Everyone plans for the clean. Almost nobody plans for the bill that turns up three weeks later.
Water is billed in arrears, so the final one lands well after you’ve handed over the keys, often after you’ve stopped thinking about that address entirely. And because it arrives late, it’s the charge most likely to still be sitting unpaid when someone goes looking at your bond.
The good news is that the law sets the split, not your lease, and it’s narrower than most agents’ emails suggest.
What you pay, and what you don’t
Consumer Affairs Victoria draws the line at the meter.
If the property has its own meter, you pay “the water they use, as well as the sewage disposal charge”. The rental provider pays “all other charges related to water supply and sewerage or drainage services”.
If the property doesn’t have its own meter, CAV is blunt about it: “the rental provider must pay.”
Tenants Victoria frames the same rule from the statute. Under section 53 of the Residential Tenancies Act and regulation 22, the rental provider carries “Water supply services, excluding your water usage” and “Sewer and drainage services, excluding sewerage disposal charges.”
Read those two lists side by side and the shape is clear.
| Charge on the bill | Separately metered | Not separately metered |
|---|---|---|
| Water usage (what you consumed) | Renter | Rental provider |
| Water supply / service charge | Rental provider | Rental provider |
| Sewage disposal charge | Renter | Rental provider |
| Sewerage and drainage service charges | Rental provider | Rental provider |
The trap is the middle two rows. A water bill shows a service charge and a usage charge on the same page, and it’s easy for a whole bill to get forwarded with “your final water” in the subject line. Unless you’re separately metered, most of that page isn’t yours.
If you’ve already paid something you shouldn’t have
You ask for it back, and there’s a clock on it. CAV states that “The rental provider has 28 days to repay the charge”, and the same 28 days runs the other way if the renter owes it.
Put the request in writing, attach the bill, and quote the meter position. That written trail matters more than the wording, because if this ends up in front of anyone, the dates are what they’ll look at.
Power and gas run on a different line
The utilities other than water split on installation versus use, not on metering.
- Installing and connecting the supply is theirs. CAV: “The rental provider must pay to have the electricity, gas or oil supply installed and connected.”
- Running it is yours, on a metered service, unless the lease says otherwise.
- Bottled gas is its own case: “If the property uses bottled gas the renter pays for the supply and hire of gas bottles.”
- Phone and internet work the same way. You pay usage and general connection fees on an existing line, but “The rental provider must pay all costs and charges for the initial installation of phone or internet connections.”
So the disconnection call on your way out is your job, not theirs. Tenants Victoria’s advice is to disconnect on your move-out date, specifically so you don’t wear the incoming tenant’s first fortnight.
Why this reaches the bond at all
Because “charges” is on the list. Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out why a rental provider might claim a bond, and among the reasons is that the renter:
owes the rental provider for rent or charges
That’s the same list that covers damage, being “missing items, for example, locks”, and not leaving the property reasonably clean. An unpaid final water bill gets no special category of its own. It’s money owed, and the bond is the money sitting closest to hand.
Which does not mean the number is right. A claim is a claim until it’s agreed or decided. If they lodge one you disagree with, you get 14 days to contest it, and the RTBA won’t pay out a contested claim without evidence of proceedings. I’ve written up how the RTBA claim and the 14-day clock actually work in full, and the same process applies whether the argument is about carpet or about a $60 usage charge.
Five minutes on move-out day
This is the part I’d do before the last box goes in the car, because none of it can be reconstructed afterwards.
- Photograph the water meter with the reading legible. Take a second shot pulled back far enough to show it’s the meter for that property.
- Do the same for power and gas if they’re accessible.
- Close the accounts with the date you handed back the keys, not the date you finished moving furniture. Those are often different days.
- Note the date and time of the handover and who you gave the keys to. This is the date every later argument gets measured from.
- Check your forwarding address is with the agent, so a late bill reaches you instead of aging quietly at the old place.
Photos of meters sound excessive right up until a bill arrives covering a period that starts before you left and ends after. Then it’s the only thing that splits it.
Where it fits with the rest of the paperwork
The final bill lands in the same window as two other documents that decide bond outcomes, so it’s worth knowing the order. Your rental provider or agent has to complete the exit section of the condition report within 10 days of you moving out, and the condition report is the document that decides most bond disputes. The exit entry is the half people forget exists. The clock on the whole handover starts earlier still, with the notice of intention to vacate.
Keep them together in one folder: notice, entry condition report, exit condition report, meter photos, final bills. If a claim ever lands, that folder is the entire argument.
The short version
① With a separate meter you pay water usage plus the sewage disposal charge, while supply, sewerage and drainage service charges stay with the rental provider. No separate meter, and they pay all of it ② An unpaid final bill can reach your bond, because CAV lists “owes the rental provider for rent or charges” as a ground for a claim, but you still get 14 days to contest any claim you disagree with ③ Photograph every meter on handover day and close the accounts on the date you returned the keys. If you’ve already paid a charge that wasn’t yours, the rental provider has 28 days to repay it
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay the water bill in a Victorian rental?
Part of it. Consumer Affairs Victoria says that if the property has its own meter, the renter pays for the water they use as well as the sewage disposal charge, and the rental provider pays all other charges related to water supply and sewerage or drainage services. If the property doesn't have its own meter, the rental provider must pay.
My place isn't separately metered and the agent is billing me for water. Is that right?
No. Consumer Affairs Victoria is explicit that where the property doesn't have its own meter, the rental provider must pay. Tenants Victoria puts the same rule under section 53 of the Residential Tenancies Act, so without separate meters, water charges including all sewage disposal charges sit with the rental provider. If you've already paid a charge that wasn't yours, the rental provider has 28 days to repay it once you ask.
Can they take an unpaid water bill out of my bond?
It's one of the reasons a bond claim can be made. Consumer Affairs Victoria lists the grounds for a rental provider's claim, and one of them is that the renter "owes the rental provider for rent or charges". That doesn't make the amount automatically correct. The usual bond process still applies, and you have 14 days to contest a claim you disagree with.
Who pays to disconnect the electricity and gas when I leave?
Ongoing supply and usage on a metered service is the renter's while you're living there, so closing the account on your move-out date is your job. Installation is a separate question. Consumer Affairs Victoria says the rental provider must pay to have the electricity, gas or oil supply installed and connected. If the property runs on bottled gas, the renter pays for the supply and hire of the bottles.
When does the final bill usually arrive, and what if my bond is already paid out?
Water is billed in arrears, so the last one often lands weeks after handover. That's why it's worth taking a meter photo on the day and closing the account with the date you left. If a bill shows up after the bond has been repaid, it becomes an ordinary debt between you and the retailer or the rental provider, and the RTBA is no longer holding money against it.
This guide is general information based on official sources current at the date shown above. Tenancy law differs by state and by agreement. For decisions about your own bond, check the official body linked above or get advice for your situation.
Keep reading
In Victoria a rental provider or agent can only list you on a tenant database after the lease has ended, and only if a breach left you owing more than the bond or led to a VCAT possession order. They have to warn you in writing and give you 14 days to object first. A listing is gone after three years at most, and sooner if you pay what you owe within three months.
In Victoria your bond has to sit with the RTBA, not in your landlord's account. If you paid the agent, they must lodge it within 14 days, the RTBA sends every renter a receipt with a bond number, and you can look the bond up online. Check it before you move out, because you need that bond number to claim it back.
A rental provider in Victoria can only end your tenancy for a reason on Consumer Affairs Victoria's list, and most of the end-of-lease reasons need 90 days' notice and paperwork attached. If the evidence is missing the notice is invalid, you have 30 days to challenge it at VCAT, and you can leave sooner on 14 days' notice of your own.