If you have just been locked out
When a landlord changes the locks, it is usually exercising, or claiming to exercise, a right of re-entry under the lease. A valid re-entry ends the lease. An invalid one does not, and the tenant may be able to get back in and claim damages.
- Do not force your way back in. It can make your position worse.
- Gather the paperwork: the lease, any breach or default notice, the re-entry notice, emails and rent records.
- Write down what happened, and what stock, equipment and records are still inside.
- Get advice the same day if you can. Delay can count against a tenant asking for urgent relief.
Re-entry and termination for breach
Most commercial leases let the landlord re-enter and end the lease if the tenant defaults, for example by leaving rent unpaid for a set period or breaching another obligation. Re-entry is usually done by changing the locks, and it should be peaceable. A landlord can rely on a re-entry clause only if the default really happened and every step the lease and the law require has been taken.
For unpaid rent, the lease sets the steps. Many leases allow re-entry once rent has been unpaid for a stated number of days, whether or not it has been demanded; some also require a written notice. For any other breach, the Property Law Act 1958 (Vic) adds a notice requirement.
The section 146 notice
For a breach other than non-payment of rent, a landlord cannot enforce a right of re-entry or forfeiture until it has served a notice that specifies the breach, requires it to be remedied if it can be, and requires compensation for it. The tenant must then have failed to comply within a reasonable time, or within any period of at least 14 days that the lease fixes. The requirement applies to retail leases, and a lease cannot exclude it.
So if you were locked out for a breach other than unpaid rent and no proper notice was served, or the time to comply had not run out, the re-entry may be invalid. A notice that overstates what you owe is not necessarily invalid, though: the Supreme Court has held that a default notice under a retail lease was not invalid merely because it claimed the full rent without allowing for an abatement the tenant said it was owed.
Relief against forfeiture
Even where the landlord was entitled to end the lease, the tenant can ask for relief against forfeiture: an order restoring the lease, usually on terms such as remedying the breach and paying the landlord’s costs.
- Breaches other than rent: section 146 lets the tenant apply for relief, which may be granted on terms.
- Unpaid rent: section 146 does not apply, but relief is available under the general law. It is commonly granted where the tenant pays the arrears and the landlord’s costs.
- Retail leases: VCAT can exercise the Supreme Court’s powers to grant relief, and relief can also be sought in a court. See our guide to the Retail Leases Act.
- Offices, warehouses and factories: whether VCAT can grant relief under a non-retail lease is not settled, which affects where to apply. See commercial lease disputes.
Relief is discretionary. Delay, the tenant’s conduct, and whether the premises have been re-let can all count against it. If relief is granted on conditions, such as paying arrears by a set date, treat the deadline as strict.
Urgent injunctions
An injunction can stop a landlord re-entering while a dispute is decided or, after re-entry, require it to let the tenant back in until the hearing.
Under a retail lease, most disputes must go to mediation at the Victorian Small Business Commission before VCAT can hear them, but an application for an injunction is the exception, so a tenant can go straight to VCAT. Leases outside the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) do not need the Commission’s certificate at all.
VCAT says an applicant for an interim injunction must show that the case is serious, that money would not make up for the harm, and that the harm to the applicant outweighs the harm to the other party. The facts, including why the matter is urgent, go in a signed and witnessed statutory declaration. In a very urgent case, VCAT can make a short order lasting a few days before hearing from the landlord.
What VCAT usually expects
- Keep paying the current rent from the date of the order until the final hearing.
- The usual undertaking as to damages: a promise to compensate the landlord for loss the injunction causes if the tenant loses at the final hearing.
- Disputed arrears need not usually be paid into trust. In a 2024 case about disputed outgoings, VCAT refused a landlord’s request for that condition, and the Supreme Court found no error of law. The Court noted that a lease is a proprietary interest, and that requiring the whole disputed sum could have stopped the tenant trading. VCAT may still order a payment towards a disputed amount, as it did in that case.
Act quickly, and what not to do
If you have a breach or default notice and the locks have not yet been changed, act before it expires.
- Do not break in, change the locks back or remove the landlord’s notices.
- Do not stop paying rent because of the dispute. Pay what is due and dispute the rest in writing. See withholding rent and set-off.
- Do not ignore a notice because you think the amount is wrong. Respond in writing, within its time.
- Do not sign a surrender or other document the landlord offers without advice.
For landlords
Check that the default is real, that any notice the lease or section 146 requires was served and has expired, and that you have not waived the breach, for example by accepting rent after you knew of it. A re-entry that skips a step can be undone, and the landlord may face a damages claim. See rent arrears and breach notices.
How we help
- Urgent advice on a lockout, re-entry notice or breach notice, starting with a free 15-minute phone call.
- Checking whether the notice and the re-entry were valid.
- Injunction applications and applications for relief against forfeiture, at VCAT or in court.
- Negotiating with the landlord to reopen the premises on agreed terms.
For further work, we quote in writing before we start. See lease disputes for how disputes run in Victoria.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
Only if the lease gives a right of re-entry, the tenant is in default, and the required steps have been taken. For a breach other than unpaid rent, that includes a section 146 notice and time to fix the breach. Even then, the tenant may be able to get the lease back through relief against forfeiture.
An order restoring a lease the landlord has ended for a breach, usually on terms such as remedying the breach and paying the landlord’s costs. Under a retail lease, VCAT can grant it, as can a court.
Not for an injunction. Under a retail lease, an injunction application is the exception to the rule that a dispute must first go to mediation at the Victorian Small Business Commission.
VCAT does not usually require disputed arrears to be paid into trust, but expect to pay the current rent and give the usual undertaking as to damages. Where the lease was ended for unpaid rent, relief is commonly granted only if the arrears are paid.
Law referred to
- Property Law Act 1958 (Vic) s 146.
- Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) ss 87, 89(2) and (4) and 94A.
- Club Fogolar Furlan Melbourne v Paramount Investments Group Pty Ltd [2024] VSC 208.
- Blue Train Cafe Pty Ltd v The Trust Company Ltd (Building and Property) [2024] VCAT 75; The Trust Company Ltd v Blue Train Cafe Pty Ltd [2024] VSC 232.
Last reviewed: October 2026, by a Victorian solicitor with a current practising certificate. This page is general information about Victorian law as at October 2026. It is not legal advice about your lease.
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