Accommodation

You may think your accommodation is the safest places to be at Schoolies, but it can often be the place where a lot of risk-taking behaviour occurs.

To keep you stay safe and stress-free during Schoolies, here are two easy tips to keep in mind:

1. Familiarise yourself with the house rules
   It can help you avoid any nasty surprises or possibly being evicted. Some apartments won't allow you to bring in any glass or they can outline whether you are allowed any guests in your apartment and if so, how many and at what times.
2. Save your accommodation details
   You might feel silly about dropping a pin in Google Maps or simply saving the address and contact number of where you are staying but trust us, streets can look very different in the dark.

Rights and responsibilities

When you’re booking your stay, you’re entering into a legal contract with your accommodation provider—as are your friends who are staying with you.

Before you book and pay

• Get a copy of the accommodation contract from the accommodation provider and check that the terms and conditions are okay. This will help to avoid any issues later.
• Read the fine print—check your booking terms and conditions. If you change or cancel your booking, you may be charged a fee, lose your deposit, or be required to pay for the entire booking.
• Check to see if a security bond is required. This is money you pay (in addition to your accommodation costs) as a type of insurance against any damage caused to the accommodation including the room, furniture, or fittings. If there is no damage, the bond is returned to you after your stay.
  • Always ask for a receipt at the time of paying your bond.
  • Know what you can lose your bond for and avoid doing it.
  • If you, or a visitor to your room, damage your accommodation, your bond can be used to pay for repair or replacement costs and you will not get the full amount back.
  • If the cost to repair the damage costs more than your bond, you may have to pay extra.
  • Inspect the accommodation carefully when you arrive and report any damage immediately so that you can't be blamed for it later. Take photos of any damage so you have proof as to what state the items/accommodation were in before your stay.
  • Make an appointment with your accommodation provider to perform the check-out inspection together just before you leave.

If your booking is cancelled

By the agent or accommodation provider—you are entitled to get back all your money because they have failed to fulfil your accommodation contract. If you're transferred to lesser accommodation, you should receive compensation equivalent to the difference in accommodation standard. See our section below on damage control if you experience issues.

House rules and your booking

Take the time to read and understand your responsibilities before you arrive. Ensure you read the booking terms and conditions, house rules, and accommodation agreement, because when you sign them, you are agreeing to the rules and associated consequences if you, or one of your friends, don't comply.

These can include:

• whether you’re allowed to have visitors over, how many, and at what times they’re allowed to pop in
• some accommodation providers even ban you from bringing any glass bottles on to the property (this includes perfume bottles and jars of jam too)
• specific rules around noise
• balcony access including when you are allowed to use the balcony, acceptable balcony behaviour, and how many people are allowed on the balcony at one time.

Explore information and resources for accommodation providers on our website.

Staying with mates

If you plan to share accommodation with friends, it’s a good idea to chat early on about your accommodation.

Don’t forget to discuss:

• each other’s expectations for the week, including what behaviour is acceptable and your thoughts on visitors, partying, and responsibilities
• all costs including food, accommodation, and bond. We suggest collecting everyone's financial contribution before you arrive.

Visitors

Different accommodation providers have different rules.

Carefully consider if having visitors in your apartment is a good idea – it could be more trouble than it's worth.

Remember to:

• Always check your 'house rules' first, as you may not be allowed to have visitors where you are staying.
• Always seek permission from your fellow roomies before you invite someone back to your accommodation.
• Trust your instincts – if something doesn’t feel right or you feel uncomfortable for any reason, ask your visitors to leave (e.g. suggest you all head down to the Schoolies Hub).
• Be a considerate guest when visiting other’s accommodation – treat their accommodation as you would treat yours.

Safety

Balcony safety

Behaving irresponsibly on balconies is extremely dangerous and during Schoolies there is a zero tolerance to this behaviour. You face:

• eviction
• being charged by the police
• endangering your life.

Balconies can become especially dangerous after drinking alcohol or using drugs. Stay away from balconies if you and your friends are under the influence.

Take care on balconies and remember:

• Don’t sit on, lean over, climb or hang off the side of balconies; accidents happen – you could slip and fall.
• Never ‘room hop’ or ‘balcony hop’ from balcony to balcony – one wrong move could prove fatal.
• Avoid overcrowding – take it inside or wind up the party.
• Don’t throw objects – Schoolies is a very busy time and there may be a lot of people walking below; objects thrown or dropped from a height can become dangerous projectiles when they reach the ground.

Don't get caught up in the moment and make a silly mistake that could ruin your Schoolies and/or your life.

Even if you're not doing the wrong thing, the whole unit will be evicted if the incident occurred on your balcony.

Lift safety

It is important to remember that during Schoolies, lifts are under more stress and demand than usual and there's the real risk that there will be a lot of people in a lift at any 1 time.

Do:

• wait for the next one if the lift is full
• pay attention to displayed load limits and don’t overload the lift
• be polite and courteous and mind your language when using residential lifts
• stand clear of the doors.

Don’t:

• use the lift in the event of a fire – head to the stairs instead
• jump up and down in lifts
• rest on or push someone against the door
• push excessive amounts of floors to make the lift stop at all levels.

If you get stuck in a lift:

• use the emergency phone or alarm to get help – if you have your phone on you, call Triple Zero (000)
• take the incident seriously – environments like this could induce or aggravate existing or underlying medical conditions such as
  • anxiety
  • asthma
  • panic attacks
  • diabetes
• stay in the lift – don't attempt to pry open the doors or climb out of the roof
• stay calm and reassure anyone who is panicking.

Noise

Ensure that noise (including music) is kept to an acceptable level to respect your neighbours and avoid getting into trouble. ‘Noise abatement' allows police to enter your accommodation without warrant, request names and addresses, and seize/remove equipment or make it inoperable.

Remember—the person next door may have to get up to go to work in the morning and a noise complaint could result in your eviction.

Theft

You may be used to your parentals locking up the house and keeping you safe at home but during Schoolies, it’s your responsibility to take care of your valuables.

Remember to:

• keep all valuables in the hotel safe
• keep doors to connecting rooms locked at all times
• ensure your front door always secures completely when entering or exiting the building
• at night or when you are not in your room in general, ensure that you keep all balcony doors locked
• not invite strangers into your room (including school leavers you don’t know)
• report any suspicious activity to your accommodation manager immediately.

Damage control

Remember that courtesy and good manners can go a long way in resolving a situation. If you find yourself in a situation with an accommodation provider, these handy steps may help resolve your problem:

Step 1

Take a deep breath. Remain calm, remember your manners, and respect.

Step 2

Check responsibilities under the booking terms and conditions, house rules, and/or accommodation agreement.

Step 3

Talk to the accommodation manager/booking agent calmly to reach an agreement that suits everyone. Accommodation managers are required to have a complaint handling process in place, and you should lodge a written complaint with them immediately if you think your treatment has been unfair.

Step 4

Contact the Office of Fair Trading on 13 QGOV (13 74 68) for advice or to lodge a formal written complaint if you feel you have been unfairly treated.

Step 5

If an agreement cannot be reached, contact the Department of Justice and Attorney-General's Alternative Dispute Resolution Branch on 1800 017 288.