What Victoria's Act asks of an end of lease clean
Victorian law has its own words: you're the renter, and the owner or agent is the rental provider. Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the official renting guidance, and the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 asks you to leave the home, as far as practicable, reasonably clean (s 63(2)(a)).
It also asks for the home in the same condition as when you moved in, taking fair wear and tear into account (s 63(2)(b)). The Act defines that wear as deterioration from reasonable use by you or a visitor, or from natural environmental forces (s 3(1)), and a rental provider can't claim bond to cover it.
Can a Victorian rental provider require a professional clean?
As a rule, no. A Victorian rental agreement can't carry a term requiring a professional clean at the end, or making you pay for one, unless that term is in the standard form (s 27B(1)(d) and (e)).
The standard term sits in reg 12 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021, and it says the rental provider must not require professional cleaning, or cleaning to a professional standard, except in two cases.
Case one: the home was professionally cleaned, or cleaned to that standard, immediately before your tenancy started, and you were told about it.
Case two: a professional clean is needed to restore the home to how it was at the start, going by the condition report and allowing for fair wear and tear.
Consumer Affairs Victoria's Renters Guide says these extra requirements apply to agreements signed on or after 29 March 2021. Outside the two cases, how the home gets clean is up to you: do it yourself, split it with housemates or book a business.
Pets in a Victorian rental: no pet bond
A Victorian rental provider can't ask for an extra 'pet bond' because you have a pet. The official pages we read set no separate pet cleaning or fumigation condition, so reg 12's two cases remain the test for any professional clean, pet or no pet.
Your Victorian condition report sets the benchmark
Before you move in, the rental provider gives you 2 copies of a signed condition report, and one electronic copy counts as both (s 35(1) and (1A)). You send one back within 5 business days, signed or marked to show what you agree or disagree with (s 35(2)).
At the end, the rental provider or agent completes the exit part within 10 days after the agreement finishes, with you there or after giving you a reasonable chance to attend (s 35(5)). Our condition report guide covers how to make yours count.
The RTBA and claiming bond in Victoria
In most cases a bond can't be more than one month's rent (s 31(1)(a)). A higher bond is only allowed if the weekly rent is more than $900 or VCAT has ordered it. The Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) holds every bond in trust.
Lodging deadline: the Act gives a rental provider 10 business days to pass your bond to the RTBA (s 406(1)). Consumer Affairs Victoria's bond page words it as 14 days not including public holidays. We go by the Act.
From the bond, a rental provider can claim the reasonable cost of cleaning any part of the home you didn't leave reasonably clean, judged against its condition at the start (s 411AB(1)(c)).
Since 13 October 2026 they must give you the supporting evidence at least 3 days before they claim (s 411(1A)). That means an invoice, receipt, quote, photo or other prescribed evidence (s 3(1)), and it must not conflict with a statement in a condition report (s 411(1B)). Consumer Affairs Victoria says 3 business days; the Act's figure is 3 days.
Leaving a Victorian rental: steps to your bond refund
Pull out your condition report
Read your copy for how each room looked, and for any mention of a professional clean before you moved in.
Clean to that report
Work room by room. Leave what's only wear from ordinary living; deal with dirt and marks that weren't there.
Go to the exit inspection
Take photos of the cleaned, empty home with you. They sit well beside the exit part of the report.
Start or answer the claim
A rental provider has 14 days from the end of the agreement to start a claim with the RTBA, unless you start one first. If you start it, they have 14 days to dispute it, and if they do nothing the RTBA pays you. If they start it, you have 14 days to accept or it lapses.
Take a disagreement further
Any party can apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV), a VCAT service with no cost to renters or rental providers, or to VCAT. The binding order they make tells the RTBA what to pay.
Our advice for Victorian renters before booking a clean
Read your condition report for one thing first: a note that the home was professionally cleaned just before you moved in. If it's there and you were told, the same standard can be asked for at the end. If it isn't, the choice is yours, and if you'd rather spend the week on boxes and keys, tell us the clean and file the invoice with your photos.