The email usually lands the week after you hand in your notice. “We’ll be holding an open for inspection on Saturday at 11.” You are halfway through packing, the lounge is a wall of boxes, and you have a cleaner booked for the same week.
I’ve turned up to end-of-lease jobs where the agent had a group walking through the rooms while I was working on the carpet. Nobody had done anything wrong exactly. The renter just didn’t know they had any say in when that happened. You do, and Consumer Affairs Victoria spells most of it out on one page.
The kind of visit sets the notice
CAV’s entry page has a table of minimum notice periods. The rows that matter in your last weeks are these:
| Why they want to come in | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Showing the property to renters, buyers or lenders | 48 hours |
| Having the property valued | 7 days |
| Taking photos or making videos for advertising | 7 days |
| General inspection (routine inspection) | 7 days |
| Repairs or other legal responsibilities | 24 hours |
CAV says the notice “must be in writing and state the reason for entry”. Tenants Victoria is blunter: “a phone call is not enough”. Email or text only counts if you have given written consent to receive notices that way.
Whatever the reason, entry has to be between 8 am and 6 pm on any day except a public holiday. A Saturday morning open is allowed. An evening one is only allowed if you agree, and CAV says that agreement has to be made no more than 7 days before the entry.
Showings for new renters only start in the last 21 days
This is the rule most renters don’t know about. CAV says the agent can show the place to prospective renters only once a notice to vacate or notice of intention to vacate has been given, and:
“The open inspection must happen no more than 21 days before the end of the rental agreement.”
The end date is the one in your notice, not the day you plan to hand back keys. If you gave notice six weeks out and the agent wants an open in week two, that is before the window. CAV lists it as one of the reasons you can refuse entry.
Inside the window there is still a cap:
“The rental provider or their agent must not show the property to prospective renters more than twice a week, or for longer than one hour each time.”
So two showings a week, an hour each, unless you agree to more. The agent can bring one group at a time or run an open inspection. You don’t get to veto the open format.
If the place is being sold, the rules shift
A sale is a different path with its own paperwork. Tenants Victoria says the landlord or agent must give you a notice of intention to sell, in writing and signed, at least 14 days before they can ask to enter for a sales inspection. After that, each showing still needs the 48 hour written notice of entry.
Showings for buyers carry the same twice a week, one hour limit. CAV also says the agent “must make all reasonable efforts to agree with the renter on the days and the times” for sales inspections, so it pays to reply first with the times that suit you.
Then there is the part renters are almost never told about. CAV:
“Rental providers must compensate renters for each sales inspection. The compensation is either half a day’s rent or $30, whichever is greater.”
CAV’s own examples: rent of $250 a week works out to $30 per inspection, because half a day’s rent is less than $30. Rent of $900 a week works out to $64. Tenants Victoria says the payment applies to open inspections and individual sales inspections alike, but not to opens for renting the place to someone else.
If it isn’t paid, Tenants Victoria points you to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria. You can also complain to CAV, though they note that “Consumer Affairs Victoria does not pay compensation to renters.”
A valuation is treated differently again. If a lender’s valuer is coming, Tenants Victoria says the agent needs a written notice of entry with at least 7 days’ notice, stating that the purpose is valuation, and does not need the notice of intention to sell for that visit.
Photos of your stuff
When the agent books a photographer for the new listing, your furniture is usually still in the rooms. The entry needs 7 days’ written notice, and you have two separate rights.
The first is to object. CAV says you “may object in writing” if the photos or video would show belongings that could identify you or reveal sensitive information, are valuable enough to raise a theft risk, are unreasonable to remove or hide, or could identify someone at risk of family violence. Once you object, the agent must not take shots that do those things.
The second is to see the photos first. If you ask, CAV says the agent “must not use the photos or videos before the renter has seen them and agreed in writing”.
Tenants Victoria adds one more condition. If the photos are more than 12 months old, or were taken for another purpose, they can only be republished with your written consent. Old listing shots from when you moved in fall into that bucket.
In practice, send a short email the day you get the photo notice. List what you don’t want shown (the kids’ names on the fridge, mail on the bench, anything valuable) and ask to review the images before they go live.
You don’t have to be home, and you don’t have to leave
CAV says “the renter does not have to be home” when valid written notice has been given. It also says renters are sometimes asked to be out during showings, but “the renter is not required to leave.”
The people coming through must not “exercise their right to enter in an unreasonable manner” or stay “any longer than necessary for the purpose of the entry”. Tenants Victoria’s example of reasonable is not looking through bedroom wardrobes or bathroom cabinets, and not damaging your belongings.
One protection is easy to miss. CAV says a protected person under a family violence or personal safety intervention order can require the property to be shown by appointment only, rather than through open inspections.
When you can say no
CAV lists the reasons a renter can refuse entry. The ones that come up while moving out:
- The visit isn’t between 8 am and 6 pm, or it falls on a public holiday.
- You haven’t been given written notice.
- The notice wasn’t given properly, for example not far enough in advance.
- It is a showing for renters before the last 21 days of the agreement.
Refusing a valid entry is a different matter. Tenants Victoria says the landlord can then serve a breach of duty notice giving 14 days to comply, which can lead to a VCAT compliance order. That is not a fight worth having in your last month, when the same agent is about to sign off on your bond.
If the rules are broken repeatedly, the options Tenants Victoria describes are a breach of duty notice of your own, compensation through RDRV, or an application to VCAT to limit entry. CAV also says a renter with good reasons can ask VCAT to set limits on entry times.
Fitting showings around the final clean
This is where the rules help you most. Showings for renters can only start 21 days out, capped at two a week, and each one needs 48 hours’ written notice. So by the time your final clean is booked, you will usually know every showing date in advance.
Book the clean for a day with no showing on it. People walking through a freshly vacuumed or damp carpet in outdoor shoes is the one thing I’d go out of my way to avoid. A mark that turns up after the clean is hard to explain at the exit inspection.
The order that works:
- Check the end date on your notice and count back 21 days. That is when rental showings can start.
- Reply to the first entry notice with the days and hours that suit you, in writing.
- When the photo notice arrives, send your written objections and ask to see the images first.
- If a sale notice arrives instead, note each sales inspection so you can claim the $30 or half a day’s rent.
- Book the final clean on a day with no showing, then do your own exit photos.
For the dates around all of this, the moving-out timeline works backwards from your end date, and the end date itself comes from the notice of intention to vacate. Routine inspections earlier in the tenancy follow separate rules, covered in the rental inspection checklist.
The short version
Showings for new renters need 48 hours’ written notice, can only happen in the last 21 days before your end date, and are capped at twice a week for an hour each. If the place is being sold, you should get a notice of intention to sell at least 14 days first, and every sales inspection earns you half a day’s rent or $30, whichever is greater. You can object in writing to advertising photos of your belongings and ask to see them before they are used, and you don’t have to leave the house for any of it.
Frequently asked questions
How much notice does the agent need to give before showing my rental to new renters in Victoria?
Consumer Affairs Victoria's notice table lists 48 hours for "Showing the property to renters, buyers or lenders", and says the notice must be in writing and state the reason for entry. Tenants Victoria adds that a phone call is not enough. Entry has to be between 8 am and 6 pm on any day except a public holiday unless you agree otherwise.
How early can they start showing the place after I give notice?
Not before the last 21 days. CAV says a rental showing can only happen once a notice to vacate or notice of intention to vacate has been given, and that the open inspection must happen no more than 21 days before the end of the rental agreement. A request to show the place before that window is one CAV lists as a reason a renter can refuse entry.
How many open inspections can they hold before I move out?
CAV says the rental provider or agent must not show the property to prospective renters more than twice a week, or for longer than one hour each time, unless the current renter agrees to something different. The same twice a week, one hour limit applies to showings for buyers.
Do I get paid when they show the place to buyers?
Yes. CAV says rental providers must compensate renters for each sales inspection, and the amount is half a day's rent or $30, whichever is greater. Tenants Victoria says this covers both open inspections and individual sales inspections, but does not apply to open inspections for renting the property to someone else.
Can they photograph my furniture for the rental ad?
They need 7 days' written notice to enter for photos or video. You can object in writing if the shots would show belongings that could identify you, reveal sensitive information, are valuable enough to raise a theft risk, are unreasonable to remove or hide, or could identify someone at risk of violence. You can also ask to see the photos first, and CAV says they cannot be used until you have seen them and agreed in writing.
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.