Everyone knows the oven is coming. It still gets left until the last afternoon, when the truck has gone and the kettle is packed, and it is still the line item that turns up most often on a bond claim.
There’s a reason it holds that position, and it isn’t only that baked-on grease is unpleasant work. The oven is the single appliance Victoria’s cleanliness guideline names out loud. It is also on the wrong side of the one sentence in that guideline where VCAT’s past findings get summarised. If you are going to lose an argument about cleaning, this is the most likely place.
The other half of that picture rarely gets said: the bar is lower than most exit reports imply, and the demand that usually accompanies it — get it professionally cleaned — is only enforceable in two narrow situations.
The one sentence about ovens
The Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria issues guidelines under section 486 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997. Guideline 2 (Cleanliness) is the one that matters here, and it states that VCAT must have regard to it when determining applications under sections 211B and 452 — the sections a bond dispute runs through.
Its list of what you would expect in reasonably clean premises opens with the kitchen:
“Cooking appliances including the oven, stove and rangehood to be free of oil, grease, and food stains.”
That’s the whole obligation, in one line. Three appliances, three substances. Not “as new”. Not “professionally detailed”. Free of oil, grease and food stains.
Underneath it sits section 63 of the Act: a renter must keep and leave the premises in a reasonably clean condition, and leave them in the same condition as when they moved in, taking into account fair wear and tear.
What “reasonably clean” actually means
This is where most exit reports quietly overreach, and the guideline is unusually direct about it:
“Cleanliness should be measured according to average standards in the community. It does not mean spotless or pristine nor does it mean terribly messy; the standard should sit somewhere in the middle and will depend on the nature, age, and circumstances of the rented premises.”
And it gives a working test you can apply while you’re standing in front of the appliance:
“Generally, an item or surface may be considered reasonably clean if it is free from marks, dirt, cobwebs, stains or dust etc. and cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard”
Cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard. That is the finish line for an oven. If another hour of ordinary effort would produce no further change, you’re there — regardless of whether the enamel still carries a shadow of ten years of roasts.
Note the “nature, age, and circumstances” clause too. A twelve-year-old oven in a 1990s rental is not being measured against a display model.
Why the oven loses anyway
Having set a moderate bar, the same guideline summarises what VCAT has previously found falls below it:
“VCAT has previously found that cobwebs, dusty walls and dirty kitchen appliances are indicative of a state which is not ‘reasonably clean’.”
Dirty kitchen appliances. Named, in the losing column, alongside cobwebs. So there’s no reading of this document where a greasy oven is fine — the moderate standard is a defence against perfectionism, not against skipping the job.
Both halves are true at once, and they answer different questions:
| The question | What the document says |
|---|---|
| Do I have to clean the oven? | Yes — dirty kitchen appliances are evidence a property is not reasonably clean |
| How clean? | Free of oil, grease and food stains, to average community standards |
| How do I know when I’m done? | When further cleaning to a reasonable standard would not improve it |
| Does it have to look new? | No — “does not mean spotless or pristine”, and age and nature of the premises count |
Your entry condition is the ceiling, not their expectation
The guideline records two findings that do a lot of work here:
“VCAT has held that ‘reasonably clean’ does not mean a condition which is superior to that documented in the condition report and the fact that the premises are in a lesser state than they were at the beginning of the tenancy does not necessarily mean that the renter is liable to compensate the RRP.”
And section 65 runs the other way: on the day you were to take occupancy, the property had to be vacant and reasonably clean. If the oven had baked-on grease on day one, that was already a shortfall on their side, and returning it in that state is not a shortfall on yours.
None of which helps if it isn’t written down. This is the practical reason the entry report is worth the twenty minutes — I’ve set out separately how condition reports decide bond outcomes in Victoria, and the oven interior is exactly the kind of thing that needs a close-up rather than a tick.
The guideline is explicit that close-ups are the evidence it expects: “Close up photos can be used to identify any existing deterioration such as scuff marks on walls, carpets, appliances, and fixtures.”
“It has to be professionally cleaned” — the two-limb test
This is the demand that costs renters real money, and it has been regulated since 29 March 2021.
Regulation 12 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 prescribes a clause that must be in the agreement:
“The residential rental provider must not require the renter to arrange professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard at the end of the tenancy unless – (a) professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard was carried out to the rented premises immediately before the start of the tenancy and the renter was advised that professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard had been carried out to those premises immediately before the start of the tenancy; or (b) professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard is required to restore the rented premises to the same condition they were in immediately before the start of the tenancy, having regard to the condition report and taking into account fair wear and tear.”
An agreement entered into after 29 March 2021 must not contain a professional cleaning clause inconsistent with that.
Three things in it are worth pulling out.
“Immediately” is doing real work. The guideline interprets it directly: the cleaning must have been done “as close as possible to the start of the tenancy”, and a provider “must not require a renter to have the rented premises professionally cleaned … in circumstances where such cleaning was performed well in advance (for example, months or even years prior)”. A property professionally cleaned and then left vacant for three months does not carry the obligation forward to you.
You had to be told. Not just that it happened — that you were advised it happened, for example in the condition report. “If the renter has not been advised that professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard was carried out to the premises, the RRP will not be able to seek professional cleaning or cleaning to a professional standard at the end of the tenancy.”
The two phrases mean different things. The guideline defines them separately: professional cleaning means “engaging a person whose paid occupation is cleaning or a person who has special expertise or skills in cleaning”, while cleaning to a professional standard means “cleaning to a standard that is higher than ‘reasonably clean’”, not necessarily done by a professional. So limb (a) is not a demand for a receipt — it’s a demand for a standard, which you can meet yourself.
And limb (b) exists for a reason. If something happened during your tenancy that a normal clean won’t undo, that limb bites even without any entry-condition trigger. The guideline’s own examples are lingering odours from cigarette smoke or pets, wine or urine stains in carpet, grease or soot stains on walls or ceilings, and soap scum build-up. An oven fire that left soot across the splashback is squarely in that territory. A regular four years of cooking is not.
When the oven is damaged, not dirty
Different document, different test. Guideline 3 (Damage and fair wear and tear) covers what happens when the complaint is about the state of the appliance rather than the state of the grease.
Its blunt line: “The RRP is not entitled to compensation merely because things wear out.” Section 61(2) of the Act says damage does not include fair wear and tear.
The kitchen example it gives translates neatly:
| Fair wear and tear | Damage |
|---|---|
| Worn / faded kitchen bench top | Burns or cuts in the kitchen bench top |
A discoloured oven interior, a scratched enamel base, a door seal that has gone hard after a decade — those read as things wearing out. A cracked glass door reads differently.
And even when something genuinely is damage, the bill isn’t automatic. Regulation 90 prescribes the ATO’s Rental Properties 2020 Guide as the depreciation scale VCAT must consider when working out what a renter owes for a damaged part of the premises. An invoice for a brand-new appliance, presented against a fifteen-year-old one, is a claim to push back on.
Doing the job, in the order that actually saves time
Nothing exotic here, and no special product required by any of the documents above.
- Take the racks and any removable trays out first and get them soaking while you work on everything else. They’re the part that responds best to time rather than effort.
- Work on the interior while it’s cold and empty. Check the manual before using an oven cleaner — some ovens have catalytic or self-cleaning liners that the manufacturer says not to treat with one, and replacing a liner is a worse outcome than a slightly shadowed one.
- Then the glass. Between the panes is a common failure point in exit reports, and on many ovens the inner glass is removable — again, the manual decides.
- Cooktop, trivets and knobs. Trivets and burner caps come off and soak with the racks. The guideline names the stove alongside the oven.
- Rangehood and its filter last, so the grease you dislodge lands on surfaces you haven’t done yet. Metal mesh filters generally take a hot degreasing soak.
- Photograph all of it on the day you hand back the keys, with the same close-ups the guideline asks for at entry.
If the oven is beyond what ordinary effort will shift and you decide to pay someone, that’s a reasonable choice — just make it as your own call about your time, not because a clause you haven’t checked against regulation 12 told you to. The cost of end of lease cleaning is worth knowing before you agree to a quote at the door.
If they take it from your bond anyway
The bond has its own clock and its own process, and it does not depend on you agreeing with the exit report. Claiming the bond back through the RTBA starts a defined timeline, and the escalation path after that is free until the tribunal. That’s all set out in how to get your bond back in Victoria.
What you want in hand before you start is narrow: the entry condition report, your entry close-ups of the oven, your exit close-ups, and the agreement’s cleaning clause. Against a claim quoting a standard higher than “reasonably clean”, the guideline is the document VCAT is required to have regard to — and your agent’s exit report is not.
The short version ① Guideline 2 names the oven directly — “Cooking appliances including the oven, stove and rangehood to be free of oil, grease, and food stains” — but sets the bar at average community standards, “not spotless or pristine”, and finished when further reasonable cleaning would not improve it ② A demand for professional cleaning only holds under regulation 12 if it was done immediately before your tenancy and you were told, or if it’s needed to restore the entry condition allowing for fair wear and tear — and “cleaning to a professional standard” is a standard you can meet yourself, not a receipt you must buy ③ Wear is not damage: “The RRP is not entitled to compensation merely because things wear out”, and regulation 90 makes VCAT consider the ATO depreciation scale before a renter pays for anything replaced
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to get the oven professionally cleaned before I move out?
Only in two situations. Regulation 12 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 says a rental provider must not require professional cleaning, or cleaning to a professional standard, unless it was carried out immediately before the start of your tenancy and you were told so, or unless it is required to restore the premises to the condition they were in at the start, having regard to the condition report and allowing for fair wear and tear. If neither applies, the obligation is the ordinary one — leave it reasonably clean. A clause in a newer agreement that goes further than regulation 12 is inconsistent with it.
What standard does the oven actually have to meet?
Guideline 2 (Cleanliness) says that in reasonably clean premises you would expect "Cooking appliances including the oven, stove and rangehood to be free of oil, grease, and food stains." The same guideline sets the general bar - cleanliness "should be measured according to average standards in the community. It does not mean spotless or pristine nor does it mean terribly messy." The working test it gives is whether the surface "cannot be further improved by additional cleaning to a reasonable standard."
The oven was already filthy when I moved in. Does that help me?
Yes, if it is documented. The guideline records that VCAT has held "reasonably clean" does not mean a condition superior to the one documented in the condition report, and that the fact premises are in a lesser state than at the start does not automatically make the renter liable. Section 65 also required the property to be handed to you in a reasonably clean condition. Your entry condition report and your move-in photos are what turn that from an argument into evidence.
Can they charge me for a stained or discoloured oven interior?
Not simply because it has aged. Guideline 3 is explicit that "The RRP is not entitled to compensation merely because things wear out", and it places a worn or faded kitchen bench top on the fair wear and tear side while putting burns or cuts on the damage side. Regulation 90 also prescribes the ATO Rental Properties 2020 Guide as the depreciation scale VCAT must consider when working out what a renter owes for a damaged part of the premises.
Does the rangehood filter count as part of the oven job?
The guideline names the rangehood in the same line as the oven and stove, so oil and grease on it sit in the same obligation. Separately, the guideline expects "Heating ducts and exhaust fans to be clean and free of dust", and it adds a limit worth knowing - cleaning at heights "may often be considered maintenance which is the responsibility of the RRP", and renters are not expected to reach places where access may be dangerous.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Guideline 2, Cleanliness (Director's Guidelines)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria — Guideline 3, Damage and fair wear and tear (Director's Guidelines)
- Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic)
- Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 (Vic)
- Tenants Victoria — Consumer Affairs Victoria guidelines
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
Everyone argues about the oven. The deductions that actually stick are the other seven lines (cupboards, sink, dishwasher, rangehood, exhaust fans, floors and skirtings), because those are the ones Victoria's Director's Guideline names word for word. Here's the guideline's own kitchen list, the standard it sets, the items on your agent's sheet that aren't on it, and where a worn benchtop stops being your problem.
Victoria's Residential Tenancies Act says damage does not include fair wear and tear, which it defines as deterioration from reasonable use and natural forces. Consumer Affairs Victoria's Guideline 3 gives side-by-side examples, and VCAT has to weigh the age of an item using the ATO depreciation guide. An 8-year-old carpet is the example CAV uses for one a renter can't be charged to replace.
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.