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Making an offer

Property deposits, explained

Trust accounts, early release, amounts and what happens to your deposit if a sale falls through — private sale and auction, side by side.

Jurisdiction: All 8 states and territories compared — Victoria, New South Wales (auction practice), Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory·Sources last verified: 12 Aug 2026·Written by: Delora editorial team·Last reviewed: 2026-08-28·Change history
Key points
  • A private-sale deposit can only be released early if the contract is unconditional, proof-of-debts information is satisfactory, and 28 days have passed.
  • Queensland's release trigger is simpler — settled or terminated — but the same core protection applies.
  • Western Australia sets no fixed statutory release trigger at all — the contract of sale itself controls when a deposit can leave trust.
  • South Australia caps the deposit at $100 during the cooling-off period, forfeited if you cool off — a genuinely different structure to the other three states.
  • Tasmania and the ACT both group with Western Australia — no fixed statutory release trigger; the contract of sale governs when a deposit can leave trust in three of the eight jurisdictions researched here.
  • The Northern Territory sits closer to Victoria's model — held by the agent until settlement, with a dual-signature requirement for any interest-bearing account.
  • There's no legal minimum or maximum auction deposit — 10% is the common figure.
  • A post-auction deposit must be held in trust and can only be released early if the buyer agrees.
  • Verify deposit payment instructions independently — never solely from an email.

Private sale: held in trust, released only under specific conditions

A private-sale deposit is held in trust by the agent or the parties' conveyancer or legal practitioner until settlement. It can only be released to the seller before settlement if the contract is unconditional, the buyer is satisfied with the proof-of-debts information provided, and at least 28 days have passed since signing (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Until all three conditions are met, your deposit stays in trust regardless of what the seller or agent might prefer. A Bill currently before Victorian Parliament — the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2026, which has passed the Legislative Assembly but not yet the Legislative Council or received Royal Assent — would replace this three-part test with a single requirement: early release would only be permitted where the contract itself contains an express term the vendor and purchaser have agreed to. A companion provision would also bar the agent from taking commission or expenses out of a deposit released before settlement. Neither change is in force yet.

Queensland: simpler trigger, same core principle

Queensland uses a simpler release test than Victoria's three-part one, but the underlying protection is the same: an agent must bank a deposit into the trust account by the end of the first business day of receiving it (Queensland Government (Office of Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026), and can only withdraw a deposit or final purchase price once the transaction is finalised — either settled or terminated. The seller must be paid their share first or simultaneously with any other parties, and the agent can only take their own fees or commission after every other payment is made (Queensland Government (Office of Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026).

Western Australia: no fixed statutory trigger — the contract decides

Western Australia is a genuinely different model again. Unlike Victoria, Queensland or NSW, the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 (WA) doesn't set a specific statutory formula for when a deposit can leave trust — it only requires that trust money is withdrawn for the purposes of the transaction, or as otherwise authorised by whoever is lawfully entitled to it (Parliament of Western Australia (via AustLII consolidated text), verified 12 Aug 2026). In practice, that means the release trigger for a WA deposit is whatever the contract of sale itself says — commonly a standard REIWA contract — not a fixed rule set by legislation. Read your specific contract's deposit-release clause directly rather than assuming a Victoria-style three-part test or a Queensland-style settled-or-terminated test applies.

South Australia: a token deposit during cooling-off, forfeited if you cool off

South Australia structures the deposit around its cooling-off period rather than a trust-release trigger. Only a token maximum deposit of $100 can be required on signing — in practice, often not required at all — and if you exercise your cooling-off right, that $100 (if paid) is forfeited to the seller, not refunded. If you don't cool off, a further deposit is usually payable once the cooling-off period expires, bringing the total to the commonly cited 10% of the purchase price (Legal Services Commission of South Australia, verified 12 Aug 2026). This guide's only source for SA's rule is a 2014-dated community legal reference, since legislation.sa.gov.au itself blocks automated access — confirm the current position with your conveyancer before relying on the exact $100 figure.

Tasmania: no fixed statutory trigger, like WA

Tasmania groups with Western Australia: the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 requires trust money to be banked without delay and held "upon trust for the person entitled to it," but — checked directly against the Act's trust-money provisions — doesn't set a specific statutory formula for exactly when a deposit can be released before settlement (Parliament of Tasmania (via AustLII consolidated text), verified 12 Aug 2026). As with WA, the real release trigger for a Tasmanian deposit is whatever the contract of sale itself says — commonly the Law Society of Tasmania/REIT standard contract — not a fixed rule in the Act.

The ACT: also no fixed statutory trigger

The ACT makes it a third jurisdiction in this group. Under section 107 of the Agents Act 2003, an agent commits an offence (maximum penalty 100 penalty units) if they deal with trust money other than as directed by the person for whom it's held on trust — but, checked directly against the section, there's no specific statutory formula for exactly when a deposit can be released before settlement (ACT Legislative Assembly (via AustLII consolidated text), verified 12 Aug 2026). That's three of the eight jurisdictions researched here — WA, Tasmania and the ACT — that leave the actual release trigger to the contract of sale rather than prescribing one in legislation, against Victoria, Queensland and South Australia's more prescriptive models.

The Northern Territory: held until settlement, closer to Victoria's default

The Northern Territory takes a different shape again — closer to a general "held until settlement" default than either the prescriptive states or the contract-governed ones. A deposit is usually held by the agent (or the seller's representative, if there's no agent) until the contract settles. The Agents Licensing Act 1979 (NT) requires the agent to place it in trust, in a special bank account, or — if both parties agree — an interest-bearing account that requires both parties' signatures to withdraw from (AustLII Communities / NT Law Handbook contributors, verified 12 Aug 2026). This guide's only source for the NT position is a community legal handbook rather than a dedicated government page — confirm the current detail with a conveyancer before relying on it.

Auction: no set amount, but the same trust rule

Victorian law sets no required auction deposit amount, though 10% of the purchase price is the common figure — a buyer who prepares a deposit cheque for more than they end up bidding will find it represents more than 10% of the actual sale price (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). Either way, a post-auction deposit must be held in trust by the seller's agent, conveyancer or legal practitioner until settlement, and can only be released to the seller before then if the buyer agrees; a seller without an agent must deposit it with their own practitioner or a special-purpose account in both parties' names (Consumer Affairs Victoria, verified 30 Jul 2026). NSW auction deposits work similarly in practice — usually 10% of the purchase price, paid on the spot at the fall of the hammer (NSW Department of Customer Service (in collaboration with NSW Fair Trading), verified 12 Aug 2026) — though the specific trust rules differ.

What to actually confirm

Before paying a deposit: confirm the exact trust account or firm it's being paid to (independently, not just from an email), confirm the deposit amount and due date match what's in the contract, and confirm your conveyancer knows the payment has been made. A holding deposit or expression-of-interest payment made before a contract exists is a different arrangement again — it may not secure the property in the way a signed-contract deposit does, so confirm exactly what it does and doesn't commit either party to.

Worked example

A buyer wins an auction with a prepared bank cheque for 10% of their $715,000 walk-away limit ($71,500), but the property sells for $706,000. Their cheque is worth more than 10% of the actual sale price — the agent explains the excess will be adjusted, and the buyer confirms with their conveyancer exactly how before handing it over, rather than assuming it will sort itself out.

Common mistake: paying a deposit or holding payment based on bank details received only by email, without independently verifying them by phone through a number you already know — a scam pattern that specifically targets property deposits.

Practical checklist

Before you pay a deposit

  • Confirm the trust account or firm details independently, by phone through a known number
  • Confirm the deposit amount and due date match the signed contract
  • Confirm with your conveyancer that the payment has been made and received
  • For any holding or expression-of-interest payment, confirm exactly what it does and doesn't secure

Questions for a professional

  • Can you confirm these trust account details independently before I pay?
  • Under what conditions could this deposit be released or forfeited?

Official resources

Important limitations: This is general education about how Victorian property deposits work, not personalised legal advice about a specific contract or trust arrangement. Deposit handling and caps differ by state — NSW auction deposits, for example, are usually 10% paid on the spot at the fall of the hammer, similar in practice to Victoria but governed by different rules. Queensland's release trigger is genuinely simpler than Victoria's three-part test, but the same core protection applies. Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT all set no fixed statutory trigger at all — read the deposit-release clause in your own contract of sale rather than assuming any other state's rule applies. South Australia's $100 cooling-off deposit cap relies on a 2014-dated secondary legal reference, since legislation.sa.gov.au blocks automated access — confirm the current figure with a conveyancer before relying on it. The Northern Territory position also relies on a secondary community-legal-handbook source, not a dedicated government page — confirm current detail with a conveyancer.

Sources and methodology

Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.

Evidence record
Written by
Delora editorial team
Jurisdiction
All 8 states and territories compared — Victoria, New South Wales (auction practice), Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory
Content type
Guide (general education, not financial advice)
Last reviewed
2026-08-13
Sources
See "Sources and methodology" above for cited sources
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