Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

What types of complaints can you make?

VCAT can hear and decide a wide range of disputes under Victorian law. These are organised into divisions, each covering different types of issues. You must usually apply within set time limits.
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Residential Tenancies:‍

Covers disputes between renters and landlords, including:

• Bonds (rental deposits)
• Repairs and maintenance
• Rent increases
• Ending a rental agreement or eviction
• Compensation for breach of duty
• Entry and access rights
• Modifications and accessibility needs
• Rooming house or caravan park disputes
• Supported residential services and disability accommodation
• Rental database (blacklisting) disputes
• Family violence tenancy protections
• Rent arrears and hardship disputes
• Urgent matters (lockouts, loss of essential services)
• Pets in rentals
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Civil Division:‍

Covers money, goods, property, and services, including:

• Consumer and trader disputes (faulty goods, poor workmanship, broken contracts)
• Unpaid fees, invoices, or debts
• Ownership disputes over goods or property
• Domestic building disputes
• Co-owned land disputes
• Owners corporation (body corporate) issues
• Retail lease disputes
• Private loan or guarantee disputes
• Damage from neighbours (e.g. water, trees, fences)
• Vehicle sale or repair disputes
• Credit repair or payday lending disputes under Victorian law

Administrative Division:

Reviews decisions by government departments, councils, and regulators, including:

• Planning permit decisions and enforcement
• Local law decisions (permits, tree removals, animal controls)
• Dangerous dog declarations or animal bans
• Licensing decisions (business, trades, transport)
• WorkSafe compensation decisions (after conciliation)
• TAC (transport accident) entitlements
• State Revenue Office (tax, stamp duty, land tax) decisions
• Freedom of Information (FOI) refusals or delays
• Transport regulation reviews

Human Rights Division:

Covers discrimination, harassment, privacy, and vilification matters under Victorian laws, including:

• Discrimination in work, education, housing, or services
• Sexual harassment
• Victimisation for making or supporting a complaint
• Discriminatory rules or policies
• Disability access to buildings and services
• Exemptions from equal opportunity laws
• Discrimination or harassment in clubs and associations
• Racial or religious vilification
• Breaches of health or personal data privacy by Victorian organisations

Guardianship and Powers Division:

Covers decisions for people with impaired capacity, including:

• Appointing, changing, or ending guardianship or administration orders
• Urgent orders to protect vulnerable people
• Disputes about powers of attorney
• Medical treatment decisions for people without capacity
• Advance care directive disputes
• Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) capacity or eligibility

Professional Conduct and Special Categories:

Covers disciplinary and registration matters, including:

• Misconduct decisions in the legal profession
• Disciplinary hearings for teachers, architects, builders, surveyors, etc.
• Reviews of cancelled or suspended registrations
• Working With Children Check refusals or negative notices
• NDIS worker screening decisions (in Victoria)
• Disciplinary matters referred under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law

Time limits:

You must usually apply soon after the problem or decision. Common limits include:

• Discrimination or sexual harassment – 12 months
• Planning permits – 60 days
• FOI decisions – 60 days
• TAC claims – 12 months
• Retail leases – 30 days
• Tenancy issues – vary (some as short as 14 days)

If you are late, you may ask for extra time, but VCAT does not always grant extensions.

Exclusions:

VCAT cannot hear disputes if:

• The issue happened outside Victoria, or the person/business has no real link to Victoria.
• The matter involves federal law or agencies (e.g. Centrelink, Medicare, NDIS Commission).
• The application is outside the legal time limit and no extension is granted.
• The respondent is bankrupt, deregistered, or under external administration.
• The dispute has already been decided by another tribunal or court.
• The application relies on the wrong law or is outside VCAT’s listed powers.
• The remedy you want is something VCAT cannot order (e.g. civil penalties, emotional distress damages, injunctions).
• The case belongs in another tribunal or authority (e.g. Building Appeals Board, Fair Work Commission).
• A required pre-step hasn’t been done (e.g. Small Business Commissioner or Equal Opportunity Commission certificate).
• The matter is only hypothetical and not yet active.

If VCAT cannot hear your matter, you may need to take it to a Victorian court (e.g. Magistrates’ Court, County Court, or Supreme Court).

Who can you make a complaint against?

You can bring a case to VCAT against a wide range of people and organisations, including:

• Businesses: such as landlords, tradespeople, builders, developers, retailers, service providers, and healthcare providers.
• Councils: in matters about planning permits, local laws, animal controls, building enforcement, or heritage decisions.
• Victorian Government departments and public bodies: for issues involving equal opportunity, privacy, health records, disability rights, guardianship, or reviewable decisions. Examples include WorkSafe, TAC, the State Revenue Office, schools, and public hospitals.
• Regulators, boards, and authorities: including WorkSafe Victoria, TAC, State Revenue Office, Victorian Building Authority, Teaching Registration Board, Business Licensing Authority, AHPRA, and National Health Boards.
• Rental providers or property managers: in tenancy disputes. This includes landlords, community housing providers, and real estate agencies.
• Owners corporations: in disputes about common property, fees, or management decisions.
• Individuals: for matters like residential tenancies, co-owned land, or discrimination complaints.
• Screening units: such as the NDIS Worker Screening Unit or the Working With Children Check Unit in exclusion review cases.
• Not-for-profits and service providers: where they provide housing, education, disability, health, or community services.

VCAT cannot hear cases against:

• Commonwealth Government or its agencies: e.g. Centrelink, Medicare, NDIS Commission, or the ATO.
• Private individuals with no legal responsibility: for example, someone who isn’t a party to the lease or contract.
• Deregistered or liquidated companies: orders usually can’t be made against them.
• Federal corporations with constitutional immunity: some corporations or charities may be excluded if federal law applies.
• VCAT itself: you cannot bring a case against VCAT members or staff; complaints must go through the VCAT Complaints Registrar or Judicial Commission.
• Other Victorian courts or tribunals: VCAT cannot review or override its own decisions or those of another tribunal.

Are you eligible to make a complaint?

Anyone can apply to VCAT - individuals, groups, businesses, companies, or public sector bodies.

Do you need to try other steps first?

You don’t have to, but it’s recommended to first try resolving the issue with the other party or through a complaints body such as Consumer Affairs Victoria or the Victorian Ombudsman.

• These services are usually free and may resolve your problem quickly.
• If you go straight to VCAT without trying these options, you might lose access to those processes.
• You can still apply to VCAT afterwards if the issue isn’t resolved.

Complaints on behalf of someone else:

You can apply on someone’s behalf, but VCAT may need to speak directly to the person affected to resolve the matter properly. If they lack capacity (e.g. a child or person with disability), you may need legal authority, such as being their guardian or administrator.

Limits:

VCAT may not accept your application if:

• you aren’t directly affected by the issue,
• you’re acting for someone else without legal authority,
• the law only allows certain people to apply (e.g. only the person discriminated against, or someone with an interest in land),
• you’re trying to reopen a case already decided,
• you’re complaining about VCAT itself (these go to the VCAT Complaints Registrar or Judicial Commission), or
• you want VCAT to decide a hypothetical or future dispute.

Other information:

Most VCAT hearings and decisions are public. You can ask for confidentiality, but VCAT must agree.

What can this body do to help?

VCAT has broad powers to resolve disputes and make legally binding decisions. Depending on the case, VCAT can:

• Make binding orders: final, interim, or consent orders to resolve a case or manage steps before the hearing.
• Order payment of money: such as compensation for loss or damage, unpaid rent or invoices, refunds, or (in limited cases) legal costs.
• Order actions (non-monetary orders): like returning goods, repairing property, ending or reinstating a tenancy, complying with a contract, or stopping unlawful behaviour (e.g. discrimination).
• Make declarations: for example, confirming legal rights, whether discrimination occurred, or if a contract is valid.
• Review government decisions: overturn, change, or replace decisions by agencies such as councils, WorkSafe, TAC, or licensing bodies.
• Cancel, change, or enforce contracts: in disputes about goods, services, or tenancies.
• Decide on co-owned property: order land or goods to be sold and decide how to divide the proceeds.
• Make guardianship, health, or powers of attorney decisions: including appointing or removing guardians, reviewing capacity, cancelling powers of attorney or advance care directives, deciding medical treatment disputes, or assessing voluntary assisted dying eligibility.
• Provide human rights remedies: stop unlawful discrimination or harassment, require disability adjustments, or grant exemptions under the Equal Opportunity Act.
• Help parties resolve disputes without a hearing: through settlement, mediation, or compulsory conferences.
• Manage the case process: set deadlines, hearing dates, evidence requirements, or directions to ensure a fair and efficient process.

VCAT cannot:

• award punitive damages (punishment rather than compensation),
• hear criminal cases or impose criminal penalties,
• award damages for hurt feelings unless a law specifically allows it (e.g. Equal Opportunity Act), or
• remove its own members from cases (complaints about members must go to the Judicial Commission of Victoria).

How to prepare your complaint:

To apply to VCAT, you will need to provide clear and complete information.

What to include:

• Your details: name and contact information. (You cannot apply anonymously, but you can ask VCAT to restrict access to your details, conceal your identity, or make a confidentiality or suppression order.)
• Respondent’s details: the name and contact details of the person, business, or organisation you are lodging the dispute against.
• Key facts: what happened, when it happened, who was involved, the impact on you, and what outcome you are seeking.
• Supporting information: any documents, agreements, or evidence that help explain your case.

What not to include:

• Abusive or threatening language.
• Irrelevant details that do not relate to the dispute.

Other important points:

• Information you provide will normally be shared with the other parties, so everyone has access to the same material.
• Some written decisions are published online and may include information from your case (unless confidentiality orders are made).

Lodging your complaint and next steps:

How to lodge:

• Online: most disputes can be lodged through VCAT's website.
• Phone: call VCAT on 1300 018 228 (Mon–Fri, 9am–4.30pm; guardianship cases until 5pm).
• Overseas: call +61 3 8685 1462.
• Hard copy: VCAT can send you a paper form if you do not have internet access.
• Interpreter: free interpreters are available through 2M Language Services (03 7036 7578).

What happens next:

• VCAT will confirm receipt of your application. Online applications are acknowledged immediately; other methods may take longer.
• VCAT will assess your application. They may:
  • ask for more information,
  • let you know if they cannot deal with the matter, or
  • give you a date to attend VCAT.
• You may be offered or required to try mediation or a compulsory conference before a hearing. These are designed to help parties reach agreement with the assistance of a mediator or VCAT member.
• You can also settle directly with the other party at any time, even after an application has been lodged.

Orders:‍

When VCAT makes a decision, it issues an order. Orders may be:

• Interim: steps to manage the case (e.g. deadlines or evidence timetables).
• Final: resolve the case (e.g. payment, possession of property, repairs).
• Other specific orders: depending on the type of dispute (for example, guardianship or planning matters).

Other information:

• The time taken to resolve a case depends on the type of dispute and VCAT’s workload.
• Some Lists have backlogs, so delays are possible.
• You can still resolve the dispute by agreement while waiting for VCAT’s decision.

More information:

Refer to the factsheet provided below for more information.