Know Your Script
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Renting & tenancy · Western Australia

Can my landlord evict me in Western Australia 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

Western Australia implies the obligation into every agreement in two short lines, and then treats social housing separately and more carefully than private renting.

The implied term — section 39. It is a term of every residential tenancy agreement that the tenant (a) shall not use the premises, or cause or permit them to be used, for any illegal purpose, and (b) shall not cause or permit a nuisance. That is the whole of it. Possession of a medicine dispensed on a valid prescription is authorised, so limb (a) is not engaged; limb (b) is about effect, and the same words would apply to tobacco smoke.

Section 44 runs the other way. It is a term of every agreement that the tenant is to have quiet enjoyment of the premises.

Social housing has its own section, with a justification test. Section 75A lets a competent court terminate a social housing tenancy agreement for objectionable behaviour where the tenant has used the premises for an illegal purpose, caused or permitted a nuisance by the use of the premises, or interfered with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a person residing in the immediate vicinity — and that the behaviour justifies terminating the agreement. Section 75A(3) says that in deciding whether it does, the court may have regard to whether the behaviour was recurrent and, if so, how frequently.

That justification requirement and the recurrence factor apply to social housing. If you rent privately in WA, a breach of the section 39 term is dealt with through the ordinary breach and termination machinery rather than under section 75A.

What happens if it goes wrong

For a social housing tenant, section 75A is the provision to read: the court cannot terminate on objectionable behaviour unless it is satisfied the behaviour justifies it, and section 75A(3) directs attention to whether the conduct was recurrent and how often. A single complaint about odour is a weak foundation for that finding.

For a private tenant, the section 39 term is a term of the agreement like any other, and a lessor who says it has been breached has to establish the breach.

We did not read the general breach and termination provisions in full, so this page does not state notice periods for a private tenancy in WA, and we did not search the courts' decisions — no claim is made here about how a prescribed patient has been treated 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 WA are short and strict.

Sources

Cite this page

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

Last checked against primary sources by the publisher: