Bond Amounts and Bond Authorities in Every Australian State

Rental agents can collect four weeks of rent for a bond, except in two states. South Australia charges a maximum of six weeks’ bond if weekly rent is A$800 and over. The state of Victoria removes the maximum after weekly rent crosses A$900. Western Australia does the same if weekly rent passes A$1,200. The other six states and territories of Australia have four week maximums for bond amounts. The four week bond rule in Queensland was implemented in September of 2024. This explains the reasons for outdated information concerning Queensland bonds that tenants can find online.

Quick answer: Six of the eight states and territories in Australia have maximum bond amounts of 4 weeks rent (QLD, NSW, TAS, ACT, NT). South Australia and Victoria have rent threshold caps that can be much higher. Western Australia does not have a cap on bond amounts if the weekly rent is greater than A$1,200. Western Australia is the only state that allows landlords to charge a pet bond of up to A$350.

This matters. If you overpay on a bond by even 1 cent, you do not have to pay the excess (and in most cases, charging a bond for more than the legal amount is a breach of the state’s tenancy law, rather than just poor paperwork). As a single incorrect dollar on this matter can cost a tenant real money, the figures below are from each state’s tenancy authority or the current legislation (checked on the 15th September, 2026).

Maximum Bond Amounts by State

A month’s rent in Victoria isn’t as simple as it sounds. It’s calculated as the weekly rent multiplied by 52, then divided by 12, which works out to a slightly higher figure than four weeks’ rent. On a weekly rent of $600, this comes to roughly $2,600. So, if you’re comparing bonds in Victoria against New South Wales, your quotes may seem off, but that’s due to this difference in calculation, not an error.

Knowing the correct figure will help you check your lease before signing.

Queensland: The Most Commonly Missed Rule in Competing Guides

As of 30 September 2024, the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (QLD) set a cap on the bond at four weeks’ rent for a general tenancy. There is no rent threshold to gradually increase the bond amount higher. Before this change took effect, a four-week cap was applied to general tenancies as long as the weekly rent did not exceed $700. If the weekly rent was above this threshold, a higher bond was lawful. Any article describing a rent-related threshold in Queensland describes the old rule.

The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) must be named as the correct authority for all Queensland bonds, not the agent or the landlord. The agent must issue a bond receipt at the time payment is made, and within 10 days, the person who collected the bond must submit it to the RTA. If you renewed your lease after 30 September 2024, and you were charged the old higher amount as a bond, you can recover the excess amount through the RTA’s Form 4b process and the other party cannot defend this claim. Disputes over bonds are addressed through the RTA’s conciliation process. This process is followed before the matter is referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

When you hire bond cleaning services in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, ensure that your bond is set at no more than four weeks’ rent.

Western Australia: A Bond Cap that Voids at $1,200 a Week

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), landlords in Western Australia may request up to four weeks’ rent as a bond so long as the weekly rent is $1,200 or less. For weekly rents above $1,200, the bond is a negotiated item. The Bonds Administration, an agency of Consumer Protection WA, administers the bond money, lodged through BondsOnline (electronic) within 14 days of receipt for agents, or through a paper form (manual) for private landlords.

Western Australia is the only state in which a separate pet bond is permissible, and the amount (previously capped at $260) has recently increased to $350 under changes that took effect on 28 March 2026. This amount may now cover pet-related damage as well as the cost of fumigation, as opposed to fumigation costs only. It can’t be charged for an assistance animal. These changes also provide for a new resolution process for bond disputes whereby the Commissioner for Consumer Protection makes the decision to resolve the dispute, and the tenant has the right to appeal to the Magistrates Court within 7 days, rather than proceeding to court directly as was the case before.

Knowing these figures is useful especially for those booking a vacate clean in Western Australia before handover, as both the $1,200 weekly-rent threshold and the $350 pet bond cap are frequent confusion points in Western Australian leases.

One Flat Cap for New South Wales: No Exceptions for Pricey Properties

New South Wales has a simple formula for all rentals: the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) caps the bond at four weeks’ rent. There are no exceptions made for more expensive properties. One bond is permitted per tenancy agreement. If a landlord or agent charges more than the four-week limit, they are in breach of the Act, and the tenant is allowed to seek redress at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for the return of the excess. NSW Fair Trading is the governing body, and they have established a system for the lodging of bonds through Rental Bonds Online (RBO). All agents are required to use this system.

NSW has slowly begun implementing its Smart Rental Bonds system from August 10, 2026 in the regions of Parramatta, Central Coast and Penrith and intends to have the system state-wide by the end of the year. This optional system allows tenants to transfer their bonds to new rental properties within NSW at a cost of $25. The Smart Rental Bonds system doesn’t touch the four-week cap, and treating it as a cap increase has been one of the more common mistakes in reporting on this topic.

This four-week figure is specific to NSW, and it’s worth having in mind if you’re comparing quotes to compare the cost of end of lease cleans in NSW vs Victoria, since Victoria calculates its own cap differently, as covered below.

Victoria: Growing Above $900 a Week, or When VCAT Determines the Value

Victoria statutorily caps the bond at a month’s rental value under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), except in two cases: when the weekly rental value is above $900, or if VCAT has set a higher value, based on the character of the premises and the quality of its fitments. Consumer Affairs Victoria has affirmed the cap at a month’s value even when there is a pet. A landlord is prohibited from charging a second ‘pet bond’, over and above the first.

Victorian bonds must be lodged with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) within 14 business days of receipt. Victoria’s Portable Rental Bond Scheme, effective from 1 July 2026, permits eligible tenants to transfer their bond to a new property through the RTBA, for an optional $25 fee, with the transfer process set out on Victoria’s own portable bonds page. The rental tenant bears the cost of effectuating the transfer under the scheme, which is the same as the NSW scheme. New rules are expected to take effect from 13 October 2026 which mandate strengthened evidence for the rental provider to notify the tenant before the rental provider intends to claim against the bond.

South Australia: The First State to Implement ‘Threshold Rents’, and the Largest Overcharge Penalty

South Australia is one of only two states that charges rental bonds based on rent. For weekly rents that fall below AUD 800, a bond of four weeks’ rent is required. For rents that exceed AUD 800, a bond of six weeks’ rent is required. The AUD 800 threshold bond requirement commenced from 1 April 2023. Consumer and Business Services SA is the government agency, and the bond is submitted through Residential Bonds Online. As of 1 July 2024, tenants can submit their bond directly to the Commissioner.

South Australia imposes the most significant penalty in the country for charges that exceed the legal threshold. The penalty is described in section 61 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA). The penalty is currently set at AUD 35,000, with an expiation of AUD 2,000. Worth flagging: the SA Legal Services Commission’s Law Handbook still shows the AUD 25,000 and AUD 1,200 figures. Where the two conflict, the Act prevails over the handbook.

Tasmania: Four Weeks, and the Bond Never Passes Through the Landlord

The Residential Tenancy Act 1997 (Tas) puts a four-week cap on the bond with no exceptions based on the rent. This amount cannot be changed once the lease is signed. In Tasmania, some provisions of the Act are unique. One of these provisions is that a landlord is not allowed to receive the bond directly. Instead, Tasmania uses the MyBond system to have the Rental Deposit Authority process the bond. If a real estate agent receives the bond, they are required to process it with the Rental Deposit Authority within 10 working days. No pet bond is allowed in Tasmania.

The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory: Capped for Four Weeks, Two Times

The ACT and Northern Territory jurisdictions are very simple and have no exceptions for a cap set at four weeks and no pet bonds.

In the ACT, the bond is held in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT) by the ACT Revenue Office. A landlord has two weeks to lodge a bond; real estate agents have four weeks. Disputes are heard in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The Northern Territory should be singled out because it’s the only jurisdiction where genuinely conflicting information circulates, including on other property and landlord websites. Some non-government sources have described an NT system akin to that of South Australia, where there is a threshold of $800 and a six week cap. This information is incorrect. The NT bond, as described under the Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT), is capped at a flat four weeks with no rent threshold. The NT Government’s own tenancy pages confirm this. A key difference for the NT is that it lacks a central bond authority: the deposit sits in the landlord’s or agent’s trust account rather than being lodged with a government body. This, rather than a tiered cap which doesn’t exist, is the primary feature that differentiates the NT from the other states.

The One State With a Legal Pet Bond

Western Australia is the only state in Australia where a landlord can lawfully charge a separate pet bond, on top of the standard bond, capped at $350. Every other state and territory folds any pet-related risk into the single, capped bond, and several (Queensland, Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria) explicitly say a second bond of any kind, described as a pet bond or otherwise, isn’t permitted. If you live in any of these states and have a pet, an agent asking for an additional bond doesn’t match what any state’s tenancy authority actually allows.

What Happens If You Pay More Than the Legal Maximum?

Each state has its own rule for penalty bond charges, and there’s no blanket national law. It is useful to know what the rules are for the state you reside in. In Queensland, an excess bond will be refunded, as long as the tenant’s lease was renewed after the 2024 changes. The Act simply states that the bond cannot be more than 4 weeks’ rent. In South Australia, the excess bond charge will be penalised against the person requiring the charge, and the amount can reach $35,000. The other states don’t have as clear a compensatory remedy, so the first step is to report the excess to the tenancy authority, and if that doesn’t resolve it, take it to the relevant tribunal.

To work out the steps for getting a refund, tenants generally follow the same general order, regardless of where they reside. The first step is to cross reference the amount charged against the state law, and not a general national amount. The second step is to notify the landlord and/or agent that the amount charged is in excess of the state law. The third step is to contact the tenancy authority (the RTA, NSW Fair Trading, the RTBA and so on) and provide the record of the bond. The fourth step is to take the matter to the state tribunal to obtain an order for a refund.

Your general rights when services or transactions fall short do not depend on your tenancy rights, but will still help you as you deal with businesses as part of the process of moving. It could be good to know what the Australian Consumer Law gives you as a starting point, just in case something else in the process of moving goes wrong.

Where a Bond Dispute Appeals to

In the states and territories our independent service providers cover in the bookings Urgent Pro completes in Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne, most of the time it is the property condition report that determines how much of the bond the tenant recovers. It doesn’t matter how much bond a landlord collects if the entry condition report is missing or if it is too general, because this report is what every tribunal above compares the exit condition to. An exit clean is important, but the document that ultimately decides how much of a bond a tenant recovers is the property condition report. Disputes over cleaning standards often refer back to what’s contained in the report versus what was recorded at the beginning of the tenancy. You can read more about the report that decides how much bond is returned.

What’s Different and What’s The Same With The New Portable Bonds?

There are changes to how renters in both New South Wales and Victoria can manage their bonds whilst engaging in an intra-state move. Renters in both states can now have the money from their bond transferred to a new rental property, rather than having to pay a new lump sum of money. It’s a good change, as long as you’re not moving between states. It is a transfer mechanism, so it doesn’t change the maximum bond amount that a landlord can request. When you compare the professional cleaning costs against the bond you’re potentially providing at the end of the lease, portable bonds change the way you finance the bond for the new rental, rather than changing what the previous landlord can legally hold or claim.

There have been changes to how WA’s bond dispute process actually works, effective from March 2026, rather than changes to the bond amount. The process now involves the Commissioner for Consumer Protection, prior to any court action.

Having Your Own Bond Checked Against the Right Figures

Before you sign a lease or pay the bond money, confirm the following for your state, rather than the general national figures:

1. The amounts allowed. Use the figures in the table above. Check the amount based on your specific rent threshold, since South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia differentiate for higher rent properties.
2. Who has to hold them. All states, except the Northern Territory, have a government central authority. If your landlord says they’re holding the bond themselves, and they’re not in the Northern Territory, that’s worth questioning.
3. The lodgement deadline that applies to your agent or landlord. These range from 10 days in Queensland to 4 weeks in the ACT and South Australia. Missing the deadline doesn’t invalidate the bond, but it’s a sign the paperwork wasn’t handled properly.

Queensland tenants following the full bond cleaning checklist for Queensland can use the same approach: check the bond amount on the lease first, before worrying about the rest.