Tasmania's end of lease cleaning standard in section 53
Tasmania's Residential Tenancy Act 1997 calls the two sides the tenant and the owner. Section 53(1)(a) asks you to keep the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness, having regard to how they were when you moved in.
Section 53(1)(b) deals with the finish. You leave the home as nearly as possible in the same condition, apart from reasonable wear and tear, as the condition report shows. With no report, the comparison is with the home as it was at the start.
Watch the wording. Tasmania says reasonable wear and tear, not fair wear and tear, and the parts of the Act we read don't define it.
Do Tasmanian tenants need a professional clean?
Nothing in the Act we read makes a tenant hire a cleaner. The Tenants' Union of Tasmania goes further in its 2022 factsheets: whatever the lease says, it argues, you don't have to get the home professionally cleaned unless that's warranted, and you can't be forced to have carpets professionally cleaned if their condition doesn't warrant it.
Read that as the Tenants' Union's view. It rests on case law that doesn't bind anyone, and we couldn't confirm it at an official source, because the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) site wouldn't load on the day we checked.
The Union also lists a receipt from a cleaning company as useful evidence if an owner says the home wasn't left reasonably clean.
What a Tasmanian owner can ask when you have a pet
An owner can only attach conditions to consent for a pet if you agree to them, they're reasonable in the circumstances, and they don't raise the rent or bond (s 36S(4)). The Act's pet sections say nothing about cleaning, carpets or fumigation.
If a pet request is refused or withdrawn and you dispute it, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) decides (s 36U(1)). Fumigation, if it ever comes up, is a pest controller's job.
A Tasmanian condition report with a tight window
Where you pay a bond, the owner gives you 2 copies of a condition report on or before the day you move in (s 26(1)). You sign one, write whether you agree or disagree, and return it within 2 days (s 26(3)).
That's the shortest window we've seen in any state. Walk the home with your phone on the first day and note anything dirty, marked or broken before that copy goes back.
Your Tasmanian rental bond, the claim form and disputes
A bond can't be more than 4 weeks' rent (s 25(4)(c)), and the Rental Deposit Authority holds it. CBOS is the department behind both the Authority and the Residential Tenancy Commissioner. A property agent who receives one must deposit it within 10 working days (s 25(3)).
Once the tenancy has finished, the owner gives you a bond claim form within 3 working days (s 28). A party can dispute a claim within 10 days after the form is lodged with the Authority (s 29F). You may see a different figure elsewhere. The Act's figure is 10 days.
The Residential Tenancy Commissioner then decides how much, if any, goes to the owner (s 29G). That decision can be appealed to the Magistrates Court within 7 days after the last party is told (s 30).
From condition report to bond claim in Tasmania
Find your signed report
It's the document the Act measures you against, so it's your list for the whole clean.
Clean room by room
Tackle dirt and grease that weren't there at the start, and leave reasonable wear alone.
Keep proof
Take photos of each room. If a business did the clean, keep the receipt with them.
Watch for the claim form
It's due within 3 working days. If you disagree with a claim, get your dispute in within the 10 days.
Our advice: use Tasmania's 2 day condition report window
Make the first 2 days count. List every mark and stain on the condition report and keep your own photos with it, because everything at the end is measured against that page. Then clean to that report, and if you book a business, put the receipt in the same folder.