Know Your Script
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Renting & tenancy · Northern Territory

Can my landlord evict me in the Northern Territory for using prescribed cannabis at home?

Clear law, contested application

The short answer

Lawful use of a prescribed medicine is not illegal use of the premises. Where a lessor has an argument at all it usually comes from a smoke, vapour or nuisance term in the agreement — the same term that would apply to tobacco.

General information, not advice. This page describes the law as at the last-checked date shown at the foot of it. It does not take your circumstances into account, and small differences in circumstances change outcomes. If a decision turns on this, speak to someone qualified about your own situation.

What the law actually says

The Northern Territory's Residential Tenancies Act 1999 implies the relevant obligations into every agreement, and then sets a higher bar for the nuisance limbs when the Tribunal is asked to terminate.

The implied term. Section 54, headed "No illegal conduct or nuisance on premises etc.", makes it a term of every tenancy agreement that a tenant must not (a) use the premises or ancillary property, or cause them to be used, for an illegal purpose; (b) cause or permit a nuisance on the premises, ancillary property, or land adjacent to or opposite the premises; or (c) cause or permit ongoing or repeated interference with the reasonable peace or privacy of another person using premises or land in the immediate vicinity.

Note that limb (c) is qualified even at the level of the implied term: a single occasion is not interference for these purposes.

Termination has its own, stricter provision. Section 100 lets the Tribunal terminate and order possession if satisfied the tenant has (a) used or permitted the premises to be used for an illegal purpose; or (b) repeatedly caused or permitted a nuisance on or from the premises; or (c) repeatedly caused or permitted an interference with the reasonable peace or privacy of a person residing in the immediate vicinity.

So a one-off complaint about odour does not reach section 100(b) or (c) at all. And for a medicine dispensed on a valid prescription, limb (a) is not engaged, because possession under the prescription is authorised.

What happens if it goes wrong

Termination on these grounds is a Tribunal decision, not something a notice achieves by itself: section 100 is in Division 4, "Termination by Tribunal", and the landlord (or an interested person) must apply.

Where the application is made by an interested person rather than the landlord, section 100(2) requires the landlord to have been served and given the opportunity to be heard before an order for possession can be made.

The practical consequence for a prescribed patient is that the nuisance route requires a pattern the applicant has to prove, not a single complaint. We did not read NTCAT's decisions, so this page makes no claim about how the Tribunal has treated a prescribed patient in practice.

What to carry

  • Your residential tenancy agreement, with any smoke, vapour, odour or nuisance term identified.
  • The pharmacy label, which is what makes your possession lawful.

What to say

  • If asked, you are using a lawfully prescribed medicine. You are generally not required to name your medical condition to a lessor or agent.

What not to do

  • Do not volunteer your diagnosis to an agent. Health information attracts privacy protection and volunteering it rarely helps you.
  • Do not ignore a breach notice. Tribunal timeframes in NT are short and strict.

Sources

Cite this page

Know Your Script, ‘Whether a landlord in NT can act on your lawful use at home’ (Northern Territory), https://www.knowyourscript.com.au/tenancy/landlord-evict-for-use/nt/ (last checked 2026-08-14, publisher-checked, not reviewed by a practitioner).

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