The dispute is about a home you rent, own or share, or the people next door.
The tribunal, the free service for your state, the usual first step for each kind of property dispute, and the guides that fit an informal forum.
A NSW tenancy and property litigation solicitor.
What is different about a property matter
- The forum is informal by design. State civil and administrative tribunals hear most tenancy, strata and smaller property disputes. Hearings are short, evidence rules are relaxed, and the member will ask you questions directly. Preparation is mostly of documents, photographs and a clear account, rather than written submissions.
- Notice periods and forms are strict even when the hearing is not. A termination notice with the wrong period can often be challenged, and a missed bond window sometimes has a later route (in NSW a bond application can be made within six months of the bond being paid out). Neither is automatic in either direction: find the rule in your state's tenancy law and ask the tenancy service what the challenge or extension route is.
- Photographs, dated, are strong evidence. Condition reports, repair requests with dates, and pictures with timestamps carry a lot of weight in tenancy matters, alongside what you and any witnesses say. The chronology and retrieval guides are the core skill.
- Neighbours are forever. Fence, tree and noise disputes have a free mediation service in most states, and fence and tree laws often set notice requirements that must be checked before a court step; the tribunal or court will often ask whether you tried mediation.
- Co-ownership disputes are court matters. Forcing a sale of jointly owned property, or disputes between co-owners, usually go to the Supreme Court (in NSW under section 66G of the Conveyancing Act 1919) and are worth an hour of advice before filing.
- Some states protect against retaliatory eviction. If a termination notice follows soon after you asserted a right, ask the tenancy service whether that protection exists where you are.
Forum, time limits, first steps
The tribunal or court your state assigns to tenancy, strata and neighbour matters (a civil and administrative tribunal in most states; the Magistrates Court for tenancy in WA); the Local or Magistrates Court for some fence and small property claims; the Supreme Court for co-ownership and title. State law throughout, so the NSW rules pages apply in NSW only.
Bond claims, responses to termination notices, and applications to the tribunal each have their own window, set by the tenancy Act and the tribunal's rules in your state and running from a specific trigger such as service or payout. The free tenancy service will tell you today's figure and what it runs from.
Put the request or objection in writing to the landlord or agent, dated, with photographs, and keep the copy. Most tribunals expect to see that you asked before you applied. The request, refusal, exhibit pattern is exactly this.
A calm letter, then the state's community justice or dispute resolution centre. Most fence and tree laws require notice in a set form before any court step.
Internal dispute resolution and the owners corporation first, then the tribunal. Keep minutes, notices and levies in one folder from the start.
Renting, neighbours, co-owners
The tenancy service for your state, linked below, is the first call for anything about a lease: they see every kind of landlord letter every week and can tell you which are valid. For neighbours, the mediation service is free and the letter you write before it is the record. For co-owners, the question is usually whether the property can be sold and how proceeds are divided; that is a court application with real costs consequences, and the escalation ladder and a written offer come first.
Which guides apply
- The first 48 hoursFor the eviction notice or the letter from the agent.
- Request → refusal → exhibitRepair requests and bond claims are built from this pair.
- Build a living chronologyDated photographs and requests, in order, with the file for each.
- Orders, directions and deadlinesNotice periods are rule deadlines. Check the source of every date.
- Hearing-eve checklistTribunal hearings are short; the folder still has to be right.
- Say the helpful thing earlyConfirm every phone call with the agent the same day.
Official resources
- Tenancy services: Tenants' Union NSW, Tenants Victoria, QSTARS (Queensland), Circle Green (WA), RentRight SA, Tenants' Union of Tasmania, Legal Aid ACT tenancy, Darwin Community Legal Service
- Tribunals and courts: NCAT, VCAT, QCAT, the WA Magistrates Court for most tenancy matters (SAT for strata and some property matters), SACAT, TASCAT, ACAT, NTCAT
- Everything else by state on the resources page