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Law Current to: October 14, 2025

Evictions from social housing

What is social housing?

Social housing is a collective termed used to describe both public housing managed by the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy and community housing.

When available, social housing provides an affordable and accessible housing options for people unable to access and sustain housing in the private rental market.

Public housing is long-term social housing managed by the Queensland Government. Community housing is a form of social housing delivered by non-government organisations, local governments, and community organisations.

More information about public and community housing can be found here.

Social housing tenant’s obligations

Social housing tenants have the same obligations as private tenants. The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (RTRAA) covers social housing in the same way it covers other rental arrangements in Queensland. However, there are often additional policies and requirements that apply to social housing tenancies, such as eligibility policies and rent setting policies.

As an example, social housing tenants can face eviction for unpaid rent or otherwise breaching their tenancy agreement. In addition, social housing tenants may be required to meet eligibility requirements and may face eviction if they are no longer eligible to reside at the accommodation.

Tenants Queensland has a useful factsheet that outlines social housing tenants’ appeal, review and complaint options.

A number of QCAT decisions consider the legislative provisions a landlord and tenant must navigate when ending a tenancy. We have summarised several recent decisions here.

Evictions from social housing

Generally, a social housing tenant may face eviction from social housing for:

  • general breaches (similar to private tenants)
  • because they are no longer eligible for social, supported or affordable housing
  • under the ‘objectionable behaviour’ provisions
  • due to an alleged ‘serious breach‘

Evictions from social housing fall into two categories:

  1. cases where the eviction is for misbehavior where the lessor is not required to issue a Form 11 or Form 12; and
  2. cases where the eviction is based on a failure to leave after a Form 12 has been issued.

Evictions for ‘objectionable behaviour fall into the first category, while evictions for ‘serious breachers’ fall into the second: Watson v State of Queensland [2023] QCATA 157.

Serious Breach

The Department or a community housing provider can issue a notice to leave for serious breach under s 290A of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. 

To issue a notice under this section, the Department or community housing provider merely needs to form a reasonable belief that the tenant, an occupant, a guest of the tenant or a person allowed on the premises by the tenant has:

  • used the premises or any property adjoining or adjacent to the premises (including any property that is available for use by the tenant in common with others) for an illegal activity; or
  • intentionally or recklessly:
    • destroyed or seriously damaged a part of the premises; or
    • endangered another person in the premises or a person occupying, or allowed on, premises nearby; or
    • interfered significantly with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of another tenant or another tenant’s appropriate use of the other tenant’s premises.

If a tenant receives a notice to leave under this section, the Department or community housing provider is required to provide 7 days to leave the premises: Part 1, Schedule 1 of the RTRAA).

If the tenant doesn’t leave with the 7 day period, the Department or community housing provider has 14 days to apply to QCAT for a termination order and a warrant of possession to remove the tenant from the premises: RTRAA s 293.

In State of Queensland though the Department of Housing and Public Works v
Turnbull [2014] QCAT 442, it was observed that section 290A provides a low threshold test that allows the Department to give a notice to leave ([33]).

For a more detailed discussion of the serious breach provisions, see our resource on Section 290A Evictions.

Objectionable Behaviour

The Department or a community housing provider can apply to QCAT for a termination order and a warrant of possession where the tenant is alleged to have engaged in objectionable behaviour: s 297A RTRAA.

Objection behaviour includes where the tenant, an occupant, a guest of the tenant or a person allowed on the premises by the tenant:

  • has harassed, intimidated or verbally abused
    • the lessor or lessor’s agent; or
    • a person occupying, or allowed on, premises nearby; or
  • is causing, or has caused, a serious nuisance to persons occupying premises nearby; or
  • has intentionally or recklessly endangered another person at the premises or interfered with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a person occupying premises nearby.

If an application is made to QCAT, s 345A of the RTRAA outlines what the tribunal must consider. Section 345A provides that the tribunal may make the order if satisfied that the applicant has established the ground of the application and the behaviour justifies terminating the agreement.

What amounts to ‘objectionable behaviour’ is not defined in either the RTRAA or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld). In Healy, the term was given its commonly understood meaning and includes: that which is serious and unpleasant; exceptionable or obnoxious; arousing distaste or opposition; and unpleasant or offensive.

The decision of the Court of Appeal in Simonova provides a detailed analysis of ss 297A and 345A. In the early decision in Simonova, Magistrate Tonkins made the following remarks about the operation of s 297A:

“Objectionable behaviour as a manifestation of mental illness, where the tenant lacks insight into the impact of their behaviour on neighbours, has been found by QCAT to be caught by the scope of the provisions relied on in the present case, and affirmed on appeal. The fact that the tenant would thereby likely be rendered homeless has not been a bar to the making of the termination order in such circumstances.”

“Between 1 January 2017 and 28 March 2018, 100% of applications to QCAT for the termination of a public housing tenancy on the basis of objectionable behaviour were successful.” 

Caxton Legal Centre ‘Objectionable Behaviour Evictions in Social Housing‘

Anti-Social Behaviour Policy

The Department has an Anti-Social Behaviour Policy that applies to all public housing tenants. From 1 July 2025, the Department has implemented a new behaviour policy and has indicated a more stringent process for enforcing behaviour expectations imposed on public housing tenants.

Information on tenant behaviour expected for Queensland public housing tenants can be found here.

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