What repairs is a landlord required to do?

Residential tenancy law in every state and territory imposes a repair obligation on the lessor, and it cannot be contracted out of by a term in the lease. Several states have also introduced minimum standards covering things like functioning heating, hot water, locks and ventilation.

Generally the landlord's responsibility

• Anything that was there at the start of the tenancy and has stopped working through fair wear and tear.
• The structure, roof, plumbing, drainage, electrical installation and hot water system.
• Supplied appliances, unless the lease genuinely excludes them and the state permits that.
• Compliance items such as smoke alarms, pool barriers and, where the state requires it, electrical and gas safety checks.

Generally the tenant's

• Damage the tenant or their visitors caused, beyond fair wear and tear.
• Consumables such as light globes and, in most states, tap washers.
• Keeping drains clear of what the tenant put down them, though tree roots are not that.
• Reporting problems promptly, because a small leak left unreported that becomes a large one changes the position.

How to ask

In writing, always, with photographs and the date. Every state's process, and every tribunal, starts from what was requested and when. A phone call to an agent leaves no record, and the absence of a record is what most repair disputes actually turn on.