The Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria has issued five guidelines, which relate directly to specific reforms. The purpose of the guidelines is to outline the Director’s position on compliance and non‑compliance with the Act, ensuring greater consistency

in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal  (VCAT) decision making and dispute resolution. VCAT must consider the guidelines when determining particular applications made under the Act.

The Act is not prescriptive and does not go into great detail about what the parties’ obligations mean in practice. The guidelines summarise relevant case law that may be useful in interpreting the Act and providing practical guidance that parties to a tenancy agreement can rely on when determining how to comply with their duties, facilitating the resolution of unnecessary or protracted disputes.

These guidelines are available online from the Consumer Affairs website (scroll to the bottom of the page, under “New renting guidelines” section), however we have made them available on the Mint website for your convenience.

The Guidelines are covered in the following five documents (each opens in a new browser tab):

• Guideline 1 – Maintenance
• Guideline 2 – Cleanliness
• Guideline 3 – Damage and fair wear and tear
• Guideline 4 – Urgent repairs
• Guideline 5 – Endanger

We also encourage you to look at the Getting ready for the new rental laws page of consumer affairs as it contains a summary of the most important amendments in plain English.