Schoolies warned not to trash apartments

Alistair WalshOct 14, 2013

Don’t trash your holiday apartments or you’ll get in trouble – that’s the message Strata Community Australia is telling schoolies.

Year 12 school leavers face criminal charges if they damage apartments rented out for their notoriously boozy post-exam holidays.

SCA President for NSW, David Ferguson says he feels compelled to issue the warning and that his counterpart in Queensland had done the same thing.

“Not only is the destruction of someone else’s holiday apartment wrong it can result in the owner asking the police to lay charges for criminal damage. Having a criminal record before you even begin to live in the real world is not a great start,” Mr Ferguson said.

“It will make it hard to get a job and may even make it difficult to travel overseas as some countries will not issue visas to people with a criminal record.”

He says apartment owners who do let out their apartments for schoolies rentals should reinforce with their short-term tenants that any damage must be paid for and that charges may be laid depending on the extent of the destruction.

“Owners also need to be aware that they can themselves face penalties if their tenants create a nuisance of themselves through noise and anti-social behaviour,” Ferguson says.

Schoolies runs from November 16 in Queensland and November 23 for New South Wales and Victoria.

Are you an investor who’s had their place trashed by schoolies? Email us news@propertyobserver.com.au

Alistair Walsh

Deutsche Welle online reporter