Notice to Vacate Victoria Template — Form RT3 and What to Download

Victoria does not leave the notice to vacate form up to landlords. The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 requires a specific prescribed form, and using anything else — a generic template, an interstate form, or a self-drafted letter — makes the notice legally invalid.

The Official Form: RT3

The form you need is published by Consumer Affairs Victoria and titled "Notice to vacate to renter/s of rented premises" (Form RT3). It is available as a free Word document download from the Consumer Affairs Victoria website at consumer.vic.gov.au.

This is the only form that satisfies section 91ZZO of the RTA. No other template, regardless of how professional it looks, meets the statutory requirement.

If you are ending a tenancy based on successive breaches of duty (s 91ZP), there is a separate prerequisite form: the "Notice of breach of duty to renter/s of rented premises." You must serve two of these breach notices for the same duty before you can serve the 14-day notice to vacate. Both forms are available from the same CAV publications page.

What the Form Must Contain

A completed Form RT3 is not valid unless it includes all of the following:

• Every named renter on the rental agreement, individually and accurately
• The specific RTA section you are relying on (e.g., s 91ZZA for owner move-in, s 91ZM for rent arrears)
• Detailed factual reasons for serving the notice — not just the statutory language, but your specific circumstances
• The exact termination date — calculated correctly based on the notice period and service method
• Your signature and date (or the signature of your licensed real estate agent)
• All mandatory evidence attachments for your ground (statutory declarations, sales contracts, trades quotes, etc.)

Leaving any field blank, vague, or incomplete gives the renter grounds to challenge the notice at VCAT.

Why Generic Templates Are Risky

Template marketplaces (Etsy, Gumroad, and online legal document sellers) sell notice-to-vacate templates for $15 to $49. The problem is that many of these templates:

• Are designed for other Australian states (NSW, Queensland) or overseas jurisdictions (UK, New Zealand, Canada) and do not comply with Victorian law
• Have not been updated for the November 2025 reforms that abolished no-fault evictions and increased notice periods to 90 days
• Do not include fields for section 91ZZO evidence requirements
• Use generic language that fails to meet Victoria's requirement for detailed factual reasons

A notice served on a non-prescribed form is void. It does not matter that you paid for the template or that it looked legitimate. VCAT will throw it out, and you will need to start the process from scratch with the correct form.

The Breach of Duty Form

If you are dealing with a renter who has repeatedly breached their obligations — failing to maintain the property, causing nuisance, keeping an unauthorised pet after a VCAT exclusion order — you need the breach of duty form before you can serve a notice to vacate.

Section 91ZP requires two formal breach of duty notices for the same specific obligation before you can issue a 14-day notice to vacate for successive breaches. Each breach notice must identify the specific duty breached, the facts of the breach, and the action the renter must take to remedy it.

Practical Steps

1. Go to consumer.vic.gov.au and download the current Form RT3
2. Do not reuse a form from a previous tenancy — always start with a fresh download to ensure you have the latest version
3. Complete every field, including the factual reasons and RTA section number
4. Attach all mandatory evidence for your ground before service
5. Keep a copy of the completed, signed form for your records

The Ending a Tenancy in Victoria guide includes a complete walkthrough of Form RT3 — field by field — alongside the evidence checklist for each ground, so you can fill it out correctly the first time.

See more Victoria guides →