A Notice to remedy breach (Form 11) is issued during a residential tenancy in Queensland where a term of the agreement has been breached, under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. For unpaid rent, the tenant must be more than 7 days behind before it can be issued, and the notice then allows 7 days to pay, or 5 days in a caravan park. If the breach is not remedied, a Notice to leave (Form 12) gives a minimum of 7 days to vacate, or 2 days in a caravan park, and an application can be made to QCAT within 14 days after the handover day. Commercial and retail leases use a separate Form 7 under the Property Law Act 2023.
Last reviewed 7 September 2026.
Two forms, one name, and only one is yours
Search for a notice to remedy breach in Queensland and the first two results are different forms under different Acts, for different kinds of property. Nothing on either result explains that.
The Form 11 is the residential one. It sits under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and is administered by the RTA. If you are dealing with a house, unit or townhouse let to a tenant to live in, this is the form.
The Form 7 is a commercial and retail lease notice under the Property Law Act 2023, section 153, in effect since 1 August 2025. It is a genuinely different instrument: the time allowed to remedy is not fixed at seven days but has to be reasonable in light of the nature and extent of the breach, and the notice has to be copied to designated persons such as a sublessee, guarantor, mortgagee or assignee where their details are known.
There is also a Form R11 for rooming accommodation. Three forms, similar names, and using the wrong one produces a notice that does nothing.
The two different sevens
For unpaid rent under a general tenancy, two seven-day periods run back to back and they are constantly conflated.
The first is the qualifying period. A tenant must be more than seven days behind in rent before a Form 11 can be issued at all. Rent due on the first and unpaid on the fifth is not yet a matter for a breach notice.
The second is the remedy period. Once the Form 11 is issued, it gives the tenant seven days to pay the outstanding amount. In a caravan park that is five days.
Together they mean the earliest a tenancy can move from a missed payment to an expired breach notice is a little over a fortnight, not a week. An agency that issues a notice on day five has issued an invalid one, and an owner who expects the process to be finished within a week has been promised something the Act does not allow.
| Step | What has to be true | Time allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Rent falls behind | No notice can issue yet | Tenant must be more than 7 days in arrears |
| Notice to remedy breach (Form 11) | Issued once the tenant is more than 7 days behind | 7 days to pay, or 5 days in a caravan park |
| Notice to leave (Form 12) | Issued if the breach is not remedied in time | Minimum 7 days to move out, or 2 days in a caravan park |
| Application to QCAT | Made if the tenant does not vacate | Within 14 days after the handover day |
Source: RTA, read 7 September 2026
What happens if the breach is not remedied
The Form 11 is not itself an eviction notice, and this is the second thing owners routinely misread. It is a request to fix something, with a deadline.
If the tenant pays within the remedy period, the breach is remedied and the tenancy continues as though nothing happened. That is the outcome the process is designed to produce and, in ordinary practice, the outcome it usually produces.
If the period expires with the rent still unpaid, the owner or agent may issue a Notice to leave, the Form 12, giving the tenant a minimum of seven days to move out, or two days in a caravan park.
If the tenant still does not leave, an urgent application can be made to QCAT within 14 days after the handover day, seeking an order ending the tenancy and a warrant of possession. That 14-day window is a limit rather than a suggestion: letting it lapse means starting the sequence again.
It is not only for rent
The Form 11 covers a breach of any term of the tenancy agreement, and it runs in both directions.
An owner or agent might use it for an unapproved pet, an unauthorised occupant, damage that has not been repaired, or a failure to keep the property reasonably clean.
A tenant uses the same form against the owner, most often for repairs that have not been carried out or for a failure to meet minimum housing standards. Landlords are sometimes surprised by that, and a Form 11 arriving from a tenant should be read as the formal step it is rather than as a complaint.
For breaches other than unpaid rent, the qualifying arrears rule does not apply, but the remedy period does. The notice has to identify what the breach is and what will fix it, specifically enough that the recipient knows what to do.
Why the dates matter more than the tone
The most common way a breach notice fails is not that it was unreasonable. It is that it was early, vague, or served in a way the Act does not recognise.
Early is the arrears case above. Vague is a notice that says the tenant is in breach without saying which term, or that says to fix the problem without saying what would count as fixed.
Service is the quiet one. Allow time for the method of service used, because a notice posted takes effect later than a notice handed over, and a remedy period counted from the wrong day is a remedy period that has not expired when you think it has.
None of this is difficult, and all of it is the reason an owner self-managing through a genuine arrears problem often finds the process takes twice as long as expected. The steps do not accelerate to match how reasonable your position is.
Common questions
It is the notice used during a residential tenancy where the lessor, agent or tenant claims that a term of the tenancy agreement has been breached, issued under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and administered by the RTA. It is not an eviction notice: it identifies the breach and gives the other party a period in which to fix it. Rooming accommodation uses a Form R11 instead, and commercial or retail leases use an entirely separate Form 7 under the Property Law Act 2023.
More than seven days. That qualifying period is separate from, and runs before, the seven days the notice itself then allows for payment, and the two are constantly confused. Rent due on the first and unpaid on the fifth is not yet a matter for a Form 11. The practical effect is that the earliest a tenancy can move from a missed payment to an expired breach notice is a little over a fortnight, not a week.
The lessor or agent may issue a Notice to leave, the Form 12, giving the tenant a minimum of seven days to move out, or two days in a caravan park. If the tenant does not vacate, an urgent application can be made to QCAT within 14 days after the handover day for an order ending the tenancy and a warrant of possession. That 14-day window is a limit rather than a guideline, and letting it lapse means restarting the sequence.
They cover different property and sit under different Acts. Form 11 is the residential notice under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008. Form 7 is the commercial and retail lease notice under section 153 of the Property Law Act 2023, in effect since 1 August 2025. The Form 7 differs in substance as well as name: the time allowed to remedy is not fixed at seven days but must be reasonable given the nature and extent of the breach, and a copy must go to designated persons such as a sublessee, guarantor, mortgagee or assignee where known. Both appear at the top of the same search results, so it is worth checking which one you are looking at.
Yes. The Form 11 runs in both directions and covers a breach of any term of the agreement. A tenant most commonly uses it where repairs have not been carried out or where the property does not meet minimum housing standards. Owners are sometimes caught off guard by this, and a Form 11 arriving from a tenant should be treated as the formal step it is rather than as a complaint, because it starts a clock.
Where to next
- Rent increases in Queensland/rent-increase-qld
- Fair wear and tear in Queensland rentals/fair-wear-and-tear-qld
- Notice to leave in Queensland/notice-to-leave-qld
- Rent arrears management/rent-arrears-management-sunshine-coast
- Minimum housing standards/minimum-housing-standards-qld
- Property management fees in Queensland/property-management-fees-qld
- Rental Bond QLD/rental-bond-qld
General information only. This page doesn't consider your personal circumstances and isn't financial, tax, credit or legal advice, so get licensed advice on your own position. Whether a notice is valid depends on the facts of that tenancy and on correct service, and this page doesn't interpret any particular notice. The Form 11 process, the requirement that a tenant be more than 7 days in arrears, the 7-day and 5-day remedy periods, the Form 12 minimum notice periods and the 14-day window to apply to QCAT come from Residential Tenancies Authority guidance. The separate Form 7 for commercial and retail leases under section 153 of the Property Law Act 2023, valid from 1 August 2025, comes from the Queensland Government publications listing of Property Law Act 2023 forms. Both read on 7 September 2026. FAA Property Pty Ltd holds QLD OFT real estate licence 4220395. FAA Property earns a commission from builders and developers when a property purchase proceeds. The strategy session itself costs you nothing. Because we're paid by the supply side, you should weigh our recommendations with that in mind. Financial advice and credit sit with other FAA Group companies, which are authorised representatives of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd, AFSL 229892. FAA doesn't lend money.