Goods left behind in WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT

WA Western Australia

Consumer Protection WA writes for a landlord or park operator who cannot reach the tenant, or has had no instructions about the goods. Its order is rubbish first, then the rest by kind.

• Rubbish can go, from food, papers and boxes to toiletries, medicines, paint and chemicals.
• Goods worth less than the cost of handling them. If the goods look worth less than it would cost to remove them, store them for at least 60 days and sell them at public auction, the landlord can choose to dispose of them instead, and the page says this can include jewellery, vehicles, caravans, trailers or boats. First the landlord should have made a reasonable attempt to have the tenant collect them. The tenant can still seek compensation from the Magistrates Court or the State Administrative Tribunal, and the page recommends a written estimated value from someone such as a second-hand dealer, with written quotes for storing the goods for 60 days and selling them at public auction.
• Goods of value in a residential tenancy must be stored at once, safely, for at least 60 days. Within seven days of storing them the landlord must try to tell the tenant: on Form CP2 if the tenant’s contact details are known, or otherwise on Form 3, published in a newspaper circulating throughout the state and placed somewhere prominent at the property, within nine days. Goods can be reclaimed by paying reasonable removal and storage costs; goods unclaimed after 60 days must be sold at public auction. The balance goes into the Rental Accommodation Fund through a Magistrates Court application on Form 11. A caravan or residential park has its own notice and sale steps on the same page.
• Documents and photographs must be kept under section 80A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987, for at least 60 days, with reasonable steps to tell the tenant where to collect them. The page suggests treating computers, phones and other digital storage the same way, and both can be disposed of after the 60 days.
• Some things need a call first. For an abandoned vehicle or trailer, the page says to contact the Police first to see whether it was stolen. Firearms and illegal drug paraphernalia or equipment are reported to the WA Police. Rented items from a supplier, money and pets each have their own contact on the page.

A landlord cannot seize the tenant’s goods to make up for rent owed.

SA South Australia

A rental home can’t be treated as abandoned unless the landlord is sure the people living there won’t be coming back. Once sure, SA.GOV.AU gives the landlord five steps:

1. throw away perishable items such as food
2. leave everything else at the property for at least two more days
3. give the tenant reasonable access over those two days to collect their things
4. list what is there, with photos if possible
5. work out whether the belongings would fetch more than it costs to remove, store and sell them.

For the costs, the landlord should get quotes for removal and storage; for the value, a quote from a second-hand dealer. If the items are worth more, the landlord must try to contact the tenant and take steps to keep valuable items safe for at least 7 days. The owner can claim them by paying the removal and storage costs; if nobody claims them within 7 days, the landlord may sell them or get rid of them as though they were the landlord’s own. Sale money covers those costs and anything else the tenant owes under the agreement; the rest goes to a bonds officer at Consumer and Business Services.

For personal documents, the landlord must try to contact the tenant as soon as possible and hold the documents safely for at least 7 days; any not reclaimed in that time can be destroyed or disposed of, in a way that protects the tenant’s privacy, such as shredding. Pets and livestock are not belongings: they should be secured and cared for at the property until someone else can take them on.

TAS Tasmania

Consumer Affairs Tasmania’s page, last updated 19 February 2020, starts with whether the home has been abandoned at all. It counts a home as abandoned when the tenant has left without notice, the tenant has given no notice of termination, and the owner has served no notice to vacate. While rent is still being paid, it is not abandoned. An owner who takes possession when it was not, for example while a tenant behind on rent is away on holiday meaning to return, may be in breach of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997; an owner who is unsure can ask the Magistrates Court of Tasmania for an order declaring it abandoned.

Money from a sale can cover the tenant’s debts to the owner and the costs of selling. Anything left over goes into an interest-bearing account for 6 months after the sale, and if the tenant has not claimed it by then, the owner must pay it to the Rental Deposit Authority.

ACT Australian Capital Territory

In the ACT’s Renting Book (January 2026), tenants are responsible for removing all their goods when they move out, and anyone who leaves something by accident and wants it back should contact the landlord or agent as soon as possible. Under ACT law, goods left in a rental become ‘uncollected goods’, and a landlord must follow procedures under the Uncollected Goods Act 1996 to dispose of or sell them; Access Canberra’s website has more on those procedures. A tenant who leaves goods behind may be charged for storing and disposing of them. And landlords may wish to get legal advice before disposing of or selling goods a former tenant left, especially goods of value.