What to do today, and who to call, in your state.
The steps and numbers depend on it.
A notice alone can't make you leave. Your landlord needs an order from a tribunal or court before you can be made to leave.
Several bills at once? The Hardship Helper puts them in one plan, with letters.
Hardship lines for energy, phone and internet, banks and lenders, water, insurers, tolls and debt collectors. Ask for the hardship team.
The rules behind the steps above, with where each one comes from.
Paying in full, or keeping an agreed plan, can stop it
In NSW, a landlord can give a termination notice for unpaid rent once the rent has been unpaid for at least 14 days. The date on the notice must be at least 14 days after the notice is given. The notice alone does not end your tenancy: if you stay, the landlord has to apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), and only a sheriff's officer with a warrant from NCAT can make you leave.
You do not have to leave if you pay all the rent and charges you owe, or agree a repayment plan with your landlord and fully keep to it. This still applies after NCAT has made an order, as long as you still live there. It does not apply if NCAT finds you have often paid late. The termination notice itself must tell you this.
Paying by the termination date can cancel the notice
In Victoria, a rental provider can give a notice to vacate once you owe at least 14 days' rent. The termination date must be at least 14 days after the notice is given. If you stay, the rental provider has to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a possession order, and must not force you to leave any other way.
If you pay all the unpaid rent on or before the termination date, the notice has no effect. This applies the first four times in a 12-month period of your agreement that you owe at least 14 days' rent. On those first four, if it goes to VCAT, VCAT can put you on a payment plan instead of ending the tenancy, and if you keep to it and pay what you owe, the application is dismissed.
Paying in the time on the notice can keep your tenancy
In Queensland, once rent has been unpaid for at least 7 days, the lessor can give you a notice to remedy breach (Form 11), which must give you at least 7 days to pay. If you don't pay in that time, they can give you a notice to leave (Form 12) with at least 7 days' notice. If you stay, the tenancy only ends if the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) orders it, and QCAT decides whether the breach justifies ending it.
If you pay the full amount the notice to remedy breach asks for within the time it gives you, at least 7 days, the breach is remedied and the lessor can't give you a notice to leave for it. Your tenancy continues. This may not protect you if you have already had 2 notices to remedy for unpaid rent in the last 12 months.
Paying within the time on the notice can keep your tenancy
In South Australia, once rent has been unpaid for at least 14 days, the landlord can give you a notice of breach (Form 5) that gives you at least 7 days to pay. If you don't pay in that time, the tenancy ends under the notice. If you are still there, the landlord has to get a possession order from the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT), and only a bailiff can enforce it.
If you pay the unpaid rent within the time the notice gives you, at least 7 days, the breach is remedied and the tenancy does not end. If the tenancy has ended under the notice, you can ask SACAT to reinstate it before you move out. SACAT can do that if it is just and equitable. If you had 2 notices for unpaid rent in the 12 months before you fell behind this time, the landlord can go straight to SACAT.
Paying in full before the date can stop court action
In Western Australia, a lessor can act as soon as rent is late. They can give a breach notice (Form 21) asking you to pay within 14 days and then a termination notice (Form 1A), or give a termination notice straight away (Form 1B). A termination notice must give you at least 7 days. If you stay, only a court can end the tenancy, and no one may enter to take back the home without a court order.
If you got a breach notice (Form 21) and you pay all the rent owing before a termination notice comes, the lessor can't give you one for that breach. That notice can come 14 days after the breach notice. If the lessor gave you a termination notice straight away, without a breach notice first, and you pay the rent due in full before the day on that notice, the lessor can't apply to court. On that kind of notice, if they have already applied, paying the rent due and their court fee in full at least 1 day before the hearing stops the case, and the hearing can't be sooner than 21 days after the notice.
Paying all the arrears before the date can cancel the notice
In Tasmania, an owner can serve a notice to vacate when rent is unpaid; the Act sets no minimum time behind first. The date it takes effect must be at least 14 days after the notice is served; if the notice gives a sooner date, it still counts but takes effect only after those 14 days. If you are still there after that date, the owner has to apply to the Magistrates Court for an order for vacant possession, and must not take back the home any other way.
If you pay all the rent arrears before the date the notice takes effect, the notice has no effect. This does not apply if 2 or more notices to vacate for unpaid rent were served on you in the 12 months before.
Paying within the 7 days can keep your tenancy
In the ACT, once rent has been unpaid for 1 week, the lessor can serve a notice to remedy. If the rent isn't paid within 1 week of that notice, they can serve a notice to vacate giving you 2 weeks. If you stay, only the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) can end the tenancy, and it can make a payment order instead.
If you pay all the rent owing up to the day you pay, within 7 days of being served the notice to remedy, no further action can be taken and your tenancy continues. This may not apply if you have already had 2 notices to remedy in this tenancy. If it goes to ACAT, ACAT can refuse to end the tenancy if you have paid the rent owing, are likely to keep paying and it considers that just and appropriate. It can also make a payment order instead.
Paying the notice amount before its date stops it
In the Northern Territory, once rent has been in arrears for at least 14 days, the landlord can give you a notice to remedy the breach (form RT03). It states the amount to pay and must give you more than 7 days to pay it. If you don't, the landlord can apply to the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT), which may end the tenancy; the landlord must not take possession without an NTCAT order.
If you pay the full amount the notice states before the date on it, which must be more than 7 days after the notice is given, the breach is remedied, and the landlord can't use that notice to ask NTCAT to end the tenancy.
Once rent is unpaid, your landlord or agent can give you a notice. How soon depends on your state, and in WA and Tasmania it can be straight away. A notice alone can't make you leave. To make you leave, your landlord has to apply to the tribunal, or the court in WA and Tasmania, and get an order. Paying what you owe in time can keep your tenancy in every state, but what counts as in time, and the exceptions, differ. Pick your state above for the exact steps.
No. Your landlord can't force you out or take back the home themselves. To make you leave, they have to apply to the tribunal, or the court in WA and Tasmania, and only its order can do that.
Not because of the notice alone. Some notices give a date to pay by, others a date to leave by. Either way, only an order from the tribunal or court can make you leave. Get advice from your state's tenants' advice service now, even if the date has passed.
Tell your landlord or agent before the rent is due, in writing, and say when you can pay. Then call your state's tenants' advice service, and check whether you can get help with rent where you live. Pick your state above for the numbers.
Some states and territories have help for private renters who've fallen behind, usually through a housing service or a community organisation. Pick your state above to see who to ask. If you get a Centrelink payment, Rent Assistance is paid automatically with some payments when your rent is over a set amount, so make sure Centrelink has your current rent.
Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 before you do. Paying rent with a credit card, a payday loan or buy now pay later can stop a notice, but it moves the debt somewhere that usually costs more, with interest and fees. A financial counsellor can look at all your debts with you.
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This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Rules vary by state and change over time. A registered financial counsellor can check your options properly. Free, independent, confidential. National Debt Helpline 1800 007 007.
Rules from TEKVA's rules library, checked 19 October 2026. Page updated .