Your rental is your home. Your landlord owns it — but that doesn't mean they can walk in whenever they like. South Australia sets clear limits on when a landlord or property manager can enter, how much warning they have to give, and what they can do while they're there. Several of those limits tightened significantly on 1 July 2024, and most tenants have never been told.
- A routine inspection needs 7 to 28 days' written notice, naming a window of up to 2 hours on a set day.
- Routine inspections are capped at 4 per year — a hard limit since 1 July 2024.
- Entry must be between 8am and 8pm, and never on a Sunday or public holiday.
- Repairs need 48 hours' notice. Only a genuine emergency allows entry with no notice at all.
- Photographing your belongings needs 7 days' notice and your written consent, separately from the inspection itself.
- You can refuse entry when the notice doesn't comply with these rules.
How much notice does a landlord need to give for an inspection?
At least 7 days and no more than 28 days, in writing. The notice has to name a period of up to two hours on a specified day, between 8am and 8pm, and not on a Sunday or public holiday.
Both ends of that range matter. A notice given three days out doesn't comply — but neither does one given two months ahead, because it stops being meaningful notice of an actual appointment. Email counts as writing. A phone call, a text asking to "pop round", or a note under the door does not.
The two-hour window is the part most notices get wrong. "We'll be inspecting on Tuesday" isn't enough. It has to be something like "between 10am and 12pm on Tuesday 14 October".
| Requirement | What section 72 says |
|---|---|
| Notice period | Not less than 7 and not more than 28 days before the inspection |
| Format | Written — email is accepted, verbal is not |
| Time window | A specified period of up to 2 hours on a nominated day |
| Permitted hours | 8am to 8pm, any day except a Sunday or public holiday |
| Frequency | Maximum 4 routine inspections per year, unless SACAT orders otherwise |
How many inspections can a landlord do in a year?
Four. Since 1 July 2024, routine inspections in South Australia are capped at four in any 12-month period, unless SACAT has ordered otherwise.
This replaced the older rule, which allowed an inspection roughly every four weeks. It is a substantial tightening, and it's the single change most likely to be relevant to you if inspections have started feeling relentless.
The cap covers routine inspections only. Attending to fix a repair, or showing the property to prospective tenants in the final 28 days of a tenancy, are separate grounds with their own notice rules — they don't count against the four.
If your landlord is scheduling a fifth routine inspection within twelve months and no SACAT order permits it, they're asking for more than the Act allows.
Can my landlord show up unannounced?
No — other than in a genuine emergency. Outside an emergency, entry always requires notice: 7 to 28 days for a routine inspection, 48 hours for repairs.
A genuine emergency means immediate risk of injury or serious damage — a fire, a flood, a gas leak, a burst pipe, a structural danger. It is a narrow category, and it is not satisfied by convenience.
Genuine emergency
- Fire or flooding
- Gas leak or suspected gas leak
- Burst pipe or major water escape
- Electrical fault posing danger
- Structural damage creating risk
Not an emergency
- Checking on something noticed last visit
- Dropping off documents or keys
- Showing a prospective tenant through
- Acting on a neighbour's complaint
- Being "in the area anyway"
If entry was claimed as an emergency and you don't think it was one, ask them to set out the nature of the emergency in writing. That request alone tends to clarify things.
Can a landlord enter when you're not home?
Yes — provided proper written notice was given and the entry is for a permitted reason. Your presence isn't required for a lawful entry.
You do have the right to be there if you want to be. If the nominated window doesn't suit you, ask for an alternative. Your landlord isn't obliged to accept every request, but they should make a reasonable effort to find a time that works, particularly for a routine inspection.
What they cannot do is exclude you from your own home during an entry, or use inspections as a way to pressure or unsettle you. Quiet enjoyment of your home is a legal protection, not a courtesy.
What notice applies to repairs, viewings and everything else?
Different grounds carry different notice periods. Routine inspections are the strictest; emergencies are the only ground with no notice at all.
| Reason for entry | Notice required |
|---|---|
| Routine inspection | 7–28 days' written notice, 2-hour window, max 4 per year |
| Repairs or maintenance | 48 hours' notice — or none, if you asked them to come |
| Garden maintenance | 7–14 days' written notice, or arranged within the 7 days before |
| Showing prospective tenants | Reasonable notice, in the final 28 days of the tenancy, a reasonable number of times |
| Showing prospective buyers | By arrangement with you — no more than twice in any 7 days unless you agree |
| Checking a breach has been fixed only after a formal breach notice | 7–14 days' written notice in the prescribed form. This ground only exists if they've already served you a breach notice under s.80 — it is not a power to enter on suspicion |
| Collecting rent | No more than once a week, and only where you've declined reasonable alternatives |
| Genuine emergency | None |
Can a landlord take photos during an inspection?
Not of your personal belongings — not without 7 days' notice and your written consent. This has applied since 1 July 2024 and is one of the least-known protections in SA tenancy law.
Recording your belongings needs separate consent
A landlord or property manager cannot photograph or film your personal possessions during an inspection unless they gave you 7 days' prior notice of that intention and you provided written consent. If images are taken, sharing or publishing them requires that notice and consent again.
Photographs of the property itself, for maintenance records, are ordinary. Photographs of your things — your furniture, your belongings, the inside of your wardrobe — are a different matter, and increasingly a live one now that inspection reports are routinely shared through property management software.
What happens if you "fail" a rental inspection?
There's no such thing as passing or failing. A routine inspection checks whether the property is being maintained and whether anything needs repair — not your housekeeping.
If something does need attention, the normal course is a written note asking you to address it, with a reasonable time to do so. That's a conversation, not a penalty. A tenancy cannot be ended over an untidy kitchen.
The distinction that genuinely matters is fair wear and tear versus damage. Faded paint, carpet worn flat under furniture, minor scuffs and worn grouting are the ordinary result of living somewhere — they're the owner's cost and cannot be charged to you. Holes in walls, broken fixtures and stains from neglect are damage. That line is what actually affects your bond when you leave.
When can you refuse entry?
The notice period is wrong
Fewer than 7 days, or more than 28 days, for a routine inspection.
The annual cap has been reached
Four routine inspections have already happened in the past 12 months and there's no SACAT order permitting more.
The timing isn't permitted
Before 8am, after 8pm, or on a Sunday or public holiday.
No 2-hour window was specified
A notice naming only a day, or no date at all, doesn't meet the requirement.
You can't refuse a properly noticed, compliant inspection indefinitely. If valid requests are repeatedly declined, your landlord can apply to SACAT for an order granting access. The right to refuse exists for non-compliant requests — it isn't a general right to block all inspections.
What to do if the rules weren't followed
Start in writing, and start factually. Set out what happened, name the specific requirement that wasn't met, and ask for confirmation it won't happen again. Most breaches are administrative — a property manager working from an old template, or a new staff member who hasn't caught up with the July 2024 changes. A calm letter citing the section usually ends it.
Write it down while it's fresh
Date, time, who entered, what was said, how long they stayed. A record made close to the event carries far more weight later than a recollection.
Put it to the landlord or agent in writing
Factual, not confrontational. You're creating a record of a legal position, not opening an argument.
Get free advice
RentRight SA is the state's tenant advice and advocacy service — free, and they do this every day. 1800 060 462. Consumer and Business Services can also help on 131 882.
Apply to SACAT if it continues
SACAT can order a landlord to comply. It's designed to be used without a lawyer. 1800 723 767.
Retaliatory action — a notice to vacate issued because you exercised a right, such as raising an entry breach — is not permitted. Since 1 July 2024 a landlord can only end a tenancy on prescribed grounds, and SACAT can set aside a notice given in response to a tenant asserting their rights. Keep the dates: the timing is what proves it.
Where to get free help
| Service | What they do | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| RentRight SA | SA's tenant advice and advocacy service — free advice and help resolving issues | 1800 060 462 |
| Consumer and Business Services | Government agency for residential tenancies and bonds | 131 882 |
| SACAT | Tribunal for tenancy orders — no lawyer needed | 1800 723 767 |
The bottom line: since July 2024, SA tenants have materially stronger protections around inspection frequency, notice and photography than most people realise. Knowing the 7-to-28-day rule, the four-per-year cap and the consent requirement for images puts you on solid ground — and usually keeps the relationship with your landlord civil, because you're pointing at a rule rather than an opinion.
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