Breaking a Lease Early in Brisbane: Reletting Costs, Hardship, Domestic Violence and Your Bond

"Breaking a lease" means ending a fixed-term tenancy agreement before its end date, without one of the specific grounds the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act sets out for ending it early. This applies the same way to every rental in Brisbane, because it's the same statewide law the RTA administers. A tenancy agreement is legally binding, so ending it early can mean compensation is owed — but the exact process, and what you owe, depends on which path you take. This guide is a companion to our guide to ending a tenancy the usual way, covering the specific case of a tenant leaving before the fixed term is up — if it's your property manager ending the tenancy instead, see our guide to Notice to Leave in Brisbane.

The main ways a tenant can end a fixed-term tenancy early

1. Mutual agreement in writing — you and the property manager/owner agree in writing to end the agreement on a specific date.
2. Notice of Intention to Leave (Form 13) — you give notice and leave the property, but you'll likely need to pay compensation or reletting costs.
3. Apply to QCAT due to excessive hardship — either the tenant or the property manager/owner can make an urgent application to QCAT for an order to terminate the agreement if continuing would cause excessive hardship, provided there's evidence to support it.
4. Domestic and family violence — a separate, faster process described below.

Reletting costs: what you may owe

If you break your lease and leave early, you may be responsible for reletting costs — the property manager/owner's reasonable costs of finding a new tenant, such as a reletting fee and/or advertising costs, plus compensation for lost rent until the tenancy end date or until the property is re-let.

The rules differ depending on when your agreement started:

• Agreements starting on or after 30 September 2024 (for leases up to three years): the RTA provides a Reletting Costs Calculator that applies a defined formula based on how much of the fixed term has expired. Rent cannot be charged beyond your actual vacate date, even if the property remains empty.
• Agreements that started before 30 September 2024: "reasonable costs" apply, worked out case by case between the parties rather than through a fixed formula. Rent can potentially be claimed up until a new tenant moves in, provided the property manager/owner is genuinely trying to re-let.

In both cases, the property manager/owner is legally required to take steps to minimise (mitigate) their loss — for example, advertising and arranging viewings promptly. They can't deliberately delay re-letting to increase what you owe. If a dispute over reletting costs ends up at QCAT, any amount awarded to the property manager/owner cannot exceed what the Act's calculation method would produce. The RTA does not calculate reletting costs on a party's behalf — this is discussed and calculated between the parties, using the calculator as a guide.

Excessive hardship

If continuing the tenancy would cause excessive hardship to either the tenant or the property manager/owner, either party can make an urgent application to QCAT for an order to terminate the agreement early — but this requires supporting evidence. See our guide to RTA dispute resolution and QCAT for how urgent applications differ from a standard dispute.

Ending a tenancy due to domestic and family violence

If you believe you can no longer safely occupy the property because of domestic and family violence, the Act provides a specific, faster pathway:

• You can vacate immediately, but you must give 7 days' notice to end your interest in the tenancy agreement.
• You do this using a Notice ending tenancy interest (domestic and family violence) (Form 20) for general tenancies and moveable dwellings, or Form R20 for rooming accommodation.
• You can leave before the 7 days are up, but you're responsible for paying rent until the end of that 7-day notice period.
• The notice must be supported by evidence — for example, a protection order, a temporary protection order, a Domestic and Family Violence Report signed by an authorised professional (such as a doctor, social worker, refuge or crisis worker), or, from 1 January 2026, a police protection direction.
• You can either give this evidence to the property manager/owner or let them view/read it in person.
• You are not required to repair or compensate for damage related to the domestic and family violence itself, though you may still be responsible for costs unrelated to it — for example, existing rent arrears or damage caused by a pet.
• The property manager/owner must keep the evidence confidential, and must not disclose information supporting your notice except in specific circumstances permitted under the Act.
• Within 7 days of receiving your notice and evidence, the property manager/owner must tell you whether they intend to apply to QCAT to have the notice set aside.
• If QCAT reviews this, it will only examine whether your notice and evidence meet the requirements of the Act — it will not examine whether you actually experienced domestic and family violence, or assess your belief about whether you could safely stay.
• If there are other tenants remaining on the agreement, the property manager/owner must wait a minimum of 7 days (and no later than 14 days) after you leave before notifying them that you've ended your interest in the tenancy.
• A separate Bond refund for persons experiencing domestic and family violence (Form 4a) is available for claiming your share of the bond in these circumstances.

What this means for your bond

Bond is refunded through the standard end-of-tenancy process — see our guide to bond disputes in Brisbane for how the RTA and QCAT roles work — but any agreed or QCAT-ordered compensation or reletting costs can affect how much of the bond you receive back, unless a separate arrangement is made in writing. Where a tenancy ends due to domestic and family violence, the dedicated Form 4a process exists specifically for claiming a vacating tenant's share of the bond.

References

• RTA — Breaking a lease
• RTA — Reletting costs
• RTA — Domestic and family violence information for tenants
• RTA — Domestic violence in a rental property: how to leave
• RTA — Notice ending tenancy interest (domestic and family violence) (Form 20)

This guide summarises rules published by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) at the time of writing. Live in Brisbane is an independent project and is not affiliated with the RTA, the Queensland Government, or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. For advice on your specific situation, contact the RTA directly on 1300 366 311 or visit rta.qld.gov.au. If you are experiencing domestic and family violence, DVConnect's Womensline (1800 811 811) and Mensline (1800 600 636) operate statewide, 24/7.