Consumer Affairs Tasmania: What Landlords Need to Know About the CBOS Transition

CBOS Is Now Consumer Affairs Tasmania

From 1 October 2026, Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) split into two separate bodies: Consumer Affairs Tasmania (CAT) handles residential tenancy regulation, consumer protection and the Residential Tenancy Commissioner; Building Standards Tasmania handles building and construction oversight.

For landlords ending a tenancy, this means one practical change: the website, forms and contact channels are migrating from cbos.tas.gov.au to consumeraffairs.tas.gov.au. The phone number — 1300 654 499 — stays the same. Legacy CBOS forms remain valid during the transition period.

What Consumer Affairs Tasmania Does for Landlords

CAT provides:

• General information about the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 — notice periods, termination grounds, bond rules, tenant and landlord rights
• Standard notice templates for downloading (including the Notice to Vacate pro-forma)
• Access to the Residential Tenancy Commissioner for disputes about bonds, unreasonable rent increases, repairs and smoke alarms
• Compliance monitoring — CAT can investigate landlords who breach statutory obligations

What CAT does not do: provide legal advice on specific cases, draft notices for individual landlords, represent landlords at Magistrates Court hearings, or act as a tenant-eviction service. The information line is a regulatory helpdesk, not a legal advisory.

The Residential Tenancy Commissioner Still Sits Under CAT

The Residential Tenancy Commissioner (RTC) — the independent statutory officer who determines bond disputes, repair orders and rent-increase complaints — now reports through the Consumer Affairs Tasmania structure rather than CBOS. The Commissioner's powers and jurisdiction are unchanged.

A common misconception: the RTC can order a landlord to return a bond or carry out repairs, but the RTC has no jurisdiction to issue an Order for Vacant Possession or enforce an eviction. Possession orders remain the exclusive domain of the Magistrates Court (Civil Division).

Does Tasmania Require Landlord Registration?

No. As at October 2026, Tasmania does not require landlords to register their rental properties on a public register. There is no landlord licence, rental property register, or mandatory registration scheme similar to those proposed or implemented in some other Australian states.

Compliance is governed by the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 itself — the bond must be lodged with the Rental Deposit Authority (via MyBond), the property must meet minimum standards under Part 3B, and termination must follow s 42 procedures. But there is no separate registration step.

Searches for "Tasmania landlord registration" often surface National Cabinet rental-reform proposals or interstate schemes. These do not apply in Tasmania unless enacted by the Tasmanian Parliament.

How CAT Fits Into the Termination Process

When ending a tenancy, a landlord's interaction with Consumer Affairs Tasmania is limited to:

1. Downloading the Notice to Vacate template from the CAT website (optional — the Act does not require the official template as long as all s 44 requirements are met)
2. Calling the information line with general questions about which ground applies or what the notice period is
3. Bond matters at move-out — lodgement, claims and disputes through MyBond and, if contested, the Residential Tenancy Commissioner

The Magistrates Court handles everything from the Order for Vacant Possession onwards.

Keeping Up With the Transition

The Ending a Tenancy in Tasmania guide reflects the CAT transition and links to current official resources. It maps exactly where Consumer Affairs Tasmania, the Residential Tenancy Commissioner and the Magistrates Court each fit in the termination process — so you know which authority handles what, and when.

See more Tasmania guides →