the knock may land, and how many times a year it may come back. This is that visit, drawn for all eight states and territories, read from the knock outward.
General information about the rules for inspecting rented homes in Australia, not advice about your own tenancy. Where the drawing shows a figure, the row links the page it comes from; where no figure is shown, that state or territory may still set one, so check the official page the row points to.
- The notice. One line per state, running back from the knock in days. A solid line ends at the latest day the notice may be given; an outlined span runs on to the earliest day the law allows.
- The knock. One inspection, drawn as its own heavy stroke. The eight knocks stand apart: nothing flows from one state’s row into another’s.
- The lit band. The hours of the day entry may happen, 6am at the left edge of each strip and 10pm at the right. The night around it is closed.
- The tally. Four strokes where the law counts the visits, a labelled gap where it spaces them, a hatched stretch where it bars them, and words where the official page is the place to look.
Moving in, moving out
The visit is not the only inspection a lease holds. At the start, the ingoing condition report is checked, commented on and returned; at the end, what follows the keys going back. The two rulers below keep the same day scale as the notice lines above, so a day is the same length across the whole page. An open box is a business or working day, which has no fixed calendar length; a bar is calendar days; words send you to the official page.
Your state, in one line each
Each line carries the figures this site holds from that state or territory’s own source, and a link to the page they come from. A cell with no figure does not mean there is no rule: check the official page.
| State or territory | How often | Notice | Hours | Days | Its own page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | see the official page | see the official page | 8am to 8pm, in most circumstances | not Sundays or public holidays | NSW Fair Trading: landlord access and entry |
| Victoria | not in the first 3 months of a first agreement; then 6 months apart at most | at least 7 days | 8am to 6pm | any day except a public holiday | Consumer Affairs Victoria: when a rental provider can enter |
| Queensland | no closer than every 3 months, unless you agree in writing | 7 days, on Form 9 | 8am to 6pm | Monday to Saturday; other times only if you agree | Residential Tenancies Authority: routine inspections |
| Western Australia | not more than 4 in any 12 months | not less than 7 and within 14 days, in writing | 8am to 6pm weekdays; 9am to 5pm Saturdays | weekdays and Saturdays; another time if you agree | Consumer Protection WA: rent inspections and privacy rights |
| South Australia | not more than 4 times a year | not less than 7 and no more than 28 days, in writing | 8am to 8pm | not Sundays or public holidays | Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) |
| Tasmania | once every 3 months; once a month in boarding premises | at least 24 hours | see the official page | see the official page | Residential Tenancy Act 1997 (Tas) |
| the ACT | first month, twice each 12 months, final month | 1 week, in writing | 8am to 6pm | not Sundays or public holidays, unless you agree | ACT Government: during a tenancy |
| the Northern Territory | not within 3 months of the last inspection, or a longer gap your agreement sets | see the official page | see the official page | see the official page | Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT) |
What a routine inspection is for
A routine inspection is not a housework inspection: the person inspecting the property should appreciate that people are living there, Queensland’s tenancy authority says. The visit is a check on how well the home is being kept, and on anything that needs repair or maintenance or raises a health and safety concern. In Victoria it is called a general inspection, and the rental provider or their agent may inspect all of the property during one. The name changes at the border; the shape of the visit does not.
From RTA Queensland: routine inspections, Consumer Affairs Victoria: when a rental provider can enter a property.
Buying a home is a different visit
Inspecting a home before you buy it is a different inspection, under different rules, and it is not this site’s subject. Each state’s own consumer body publishes the page for it, and those pages are the ones to follow. This site keeps to rented homes.
- NSW Know the condition of a property before you buy, to avoid problems and costs. NSW Fair Trading: inspecting a home before buying.
- VIC Inspecting a property tells you about its features and condition, and you should make several visits before deciding to buy. Consumer Affairs Victoria: inspect properties before you buy.
- QLD Before you start negotiations, arrange property inspections, so you understand the property’s condition and can factor in future costs when making an offer. Queensland Government: inspections when buying a home.
- WA The state’s consumer body advises making a satisfactory building inspection a condition of the contract of sale. Consumer Protection WA: property inspections.
- ACT A building and compliance inspection report in the territory has to comply with the Australian Standard AS 4349.1. Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Regulation 2004 (ACT).
- TAS The state’s consumer body recommends a pre-purchase inspection, a thorough inspection that may identify significant faults or defects, before you buy. Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania: advice when buying or selling property.
South Australia and the Northern Territory: no buyer’s page for either is linked here.