About VCAT decisions and orders

If you’ve been to VCAT and you have an order that says you’ll get all or part of your bond back, you need to:

• Fill in a bond claim form available from the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) website 
• Return it to the RTBA 
• Attach a copy of the VCAT order - this means the other party doesn’t need to sign the form. 

Claim your bond on the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority website
 

When we make a final decision on your case, we may give the order to you in writing on the same day or send it to you after the hearing. 

We must give the reason for our final decision to everyone involved in the case, either at the hearing or later in writing. 

If you’re given the reason verbally in the hearing, you can ask for it in writing. You need to ask us within 14 days of the hearing. 

For renting disputes where the claim is under $10,000, you need to ask for written reasons before or at the time a decision is made.

If you miss your hearing we can make a decision in your absence.

If you have a good enough reason for not coming, and you didn’t have someone come for you, you may be able to apply for a review and rehearing (called ‘reopening an order’).  

You need to make this application within 14 days of finding out about the order. There’s no guarantee that VCAT will agree. 
 
Apply to reopen an order made against you
 

VCAT makes orders to resolve a case but can’t generally enforce orders. If the other person or organisation (‘party’) doesn’t follow what the order says, you need to apply to a court to enforce it.  

There are some exceptions where other people may be involved in enforcing the order.
 
If your case is about a decision made by another organisation (like a government department or agency), they are responsible for making sure VCAT’s decision is complied with.

Read more about enforcing VCAT orders
 

If you want to enforce a monetary order, you need a certified copy of an order. This is certified by us as a true copy for you to take to the court.

You can ask for this by calling or writing to us.

If you want to enforce a non-monetary order, you need to write to us to ask for this.

Read more about enforcing VCAT orders

If you’re not satisfied with the decision made in your case and you were at the hearing you can’t apply for a review and rehearing.

You can only apply for a review and rehearing if you were not at the hearing for your case. 

When you apply for a review you go to a hearing where we decide if:

• you’re entitled to a review and rehearing on the spot
• you’re entitled to a review and the rehearing is scheduled for a hearing on another date
• you’re not entitled to a review and rehearing.

Complete an Application to reopen an order form

See also: What happens if I miss my hearing?
 

You can read written decisions made in cases like yours online on the Australasian Legal Information Institute website (AustLII).

If you shared evidence or exhibits with VCAT during your case, we may need to keep these on file.

If we do not need to keep them on file, you can collect these from VCAT from one month after the final decision is sent to you. We only hold exhibits for up to three months after the final decision.

You must arrange for the return or collection of any exhibits that VCAT does not have to keep on file. If they are not collected within the timeframe, we may dispose of them.