Know Your Script
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Renting & tenancy · Tasmania

Can my landlord evict me in Tasmania 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

Tasmania's Residential Tenancy Act 1997 is drafted differently from the mainland Acts, and the difference works in a prescribed patient's favour.

The word "illegal" does not appear in the Act at all. Not once, in 194 pages. The nearest equivalent is a duty, not a termination ground: section 52 says a tenant is not to use the premises for any unlawful purpose, or for any purpose other than a residential one, or to cause or permit a nuisance to be made on or from the premises. Possession of a medicine dispensed on a valid prescription is lawful, so the first limb is not engaged.

The termination ground for nuisance is qualified. Section 42(1) lists the reasons an owner may serve a notice to vacate. Paragraph (g) is "that the tenant has caused nuisance at the premises that is substantial". That word is doing work: an ordinary complaint about odour is not automatically a substantial nuisance, and the owner has to be able to stand behind the characterisation.

Quiet enjoyment runs the other way and carries a penalty. Section 55 gives the tenant the right of quiet enjoyment without interference by the owner, and subsection (2) forbids the owner interfering with the tenant's reasonable peace, comfort and privacy — maximum fine 50 penalty units. If an agent's reaction to a disclosure becomes intrusive, this is the section to name.

What happens if it goes wrong

A notice to vacate does not end a Tasmanian tenancy by itself, and the Court applies a substantive test before it will act on one.

Section 44 requires the notice to state the date of service, the parties, the premises, details of the reason it is served, and the date it takes effect. If the reason is substantial nuisance under section 42(1)(g), the notice has to say so and give the details.

Under section 45 the owner may then apply to the Court for vacant possession, and the Court may order it only if satisfied that the notice was properly given, that vacant possession was not delivered, that the tenant was served with the application — and that the reason for serving the notice was genuine or just. That last requirement is the one worth knowing: a notice served on a pretext, or on a characterisation of your conduct the owner cannot support, is vulnerable at that hearing.

We have not stated a number of days for a notice to vacate. Section 44 requires the notice to state the date it takes effect, and the periods sit in provisions we did not read in full; a wrong figure here would be worse than none.

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 TAS are short and strict.

Sources

Cite this page

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

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