At the end, the bond answers to the report

The last walk through, and who should be there

Five jurisdictions say the final inspection should be done together, or at least offered. In the ACT a landlord and tenant must carry out a final inspection together, the purpose of it is to check the property against the condition report signed when the tenant moved in, and the Act makes it a duty that the lessor must, together with the tenant, carry out the inspection and complete and sign the condition report. A party may complete and sign in the other’s absence if the other party has been given a reasonable opportunity to be present. In Victoria the renter must be present during the final inspection or have been given a reasonable opportunity to be there, and the exit condition report section of the original report must be completed within 10 days of the agreement ending. In Western Australia the consumer page suggests both sides walk the home together, to head off disputes; it allows the walk to go ahead with the tenant absent when a reasonable opportunity to attend was offered, defines reasonable as what most people would judge fair, and gives shift work and FIFO rosters as its example. In New South Wales the tenant fills the condition report in again when they move out; this should be done by the landlord or agent and tenant in each other’s presence, or without the other person provided they have been given a reasonable opportunity to be present.

Queensland states the ideal rather than the duty for the exit report: the tenant and property manager or owner should complete it together so that any issues can be addressed quickly and the bond refund released as soon as possible, and both sides should record the meter reading in both the entry and exit reports to prevent disputes. South Australia’s checklist puts the sheet in the tenant’s hands: check the condition of the property against the original property inspection sheet, complete and sign the inspection sheet, and keep a copy.

From ACT Government: ending a tenancy, Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT), Consumer Affairs Victoria: bond claims and refunds, Consumer Affairs Victoria: condition reports, Consumer Protection WA: property condition reports, NSW Fair Trading: rental property condition reports, RTA Queensland: exit condition report, SA Government: moving out of your rental property.

Fair wear and tear, and what may be claimed

The line between wear and damage is drawn case by case, and the states describe it differently. Queensland defines the two sides: fair wear and tear happens during normal use of a property and through changes that occur with ageing and deterioration over time from exposure to the environment, while dirt, grime, grease and damage, including damage caused by an approved pet, are not considered fair wear and tear. Victoria gives the rule and the examples: fair wear and tear is deterioration because of reasonable use of the property or natural environmental forces, and reasonable use means use that most people would think is fair, though the law does not define it; faded curtains or worn kitchen bench tops sit on one side, ripped curtains or broken bench tops may sit on the other. The ACT states plainly that there is no fixed rule or definition about what is fair wear and tear. South Australia writes the test into the Act: in deciding whether premises are in reasonable condition, their condition when the tenant took possession and the probable effect of reasonable wear and tear since must be taken into account.

What a bond can answer for is listed in several states. In Western Australia a lessor is entitled to payment from the security bond for the reasonable cost of repairs or restoration after damage other than fair wear and tear, chattels’ repair or replacement, rent or other charges owing, the cost of cleaning a part of the premises not left reasonably clean given the condition at the start of the tenancy, locks or security devices altered without consent, and an amount the tenant is liable to pay for a breach of the agreement. In the ACT the landlord can generally only make deductions from the bond for damage caused by the tenant other than fair wear and tear, replacing keys or changing locks when keys are not returned, and any rent owing. In Queensland the tenant’s obligation is to leave the premises and inclusions, as far as possible, in the same condition they were in at the start of the tenancy, fair wear and tear excepted, and the bond comparison runs against the entry report. The Northern Territory states the plainest rule of the eight: a tenant’s money comes back whole on moving out, and only unpaid rent, cleaning, repair costs or a broken lease can be claimed against it.

From RTA Queensland: fair wear and tear, Consumer Affairs Victoria: bond claims and refunds, ACT Government: the Renting Book, January 2026 (PDF), Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA), Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), RTA Queensland: exit condition report, NT Government: when you are owed bond money.

What must be handed over, and when

After the walk through, the paperwork has its own clock. Victoria: the exit section of the condition report within 10 days of the agreement ending, and when a renter and provider agree on how to split the bond, the provider should start the bond claim with the authority within 14 days of the agreement ending, unless the renter starts it first. Western Australia: a copy of the completed condition report has to reach the tenant within 14 days of the move. Queensland: the owner or agent must sign the copy of the condition report and, if the tenant has given a forwarding address, return a copy within 3 business days of receiving it. New South Wales: a landlord or agent has up to 14 days to accept a bond claim made through Rental Bonds Online. The ACT: after a tenancy ends, the lessor must give the tenant a signed bond release application, within 10 working days where it claims the cost of repairs or restoration after damage, or of securing the premises when keys are not returned, and within 3 working days in any other case. Tasmania: the owner or agent opens the claim in MyBond no later than three days after the keys come back, a tenant has to wait three days from returning the keys before opening one, and a tenant then has 10 days from the owner or agent lodging a claim to approve or dispute it.

From Consumer Affairs Victoria: condition reports, Consumer Affairs Victoria: resolving bond issues and disputes, Consumer Affairs Victoria: bond claims and refunds, Consumer Protection WA: property condition reports, Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld), NSW Fair Trading: getting your bond back, Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT), Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania: claiming a rental bond.

Getting the bond back: how it moves in four states

New South Wales: you don’t need to wait for the landlord to release the bond. If you submitted the bond online and have addressed the things you need to do after the tenancy ends, you can claim it through Rental Bonds Online. On a paper claim, if your landlord or agent does not dispute it, Fair Trading will pay it after 14 days. On Rental Bonds Online, if your details are correct, it should arrive two business days after your landlord or agent accepts the claim, by direct deposit, and a dispute that cannot be resolved may end at the Tribunal.

Queensland runs it through the authority. A bond refund request should be completed and sent when the tenancy agreement has ended, and the authority cannot accept one before the expiry date of the appropriate notice. If everyone agrees, the authority aims to process the request on the same day it is received, with funds taking up to 3 business days to reach a bank account, and refunds are paid only into an Australian bank account. If someone disagrees, parties are given 14 days to respond, and if there is no response the bond is refunded as the original request asked; a dispute moves to the authority’s free conciliation service. The property manager or owner must give the tenant evidence supporting a claim or dispute within 14 days, and not doing so is an offence.

Victoria: claims go to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, which repays the bond only when everyone listed agrees on how it should be repaid or the Tribunal has ordered it. A renter can start the claim alone after the agreement ends, and the authority must then give notice to the other parties, who have 14 days to contest it; if nobody does, the bond is repaid as the claim directed. Once everyone has accepted, the authority usually repays within one business day.

Western Australia splits the work between the bond administrator and the Commissioner. An application for release may be made by one, some or all of the parties, and must not be made before the agreement terminates. Where the parties do not agree, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection can decide how the bond is released, and everyone is told before that happens. A notice in the process sets a 10-day timeframe to respond, and the money stays put for seven days after the decision, so that anyone wanting to appeal can move.

From NSW Fair Trading: getting your bond back, RTA Queensland: bond refunds, RTA Queensland: understanding a Notice of claim, Consumer Affairs Victoria: bond claims and refunds, Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), Consumer Protection WA: bond disputes for residential tenancies.

The same movement in the other four

South Australia: an application for repayment of a bond can be made to the Commissioner, may be made jointly or by either party, and the forms of payment it can direct are spelled out in the Act. An undisputed application must be paid as specified; one liable to be disputed brings the respondent a written notice and a prescribed period to lodge a dispute, after which the Commissioner may pay as proposed if nothing comes back. An application by the landlord alone, more than 12 months after the tenancy ended, must be referred to the Tribunal.

The ACT: once the tenancy ends, tenants or landlords can make a request for a bond refund from the ACT Revenue Office. Either you or the landlord, or both jointly, can make the application, and it can be given to the office by either; landlords must lodge their refund applications through the online rental bonds portal, and a tenant can lodge their own form.

Tasmania: bonds run online through MyBond; whoever wants the money back opens the claim there, every party has to approve it before anything is paid out, and a tenant who does nothing within 10 days of the owner or agent lodging a claim may find the bond paid out as the owner or agent claimed. The Rental Deposit Authority releases the bond when the tenant approves the claim, when a determination awards it, or when an agent or owner does not answer a claim, with three to five days for bank processing.

The Northern Territory: money still unclaimed six months after the move goes into a Tenancy Trust account run by the Commissioner of Tenancies, and a tenant who has waited that long should ask the landlord or agent, and check online whether the bond is being held in trust.

From Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA), ACT Government: ending a tenancy, ACT Government: the Renting Book, January 2026 (PDF), Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania: claiming a rental bond, NT Government: when you are owed bond money.

One line worth keeping

Two sentences from the official pages close the loop a tenancy runs on. In Queensland the tenant’s responsibility is to return the rental property in the same condition it was in at the start of the tenancy, less fair wear and tear, and the authority encourages parties to talk with each other and work towards a solution where there are cleaning or damage items to be rectified. In Western Australia, a tenant may ask the landlord for the chance to return and put the issues right before any money is claimed from the bond, with extra cleaning, repairs or other work allowed for; the page is careful that the landlord is free to refuse, and that once the tenancy has ended there is no standing right to go back in. In Queensland and the ACT, the condition report can be used as evidence if there is a dispute about bond claims, and it is written in the first days, which the previous guide is about.

From RTA Queensland: exit condition report, Consumer Protection WA: property condition reports.