Consumer Affairs Victoria

What types of complaints can you make?

Consumer Affairs Victoria ('CAV') takes complaints about how businesses, landlords, rental providers, property managers and some not-for-profit organisations in Victoria act. You can complain to CAV about:

• Renting a home: Problems with repairs, bond refunds, illegal evictions, pets, safety issues, or landlords entering without notice.
• Short-stay rentals: Issues with properties used for Airbnb or similar, such as noise or breaches of local laws.
• Retirement villages: Disagreements with management or other residents.
• Buying or selling property: Unlicensed agents, misleading price quotes (underquoting), or failure to mention major property issues.
• Motor car traders: Changing the kilometres on a car to make it look newer (odometer tampering), false history, or missing roadworthy certificates.
• Owners corporations: Managers or members failing to follow rules, ignoring repairs, or making unfair decisions.
• Clubs, fundraisers and not-for-profits (not registered charities): Misuse of funds, poor record keeping, false advertising, or operating without proper authority.
• Building or renovating: Unlicensed work, defective or unfinished building work, delays, or work done without permits.
• Products and services: Faulty or unsafe goods, misleading advertising, refusal of refunds or warranties, poor quality tradespeople, cancelled travel or events, fake online stores, or issues with gift cards or buy-now-pay-later.
• Debt collection: Harassment, threats, or misleading conduct by debt collectors.
• Scams: Online, phone, door-to-door, ticket, investment, romance or impersonation scams.

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Jurisdiction:

CAV deals with complaints that have a connection to Victoria. This includes issues in Victoria, or contracts made outside Victoria that affect Victorian residents.
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Time Limits:

There are no strict time limits for making a complaint. However, it’s best to complain as soon as possible. Some issues, like breaches that could lead to prosecution, may need to be raised within 12 months.

CAV will not deal with complaints about

• Employment problems.
• Banking, superannuation, or insurance.
• Neighbourhood or personal disputes (like fences or noise).
• Lawyers or legal services. Matters already before VCAT or a court.
• Utilities or telecommunications providers.
• Medical or health complaints (unless linked to a business issue like retirement villages).
• School or education issues (unless linked to misleading advertising or a business transaction).
• Cases that only benefit one individual without a broader public interest.
• Isolated, low-impact problems.
• Issues that are better handled by another agency.
• Private disputes that could be resolved directly.

Who can you make a complaint against?

You can make a complaint against:

• Businesses in Victoria (shops, online sellers, service providers, tradespeople, real estate agents, motor car traders, debt collectors).
• Rental providers (landlords), property managers, rooming house operators, caravan park or site owners.
• Retirement village operators or residents (if internal resolution has failed).
• Incorporated associations (clubs, community groups, not-for-profits that are not registered charities).

CAV will not take complaints against:

• Private individuals acting in a personal capacity (e.g. selling a second-hand couch online), banks/financial services, telcos, airlines, medical or legal professionals, schools, or registered charities

Are you eligible to make a complaint?

Who can make a complaint?‍

Anyone in Victoria who has dealt with a business, rental provider, or organisation regulated by CAV can complain.

You must first try to resolve the issue yourself by:

• Learning your rights.

• Talking to the business/person involved.

• Writing to them if needed.

CAV sets out more information on their online website HERE.

Before you lodge a complaint:

CAV expects you to resolve the issue directly with the other party. To help you with this, templates (letters/emails) are available on CAV’s website.
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Can you report an issue on behalf of someone else?

Yes, but if the complaint involves personal information, you need to show written proof that you are authorised to act for them.

‍Additional Information

CAV acts in the public interest. They won’t take on complaints just to get compensation for one person. They can point you to other complaint bodies if your issue is outside their scope.

What can this body do to help?

CAV mainly tries to resolve problems by:

• Contacting the business on your behalf.
• Exploring legal and fair solutions.
• Offering conciliation by phone in most cases.
• They cannot force an outcome, only a court/tribunal can.
• If needed, they can escalate matters through education, warnings, compliance checks, fines, public statements, or even civil/criminal action.

How to prepare your complaint:

Personal Details:

Provide your name, phone, email (address optional).

‍Respondent’s Details:

Depending on your complaint, give details of landlord, business, estate agent, owners corporation, etc.

‍Relevant Facts:

Explain what happened, with dates, attempts you’ve made to fix it, and what outcome you want. You can write up to 5000 characters. Don’t include false/misleading statements.

Lodging your complaint and next steps:

Where to Lodge:‍

Submit online via the General Complaint Form HERE.

Receipt & Acknowledgement

You will hear from CAV if:

• You’ve tried to resolve the matter first.
• There’s evidence of legal breaches.
• The issue could affect others (public interest).

You won’t hear from CAV if:

• You haven’t tried to resolve it yourself.
• It’s already before VCAT/court or already assessed by CAV.

‍Assessment & Investigation

• If accepted, CAV will contact the business and explore resolution. They can’t make people participate or enforce an outcome.
• If unresolved, they will guide you on going to an appropriate referral or to get legal advice.

More information:

Refer to the factsheet provided below for more information.