Know Your Script
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Renting & tenancy · Queensland

Can my landlord evict me in Queensland 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

Queensland's Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 puts illegal use and nuisance in the same short section, and neither reaches a medicine you have been lawfully prescribed.

Section 184 — the tenant's use of the premises. A tenant must not (a) use the premises for an illegal purpose, (b) cause a nuisance by the use of the premises, or (c) interfere with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour. Possession of a medicine dispensed against a valid prescription is authorised, so limb (a) is not engaged. Limbs (b) and (c) are about the effect of what you do, not about what the substance is — the same words would apply to tobacco smoke or a barking dog.

The mirror duty. Section 183 requires the lessor to take reasonable steps to ensure quiet enjoyment, and not to interfere with the tenant's reasonable peace, comfort or privacy. Subsection (2) carries a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units. It runs in your favour, and it is the provision to point at if an agent's response to a disclosure becomes intrusive.

Illegal use is classified as a "significant breach". Section 192(2) defines that term for a notice to remedy breach, and using the premises for an illegal purpose is the first item in the list. This matters mainly because it changes the lessor's entry rights, and it is another reason not to let an unfounded allegation of illegal use go unanswered.

What happens if it goes wrong

The process has two steps and the first one has a floor.

Under section 280 a lessor who believes on reasonable grounds that a term has been breached may give a notice to remedy breach, requiring the breach to be remedied within the allowed remedy period. Section 328 sets that period: it must not end earlier than 7 days after the notice is given.

Only if that notice is not complied with may the lessor give a notice to leave for an unremedied breach under section 281. Section 326 governs its form: it must state the ground and give particulars, must state a handover day, and that day must not be before the end of the minimum notice period set by Schedule 1, part 1. The notice must also tell you that failure to hand over on the handover day lets the lessor apply to the tribunal for a termination order without further notice.

A notice to leave does not end the tenancy by itself; the tribunal must make the order. Section 333 lets a lessor withdraw the notice if the breach is remedied.

We have not stated the minimum notice period in days for an unremedied breach: it lives in a two-column table in Schedule 1 that did not extract reliably from the authorised PDF, and a wrong number here would be worse than no number. Read Schedule 1, part 1 directly.

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 QLD are short and strict.

Sources

Cite this page

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

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