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Coverage

Rental deposit

Australian Capital Territory — residential tenancy bond (Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT))

Sub-nationalAU-ACTUnverified — check before relying on it

Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Rule id
deposit.au-act
Version
1.0.0
In force from
January 1, 2008
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
Australia

In plain language

What this regime says.

Australian Capital Territory regulates residential bonds under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT). ACT Revenue Office — Office of Rental Bonds handles the bond itself and ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) decides contested claims. We can point you at both; we are not stating this jurisdiction’s caps or deadlines because we could not verify them in this review cycle.

Who is covered

Tenants of residential premises in Australian Capital Territory who paid a bond or security deposit.

What you get

Return of the bond to the extent the landlord or agent cannot justify a claim against it, decided by ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) if it is contested.

Where claims go wrong

  • Missing the objection window on a bond claim. In most Australian jurisdictions an unopposed claim is simply paid out, and the window is measured in days.
  • Leaving a stale postal address or email with the bond authority, so the first you hear of the claim is when the money is gone.
  • Not completing the entry condition report at the start of the tenancy. It is the single most useful document you will ever have in this dispute.
  • Treating a cleaning invoice as proof. The question is whether the premises were left reasonably clean given their condition at entry, not whether a cleaner was paid.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT)Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT)URL verified 2026-08-05

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

What it entitles you to, beyond money

  • Determination by ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT)You are entitled to have the return of your deposit determined by ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) rather than left to the landlord. We are not stating what it will award.
  • An itemised, evidenced accountEvery regime in this product places the burden of justifying a deduction on the landlord. Ask for invoices, quotations and dated photographs, not a round number.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

"The property needed cleaning and redecorating"

high likelihood

The landlord charges for cleaning, carpet wear, scuffed paint or tired fittings and treats the deposit as a refurbishment fund.

What answers it

Fair wear and tear from ordinary use is not a recoverable loss in any of the regimes this product covers — a deduction must reflect damage or a breach beyond ordinary use, must be evidenced, and must be reduced for the age and remaining life of the item. Ask for the invoice, the check-in and check-out evidence, and the calculation.

"Prove you did not cause it"

high likelihood

The landlord asserts damage and expects the tenant to disprove it, often without a check-in inventory.

What answers it

It is the party seeking to keep the money who must justify keeping it. Where there is no dated check-in record to compare against, an adjudicator has nothing to measure the alleged damage from, and the deduction generally fails on that ground alone.

Where to take it next

  1. Write to the landlord or agentAsk in writing for the deposit back and for an itemised, evidenced account of anything withheld. A dated written request is what every body below will want to see first.Claim direct
  2. Ask the agent for the itemised bond claim and the exit condition reportBefore anything formal, ask in writing for the exact figures claimed, the invoices behind them, and a copy of the exit condition report and photographs. Agents frequently reduce a claim at this point rather than justify it line by line.Internal appeal
  3. Apply to ACT Revenue Office — Office of Rental BondsACT Revenue Office — Office of Rental Bonds administers the deposit and operates the first-line claim or release process.Alternative dispute resolutionofficial page
  4. Apply to ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT)Binding on themACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) can make a binding order about the deposit.Courtofficial page

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

Albania — rental deposit (Kodi Civil (Civil Code), qiraja)ALNational — AlbaniaKodi Civil (Civil Code), qirajaConfidence: lowAustria — rental deposit (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) § 16b, and the Mietrechtsgesetz (MRG))ATNational — AustriaAllgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) § 16b, and the Mietrechtsgesetz (MRG)Confidence: lowBelgium — rental deposit (Regional housing codes: Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, Décret wallon relatif au bail d’habitation, Code bruxellois du Logement)BENational — BelgiumRegional housing codes: Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, Décret wallon relatif au bail d’habitation, Code bruxellois du LogementConfidence: lowBosnia and Herzegovina — rental deposit (The law of obligations of the relevant entity (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Republika Srpska) and the applicable housing legislation)BANational — Bosnia & HerzegovinaThe law of obligations of the relevant entity (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Republika Srpska) and the applicable housing legislationConfidence: lowBulgaria — rental deposit (Закон за задълженията и договорите (Obligations and Contracts Act), наем)BGNational — BulgariaЗакон за задълженията и договорите (Obligations and Contracts Act), наемConfidence: lowCroatia — rental deposit (Zakon o najmu stanova and the Zakon o obveznim odnosima)HRNational — CroatiaZakon o najmu stanova and the Zakon o obveznim odnosimaConfidence: lowCyprus — rental deposit (Rent Control Law of 1983 (23/1983) for controlled tenancies, and the general law of contract)CYNational — CyprusRent Control Law of 1983 (23/1983) for controlled tenancies, and the general law of contractConfidence: lowCzechia — jistota / kauce (Občanský zákoník § 2254)CZNational — CzechiaObčanský zákoník (89/2012 Sb.), § 2254Confidence: high

Other rights in the same countries

Australia — Australia Post compensation and Express Post guaranteeAUNational — AustraliaAustralian Postal Corporation Act 1989 and Australia Post’s Terms and ConditionsConfidence: lowAustralia — Australian Consumer Law consumer guaranteesAUNational — AustraliaAustralian Consumer Law, s 60 (guarantee as to due care and skill)Confidence: highAustralia — Australian Consumer Law unfair contract terms and misleading conductAUNational — AustraliaAustralian Consumer Law, ss.23-28 (unfair contract terms)Confidence: mediumAustralia — ePayments Code and Australian Consumer LawAUNational — AustraliaePayments Code (ASIC), Chapter CConfidence: mediumAustralia — Medicare, bulk billing, the MBS and informed financial consentAUNational — AustraliaHealth Insurance Act 1973 (Cth), s. 20AConfidence: mediumAustralia — Part IVA representative proceedingsAUNational — AustraliaFederal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth), Part IVAConfidence: mediumAustralia — single price rule, ACL s.48AUNational — AustraliaAustralian Consumer Law, s.48 (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Sch. 2)Confidence: mediumAustralia — State operator passenger charters (NSW TrainLink, V/Line, Queensland Rail) and the Australian Consumer LawAUNational — AustraliaAustralian Consumer Law (Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2) and the state operators' customer chartersConfidence: low

Does this one reach your facts?

The engine runs every regime that could apply at once and reconciles them, rather than making you guess which page to read.

Run your factsBack to the catalogue

Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.