South Australian rental law changed substantially on 1 July 2024, and has changed again twice since. Most of what you will find online — including guides that look current, and answers from AI assistants — is still describing the rules as they were before. This is what changed, and how to tell whether anything else you read is current.
- Routine inspections are capped at four a year. They used to be roughly monthly.
- A landlord can no longer end a tenancy without a reason. They need a ground from a prescribed list.
- Notice to end a fixed term went from 28 days to 60. Periodic tenancies on a prescribed ground need 90.
- Photographing your belongings now needs 7 days' notice and your written consent.
- The maximum bond has two tiers, not one — it depends on whether your rent is above $800 a week.
- Homes must meet minimum housing standards from the day you move in.
The quickest way to check anything you read
Look at the date. Anything written about South Australian tenancy law before July 2024 should be treated as unreliable until you've confirmed it.
That sounds blunt, but the July 2024 changes were broad enough that a guide written in 2023 can be wrong on inspections, evictions, notice periods, bond, and habitability all at once — while reading perfectly confidently.
Two further tests worth applying:
Does it cite a section?
"The Act says landlords must give notice" is unverifiable. "Section 72 requires 7 to 28 days' written notice" can be checked in about a minute.
Does the section say what they claim?
Look it up on legislation.sa.gov.au and take the version marked Current — dated historical versions sit right beside it. A citation that points at the wrong section is more misleading than no citation at all, because it looks like evidence.
When the changes happened
The five things most often stated wrongly
These are the specific points where older guides — and AI assistants working from older material — most reliably get South Australia wrong.
1. How often a landlord can inspect
| Before 1 July 2024 | Now |
|---|---|
| Roughly once every four weeks | Four routine inspections per year, unless SACAT orders otherwise |
This is the single biggest practical change, and the one most often stated incorrectly. If a guide tells you your landlord can inspect monthly, it is describing the law as it stood before July 2024. The notice requirement also has an upper bound that surprises people: a routine inspection needs at least 7 and no more than 28 days' written notice, naming a window of up to two hours on a set day, between 8am and 8pm, and never on a Sunday or public holiday.
2. Whether you can be evicted without a reason
| Before 1 July 2024 | Now |
|---|---|
| A landlord could end a tenancy without specifying a ground | Termination only on a ground prescribed by the regulations |
The change is visible in the legislation itself: the heading of section 83 was amended on 1 July 2024, from "Termination by landlord without specifying a ground of termination" to "Termination by landlord on ground prescribed". Any guide still describing a no-grounds eviction right in South Australia is out of date.
3. How much notice you get
| Situation | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord ending a fixed term at its end date | 28 days | 60 days |
| Landlord ending a periodic tenancy on a prescribed ground | — | 90 days |
| Landlord requiring possession (demolition, renovation, moving in, sale) | — | 60 days, or one rental period — whichever is longer |
Once you have been given notice, you do not have to sit out the full period paying rent. You may hand back possession early, and if you give at least seven days' written notice of your intention, your rent liability ends on the day you give up possession. It is one of the more valuable things in the Act and one of the least known.
4. The maximum bond
| Weekly rent | Maximum bond |
|---|---|
| $800 or less | 4 weeks' rent |
| More than $800 | 6 weeks' rent |
Guides stating a flat four-week maximum are describing only half the rule. The $800 threshold sits in the regulations rather than the Act, which means it can change without the Act changing — another reason to check the date on what you're reading.
5. Photographs during an inspection
Since 1 July 2024, a photograph or video that captures your personal possessions cannot be taken during an inspection at all unless the landlord gave you at least seven days' prior written notice and obtained your written consent.
This protection did not exist before July 2024, so it appears in almost no older guide. It matters more now than it would have a decade ago, because inspection photographs routinely flow through property management software and end up in reports, listings and shared folders.
A separate rule covers publication: images of the premises must not be distributed publicly unless you were given seven days' notice before the entry that they would be taken.
What else arrived in July 2024
Less widely reported, but significant if they apply to you:
- ·Minimum housing standards. A landlord must ensure the premises comply from the day you move in. A home that doesn't meet them can be grounds to end the tenancy on seven days' notice.
- ·Retaliatory eviction protection. SACAT can declare a termination notice to have no effect where the landlord was wholly or partly motivated by the tenant enforcing a right.
- ·Termination on grounds of domestic abuse. A tenant may end the tenancy themselves, with prescribed evidence, on a date that can be the day the notice is given — including part-way through a fixed term. No tribunal application is required.
- ·Co-tenant bond refunds are split equally unless every co-tenant consents to something else.
- ·RentRight SA became the state's Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service. Older guides may still name a predecessor service.
What this means if you're renting now
Two practical consequences.
You may have more room than you think. If you have been assuming your landlord can inspect monthly, end your tenancy without explanation, or photograph whatever they like, those assumptions were correct three years ago and are not correct now.
Old advice can cost you. The risk isn't abstract. A tenant who believes a notice is valid when it isn't may move out unnecessarily. A tenant who believes four weeks is the bond maximum may not query a lawful six-week bond, or may query it wrongly. A tenant who doesn't know about the seven-day early-exit rule pays weeks of rent on a home they have already been told to leave.
Where to check, and where to get help
| What you need | Where |
|---|---|
| The Act and Regulations themselves | legislation.sa.gov.au — take the version marked Current |
| Free advice about your own situation | RentRight SA — 1800 060 462, 8am–8pm weekdays |
| Bonds, forms and general enquiries | Consumer and Business Services — 131 882 |
| Applications and orders | SACAT — 1800 723 767 |
| Free legal help line | Legal Services Commission — 1300 366 424 |
The specific guides
Each of these is written against the current Act and Regulations, and each includes a free tool that checks your situation against the rules and prepares a letter if one is warranted.
How we source this
Every legal statement on this site is recorded against a specific section of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) or the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2025, read from the authorised version published by the South Australian Government, with the date it was checked.
We do that because the alternative turns out to be unreliable in a specific and dangerous way. AI systems asked about tenancy law produce section references that look authoritative and are simply wrong — pointing at real sections that say something else entirely, or at sections that do not exist. Secondary sources go stale quietly. Both read with total confidence.
Where we cannot verify something from the primary source, we say so rather than filling the gap with something plausible.
This guide describes the law as it applies generally in South Australia. It is not legal advice about your situation. For advice about your own circumstances, contact RentRight SA on 1800 060 462 — it's free.
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