VCAT Summary of Proofs (Now 'Summary of Evidence') — Bond, Compensation, Possession and Warrant Forms for Victorian Landlords

If you have been sent looking for a VCAT Summary of Proofs, the reason the form is hard to find is that VCAT no longer calls it that. The current name is Summary of evidence. The old web addresses still work — VCAT redirects the legacy summary-proofs-... URLs to the renamed page — but every current form, heading and instruction says evidence, not proofs.

That matters more than a wording change usually would, for two reasons. First, letters, checklists and older agency templates still circulating in Victorian property management say "Summary of Proofs", so an agent following an internal SOP is searching for a phrase that no longer appears on the tribunal's site. Second, the forms were split across two different bodies at the same time. The possession forms stayed with VCAT. The bond and compensation forms moved to a separate service called RDRV, on a separate page.

So the single most common mistake in 2026 is not filling the form in badly. It is downloading the right form from the wrong body, or a superseded copy from a third-party site.

What the document actually is. A Summary of evidence is a structured written summary of your claim, filed in support of an application, that sets out what you are claiming, why, and which document proves each element. It is not the application itself, and it is not your evidence — it is the index that ties the two together so a Member can follow the chain without reconstructing it from a pile of attachments.

VCAT's instruction on its possession forms is that they are used "in support of an application for possession of: a residential rental premises for rent arrears; a residential rental premises for reasons other than rent arrears; a room in a rooming house; a caravan or site in a caravan park; a part 4A site in a part 4A caravan park" (VCAT — Summary of evidence).

The two current form pages are:

• Summary of evidence — the five possession forms (VCAT).
• Summary of evidence – RDRV — the three bond and compensation forms (RDRV).

Take the current version from those two pages on the day you file. Forms are revised, and a superseded form is an avoidable reason to lose a hearing date.

Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) is a Victorian Government service that was, in its own words, "established in 2025 as part of the response to the Housing Statement released in 2024" (About RDRV). It sits in front of a formal VCAT hearing for the four most common money-and-maintenance disputes.

VCAT describes it plainly: "RDRV is our free dispute resolution service for renters and rental providers in Victoria. RDRV helps resolve the following disputes: bond, compensation, excessive rent, repairs" (VCAT — About residential tenancies disputes).

And RDRV is equally plain about where it stops: "There are some issues we can't help with, such as disputes about evictions, lease terminations and other complex matters. To address these, you will need to make an application through VCAT."

That gives you a clean decision rule, and it maps exactly onto which Summary of evidence form you download:

• Bond, compensation, repairs, excessive rent → the RDRV forms on the Summary of evidence – RDRV page.
• Possession — rent arrears, or any other notice to vacate ground → the VCAT forms on the Summary of evidence page.

Three points that are routinely misunderstood, and that change how you should prepare:

1. RDRV is part of VCAT, not an alternative to it. RDRV describes itself as "an early resolution and case management service offered by VCAT" (How to apply). You are not choosing between two tribunals; you are entering the same system at an earlier, informal stage.

2. A referral to RDRV does not need your agreement. The power sits in Division 5A of Part 4 of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (legislation.vic.gov.au), inserted in 2025. VCAT's own dispute-type tables now carry the line "Depending on your application, we may refer your case to RDRV" against compensation, urgent-repairs and sub-let-fee items (Dispute types and section numbers). Plan on the possibility that a compensation claim you filed as a VCAT application is handled first as an RDRV matter.

3. It changes what you pay. This is covered in full below, but the short version is that RDRV-suitable applications carry no commencement fee at all under the current fee regulations — until RDRV reports that it did not resolve the matter.

One practical consequence for agencies: your evidence bundle should be assembled to RDRV's standard from day one, because RDRV is likely to be the first pair of eyes on it, and a bundle that satisfies a resolution coordinator will satisfy a Member later.

This is the form behind the highest-volume search in this cluster, and the one most often downloaded from the wrong page. The current form is "Summary of evidence for residential rental provider's claim for bond or compensation", on the RDRV summary of evidence page. There is a companion form for a rent-arrears claim decided in a hearing on the papers (no in-person hearing), and a third for a renter's own compensation claim.

Before the form: the RTBA clock. Bond money sits with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, and the bond process has its own deadlines that run independently of the tribunal. Consumer Affairs Victoria states that a rental provider must start a bond claim with the RTBA within 14 days of the rental agreement ending (Bond claims and refunds).

If the renter claims first, you are the one on the clock. CAV's wording on contesting a renter-initiated claim is worth reading twice, because it defeats the intuitive response:

"The RTBA is required by law to give notice to all other parties on the bond so that they have the chance to contest the renter's claim. This is done by making an application to VCAT or RDRV for the bond. If the party provides the RTBA with proof of the application, the RTBA will cancel the claim. Other parties have 14 days to contest the claim, or the bond will be repaid as directed in the claim." — Consumer Affairs Victoria, Starting or contesting a bond claim initiated by a renter

Two traps live in that paragraph. Objecting is not contesting — emailing the RTBA to say you disagree does nothing; you must actually lodge the application and give the RTBA a valid reference number. And CAV notes the window extends to 20 days where a party is not contactable by email and the RTBA has to notify by post. Do not plan around the longer window; plan around 14 days.

The evidence checklist for a bond or compensation claim. Every line you claim needs a document behind it. An unevidenced line is not discounted — it is simply not made out.

• The signed residential rental agreement, including any renewals.
• The entry condition report and the exit condition report, with the renter's comments as signed.
• Dated photographs at entry and at exit, of the same fixtures, from comparable angles. Undated photos of damage prove damage exists, not when it arose.
• The rent ledger in full for the tenancy where arrears form part of the claim.
• Invoices, quotes and receipts for every remediation item, itemised to match your claim lines.
• Bank records showing what you actually paid, where you are claiming a cost already incurred.
• The bond receipt / RTBA bond number.
• Correspondence showing you raised the issue with the renter and gave them a chance to respond.

Fair wear and tear is the live issue in almost every bond claim. A Summary of evidence that claims the full replacement cost of an eight-year-old carpet, without addressing its age or condition at entry, invites the whole line to be reduced. Address depreciation in the summary before you are asked about it — state the item's age, its condition at entry per the report, and why the claimed amount reflects the damage rather than the renewal.

Copy-able structure for the claim narrative. RDRV and VCAT both want the same shape: what, when, why, how much, proved by what.

CLAIM 1 — [item, e.g. Carpet damage, second bedroom]
What happened:   [one or two factual sentences, dates included]
When identified: [date, and how — exit inspection / condition report]
Condition at entry: [quote the entry condition report wording verbatim]
Condition at exit:  [quote the exit condition report wording verbatim]
Amount claimed:  $[amount]
Basis of amount: [repair quote / invoice, with allowance for age and wear]
Evidence:        Attachment [n] — entry condition report p.[x]
                 Attachment [n] — exit condition report p.[x]
                 Attachment [n] — photographs dated [date]
                 Attachment [n] — invoice from [trade], dated [date]

CLAIM 2 — [next item, same structure]

TOTAL CLAIMED:   $[sum]
BOND HELD:       $[amount]  (RTBA bond number: [number])
BALANCE SOUGHT FROM RENTER: $[difference, or "nil"]

Number your attachments and use the same numbers in the summary, on the tabs, and in the file names. That single habit is the difference between a Member following your claim and a Member reconstructing it.

This is a VCAT form, not an RDRV one: "Summary of evidence for possession of premises for rent arrears", from the VCAT summary of evidence page. There is a parallel form for possession for reasons other than rent arrears (the no-fault and other-ground notices), plus separate forms for rooming houses, caravan parks and Part 4A parks.

The statutory chain you are proving. Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out the four steps, and the consequence of skipping one:

"Rental providers must follow these steps to legally evict a renter: Give the renter the official written notice called a notice to vacate; Apply to VCAT for a possession order; Receive a warrant of possession; Give the warrant of possession to the police, which gives police the power to evict the renter. If these steps are not followed, it is an illegal eviction." — Consumer Affairs Victoria, Evictions and possession orders

Your Summary of evidence proves link one and link two of that chain.

Section numbers you must state. VCAT requires the correct section of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 in the "Claim details" part of the application, and says so bluntly: "If 'Claim details' are not provided, we may dismiss your application or your hearing may be delayed" (Dispute types and section numbers). From VCAT's own table, for a residential house, unit or apartment:

• Possession — after giving a notice to vacate for rent arrears: s 91ZM. Document required: copy of the notice to vacate. Time limit: "Application must be made after the termination date in the notice."
• Possession — after giving a notice to vacate (not for rent arrears): refer to the section number in the notice to vacate. Time limit: "after the notice is given and no later than 30 days after the termination date."
• Possession — after receiving a notice of intention to vacate: ss 322(2), 91Z(1), where the renter gave notice and then did not go.
• Possession — premises occupied without consent: s 344.
• Compliance or compensation: s 209, on a breach of duty notice.

The Act itself is at legislation.vic.gov.au — Residential Tenancies Act 1997. Note the current statutory vocabulary: renter, residential rental provider, residential rental agreement, notice to vacate, possession order. "Landlord", "tenant" and "lease" are not the terms the Act uses, and a form that uses them reads as though it was drafted from a pre-2021 template.

The arrears threshold is a duration, not a dollar figure. Section 91ZM turns on the renter owing at least 14 days' rent, and requires a notice to vacate specifying a termination date not less than 14 days after the notice is given. There is no minimum dollar amount.

The repeat-arrears rule that catches agents out. Under s 91ZM, on the first four occasions of non-payment, if the renter pays the outstanding rent by the termination date, the notice ceases to have effect — the arrears are cured and the notice dies. It is only on a later occasion within the qualifying period that a notice can survive payment. Two operational consequences: a separate notice to vacate must be given for each separate occasion of non-payment, and your arrears history is therefore evidence, not background. Keep every notice and every proof of service, because the numbered sequence is what you will need to establish.

The two traps written into the form itself. The rent-arrears form requires you to confirm that you are not relying on a notice given after — or with a termination date after — the date of your VCAT application. Serve first, let the termination date pass, then apply. It also asks you to state why a possession order is reasonable and proportionate, which is a substantive test under the Act, not a formality. A summary that answers it in one line invites the question to be asked properly at hearing.

Mandatory attachments for a rent-arrears possession application. The form sets these out as documents you must provide:

• The notice to vacate, and proof of how and when it was served.
• Proof of service of the VCAT application on the renter.
• Proof of consent to electronic service, if you served by email.
• The written residential rental agreement.
• The rent ledger in full, for the whole period of the rental agreement — not an extract, not a screenshot of the last month.
• Any previous VCAT payment plan order.
• Previous notices to vacate, each with its own proof of service.
• The bond receipt.

Copy-able structure for a rent-arrears summary.

PROPERTY:        [full address, including unit number]
RENTER(S):       [all names exactly as on the agreement]
RENTAL PROVIDER: [name as on the agreement]  AGENT: [agency, if applicable]
AGREEMENT:       [type] commenced [date], rent $[amount] per [week/month]
RTA SECTION:     s 91ZM — possession, notice to vacate for rent arrears

ARREARS POSITION
  Rent paid to:        [date]
  Amount outstanding:  $[amount]  as at [date]
  Days' rent owed:     [n]
  Evidence:            Attachment 1 — full rent ledger, [start] to [date]

NOTICE TO VACATE
  Given on:         [date]      Method: [post / email / in person]
  Termination date: [date]      Days between: [n]
  Proof of service: Attachment 2 — [affidavit / post record / email + consent]
  Consent to electronic service: Attachment 3 — [where recorded]

PRIOR OCCASIONS OF NON-PAYMENT (if any)
  1. Notice dated [date], termination [date], outcome [paid / withdrawn]
     Attachment 4 — notice and proof of service
  2. [repeat for each occasion, in order]

APPLICATION
  Filed on:  [date]  (after the termination date above)
  Proof of service on renter: Attachment [n]

WHY A POSSESSION ORDER IS REASONABLE AND PROPORTIONATE
  [Factual paragraph: the arrears history, what was offered, what the renter
   said or did in response, any payment plan and what happened to it, the
   effect of continued non-payment. Facts and dates, not adjectives.]

BOND (if claiming rent arrears from bond in this application)
  Bond held: $[amount]   RTBA number: [number]
  Amount sought from bond: $[amount]

That last block is not an afterthought. The rent-arrears form carries a dedicated section for claiming arrears out of the bond in the same application, so a well-drafted possession summary can resolve the money and the premises together rather than leaving a second application to run afterwards.

A possession order does not put anyone out of a property. It is an order; the warrant is the instrument that lets it be enforced, and only police may enforce it. Consumer Affairs Victoria: "Only Victoria Police can carry out a forcible eviction and only when they are acting on a warrant of possession granted by VCAT."

There is no Summary of evidence for a warrant — that is worth stating plainly, because people search for one. A warrant is requested on its own form: Request by rental provider for Warrant of Possession, which VCAT describes as the form to use where "VCAT has made a possession order". There is a companion form for a duplicate warrant.

The timing rules, from the Act. Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, a warrant may be applied for immediately if the possession order so provides, or otherwise within six months after the date of the possession order where the renter has not complied. Once issued, a warrant must be executed within the time stated in the possession order, which must not exceed 30 days after the date of issue. VCAT may also postpone the issue of a warrant, and a postponement is likewise capped at 30 days.

Two things follow, and both cost agencies money when missed:

• The order sets the execution window, and it is often shorter than the statutory ceiling. Consumer Affairs Victoria describes warrants as "only valid for a period of time, usually 14 days". Both statements are correct — 30 days is the maximum the Act allows; the possession order specifies the actual period, and in practice it is frequently shorter. Read the order, diarise the actual date, and do not assume 30 days.
• The six-month outer limit is real. A possession order left to sit while you negotiate is a possession order that can expire before you use it.

What to have ready when you request a warrant.

VCAT reference number:      [number]
Date of possession order:   [date]
Order provides for warrant: [immediately / on non-compliance]
Renter still in occupation as at: [date]  — how confirmed: [inspection /
                                            attempted contact / agent note]
Execution window in the order: [n] days from issue
Diarised expiry date:       [date]
Police station for service: [station covering the property]

Once issued, the warrant goes to Victoria Police, who decide when it is executed. That step is outside your control and should not be promised to an owner as a date.

Fees. A warrant carries its own fee, separate from the application fee — see the next section for exactly how it is set and where to read the current amount.

VCAT fee amounts are recalculated every year, so any guide quoting a dollar figure is accurate for at most twelve months and silently wrong afterwards. VCAT's own statement is that "Fees are set by the Victorian Government and are updated on 1 July each year" (VCAT — Fees). Rather than publish a number that expires, here is the structure — which is stable — and the two verified inputs from which the current amount is derived.

Fees are expressed in fee units, not dollars. The instrument is the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Fees) Regulations 2026 (S.R. No. 70/2026). Schedule 2 sets the fee in fee units for each type of proceeding, in three payer columns — Corporate, Standard and Concession.

For residential tenancies matters, the three items that matter to a rental provider are:

• Item 20 — no fee payable. No commencement fee applies to a proceeding under Part 10 or Part 12A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, or to any application under that Act considered suitable to be dealt with as an RDRV proceeding — unless notice has been given to the principal registrar that the RDRV proceeding was unsuccessful. Part 10 is the bonds and RTBA part of the Act. In practice: a bond or compensation matter costs nothing to commence while it is an RDRV matter.
• Item 21 — the possession fee. For a proceeding under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 other than Part 10, Part 12A and RDRV-suitable applications — which is where a possession application sits — Schedule 2 sets 11.7 fee units (Corporate), 3.9 fee units (Standard) and nil (Concession).
• Item 33 — the warrant fee. For the issuing of a warrant in one of those same residential tenancies proceedings: 24.3 fee units (Corporate), 8.0 fee units (Standard), nil (Concession).

The value of a fee unit is stated in the same instrument: $16.81 for the financial year commencing 1 July 2025 and $17.27 for the financial year commencing 1 July 2026, with the calculated fee able to be rounded to the nearest 10 cents. Values for later years are fixed by the Treasurer under the Monetary Units Act 2004 and gazetted before 1 June of the preceding year.

Which column applies to you. VCAT states that "Concession rate is 11% of the full fee. Standard rate is 33% of the full fee. Corporate rate is 100% of the full fee", and that "If your business has an annual turnover of less than $300,000, you pay the standard rate" (VCAT — Fees changing). Most individual rental providers and smaller agencies fall in the Standard column; larger corporate owners do not.

Read the current dollar amount off VCAT's own page before you pay. We have deliberately not multiplied the numbers above into a dollar figure here, because the authoritative amount is the one VCAT publishes on the day you file. Use the fee tool on the VCAT fees page — select "Residential tenancies" and your fee category — and pay what it shows.

Fee relief is available and under-used. A concession-card holder pays the concession rate automatically on production of the card. Separately, "anyone (including sole traders) can apply for fee relief on the grounds of financial hardship", and certain applicants pay nothing at all — including "a protected person or an affected family member who is the applicant in a residential tenancies case arising from family violence" (Concessions and fee relief).

Guides on this topic tend to assert a specific penalty — struck out, adjourned, costs. We are not going to, because it is not what the tribunal publishes.

There is no VCAT-published rule stating a specific consequence for omitting a Summary of evidence. We looked for one across VCAT's residential tenancies pages, its hearing-preparation guidance and its current practice notes, and it does not exist. Anyone telling you your matter will automatically be struck out for a missing Summary of evidence is stating a practice impression, not a published rule.

What is published, and what you should actually plan around:

• There is a deadline for evidence generally. VCAT states that "you must submit your evidence at least 3 days prior to your hearing. This might be sooner for urgent cases", and that "you must also bring a paper copy of all your documents to the hearing" (After you apply).
• Not sending documents risks the date. VCAT's hearing-preparation guidance: "If you don't send your documents, your hearing may be changed to a later date (adjourned)."
• Adjournment is not a soft landing. VCAT's Practice Note PNVCAT1 (Common Procedures) records that, absent exceptional or unexpected circumstances, there should be no expectation that a final hearing will be adjourned where the parties had adequate notice and time to prepare.
• The real sanctions attach to non-compliance with directions. PNVCAT1 provides that where a party fails to comply with a Tribunal direction, or acts in a way that unnecessarily disadvantages another party, a Member may dismiss the proceeding in whole or part, strike out or limit part of a claim or defence, disallow or reject evidence, or award costs — including on an indemnity basis.
• Incomplete claim details have their own stated consequence. As above: "If 'Claim details' are not provided, we may dismiss your application or your hearing may be delayed."

The honest summary: a missing Summary of evidence will not automatically end your case, but it removes the mechanism by which a Member can follow your claim quickly, and it puts you in the territory where the published consequences — adjournment, exclusion of evidence, costs — become live. On a possession application with rent still accruing, an adjournment is itself the loss.

Bring originals, and bring copies for everyone. VCAT's evidence guidance is explicit that the best evidence is given in person with original documents, that you should bring copies for the Member and every other party, and that "you cannot provide further evidence after we make an order at the hearing" (Prepare evidence). The bundle you walk in with is the bundle you are judged on.

The value in this document is not the writing. It is that the underlying records exist, are dated, and were created before anyone was contemplating a dispute. A summary written from good records takes an hour. A summary written from bad records cannot be fixed at any price.

What that means in practice for a managed property:

• The condition report is the whole case. Entry and exit reports, photographed to the same rooms and the same fixtures, with the renter's own comments captured as signed. A bond claim without a comparable pair of reports is an argument about memory.
• The ledger is never reconstructed. It runs continuously from the first day of the agreement, because the rent-arrears form asks for it in full and a reconstructed ledger reads exactly like one.
• Service is evidenced at the moment of service, not later. Method, date, address, and — where service is electronic — the recorded consent to electronic service. This is the single most common failure point in possession applications, and it is unrecoverable after the fact.
• Every notice is kept, including the ones that worked. Notices that were cured by payment are not spent paper; under the repeat-arrears rule they are the numbered history you may later need.
• Invoices are itemised against claim lines before they go in the bundle, so each dollar claimed points at one document.
• Attachment numbers are assigned once and used identically in the summary, on the tabs and in the file names.

If you are self-managing and reading this the week before a hearing, the highest-value thing you can do is stop drafting and go and find your proof of service. If you cannot evidence how and when the notice reached the renter, the rest of the bundle does not get used.

If you would rather this never became your problem, that is the job — see our VCAT landlord guide for how the process runs end to end, and our rental property management Melbourne guide for what sits behind it day to day.

Related reading on this site: the full VCAT procedural guide for Melbourne landlords covers application types, hearings and appeals; RTBA bond claims covers the bond process before it becomes a dispute; and notices to vacate in Victoria covers the notice that has to be valid before any of this works.

Every factual claim above is drawn from one of the following. Where we could not verify a figure on a primary source, we have said so in the text rather than publishing it.

1. VCAT — Summary of evidence (possession forms)
2. VCAT — Summary of evidence – RDRV (bond and compensation forms)
3. VCAT — About residential tenancies disputes
4. VCAT — Dispute types and section numbers
5. VCAT — Apply about a residential tenancies dispute
6. VCAT — After you apply
7. VCAT — Prepare evidence
8. VCAT — Request by rental provider for Warrant of Possession
9. VCAT — Fees and Concessions and fee relief
10. VCAT — Fees changing (fee category percentages, turnover threshold)
11. VCAT — Practice notes, including PNVCAT1 Common Procedures
12. Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria — About RDRV and How to apply
13. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Fees) Regulations 2026 (S.R. No. 70/2026) — legislation.vic.gov.au (Schedule 2 items 20, 21 and 33; fee unit values)
14. Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) — legislation.vic.gov.au
15. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 (Vic) — legislation.vic.gov.au
16. Consumer Affairs Victoria — Evictions and possession orders
17. Consumer Affairs Victoria — Notice to vacate in rental properties
18. Consumer Affairs Victoria — Bond claims and refunds
19. Consumer Affairs Victoria — Starting or contesting a bond claim initiated by a renter
20. Residential Tenancies Bond Authority — RTBA Online

This page is general information about a public tribunal process. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own matter. Forms, fees and section numbers change; check the linked primary sources on the day you file. All sources were checked on 31 August 2026.