Occupancy agreements: renting a room, student halls and boarding houses

Are you an occupant or a tenant?

An occupancy agreement is an agreement to live somewhere as your home, for payment, in one of these situations (section 71C):

• a room in the grantor’s own principal home (boarders and lodgers)
• accommodation provided by, on the campus of, or under an arrangement with a university or college
• a sleeping space with shared facilities or services, such as a boarding house, where the agreement says it’s an occupancy agreement
• crisis accommodation, a housing support program, or club accommodation, where the agreement says so
• a long-stay home or site in a residential park

It’s not an occupancy agreement if a tenant lets you a room under their own lease (see share houses), and the Act doesn’t cover genuine holiday stays. If your written agreement expressly says it’s a residential tenancy agreement, the tenancy rules apply instead.

Your protections: the occupancy principles

Every occupancy agreement includes the occupancy principles, and any rule or term inconsistent with them is void (section 71EA). The main ones:

• The premises must be reasonably clean, in a reasonable state of repair and reasonably secure.
• The agreement must be in writing if it’s for a fixed term of more than 6 weeks, or once you’ve lived there more than 6 weeks.
• Rules must be reasonable and proportionate, and penalties proportionate and not cause unreasonable hardship. This doesn’t apply to penalties under an ANU or University of Canberra university requirement.
• You’re entitled to quiet enjoyment, including 24-hour access to your own space and to a toilet and bathroom, as far as reasonably practicable, and reasonable access to shared facilities.
• The grantor can only enter as the agreement sets out, with notice that’s reasonable and proportionate.
• You must not harass or intimidate others, and you must leave the place in substantially the same condition, fair wear and tear excepted.

The grantor must give you a signed condition report no later than the day after you move in.

Security deposits

A grantor can only take a security deposit if the agreement is in writing, for a fixed term of more than 14 days, and you’ve been given a condition report (section 71EC):

• up to 2 weeks’ fee for a fixed term of more than 14 days but less than 6 months
• up to 4 weeks’ fee for a fixed term of 6 months or more

The deposit must be lodged with the Territory (ACT Rental Bonds), except for university and college accommodation. It can only be used for damage beyond fair wear and tear, securing the place if keys aren’t returned, and amounts you owe.

Fees, utilities and receipts

Your agreement must list the rules, penalties, any fee for leaving early, and every other fee, including utilities, with how often it’s charged and how it’s worked out. You must get at least 8 weeks’ written notice of a fee increase, a new fee or a rule change. You’re entitled to a receipt for payments of $75 or more, and for smaller payments if you ask.

The rent increase limits for tenancies don’t apply to occupancy fees.

Ending an occupancy

Your agreement must state when it can be ended and give a reasonable notice period, suited to the kind of accommodation (section 71EK). It can end by agreement, as the agreement allows with the stated notice, or because of a breach that justifies ending it.

A grantor must not end your agreement or evict you only because you applied to ACAT, complained to a government body or took reasonable action to enforce the agreement. Only ACAT can order vacant possession, and if you’ve been evicted unlawfully, ACAT can restore your agreement.

Disputes

• ACAT hears occupancy disputes. For ANU and University of Canberra accommodation, you must first try the university’s dispute process for a reasonable time.
• The ACT Human Rights Commission can conciliate occupancy complaints, and you can go there at any time, without using the university process first (section 74).
• Advice: the Tenancy Advice Service advises occupants, including in student accommodation. Canberra Community Law advises people in crisis accommodation, boarding houses and residential parks. See free tenancy advice.

A lesson from the ANU halls case

In 2023, ACAT dismissed claims by two ANU students who argued that COVID-19 border closures had ended their hall agreements. The case turned on the wording of the agreements and ordinary contract law. The lesson: read your occupancy agreement carefully before you sign, especially the terms about ending it.

Reform expected

The ACT Government has consulted on changes to occupancy law, and further reform has been reported as expected in 2027. This guide will be updated when the law changes.