Quick answer: Yes — SignedSorted lets you create a housemate agreement online in Australia in minutes. Describe your share house arrangement, get an AI-drafted document covering rent, bond, bills and house rules, then have every housemate e-sign it. It's separate from your lease and works whether or not everyone is on it. From $3.99.
Room Rental & Share Houses
Create a Housemate Agreement Online in Australia
Moving into a share house or already living with housemates? Describe your arrangement in plain English and SignedSorted drafts a housemate agreement covering rent, bond, bills and house rules — ready for everyone to review and e-sign in minutes.
From $3.99 per document · No subscription required
What It Can Cover
Everything a share house actually argues about
Your housemate agreement is built from what you tell us, so it only includes what's relevant — but here's the full list of what it can cover:
Rent split
Bond & refunds
Utilities
Internet
Household expenses
Cleaning roster
Shared areas
Guests & overnight stays
Pets
Parking
Damage & repairs
Notice periods
Moving out
Replacement housemates
Who It's For
Common situations this covers
Moving into an existing share house
You're joining housemates who are already settled in — get the rent split, bond share and house rules in writing from day one, not after the first disagreement.
Signing a lease together as a group
Everyone's on the lease with the landlord, but you still need your own agreement about who pays what and how shared spaces work day to day.
One head tenant, others subletting
Only one person is on the formal lease — a housemate agreement documents the arrangement between the head tenant and everyone else living there.
A couple moving in together
Splitting rent, bills and larger shared costs with a partner, without needing "tenancy" language that doesn't fit the relationship.
Housemate Agreement vs. Lease
They solve different problems
A lease and a housemate agreement aren't competing documents — most share houses need both, and confusing the two is where a lot of arrangements go wrong.
Residential Lease
BetweenTenant(s) and landlord/agent
Governed byYour state's residential tenancies legislation
BondLodged with the state bond authority
Disputes go toYour state's tenancy tribunal
CoversThe property itself — term, rent to landlord, condition, repairs
Housemate Agreement
BetweenThe people actually living in the property
Governed byGeneral contract law — a private agreement
BondRecords the internal split only, doesn't replace a lodged bond
Disputes go toSmall claims tribunal, same as any private contract
CoversLife inside the house — bills, chores, guests, house rules
How SignedSorted Works
From conversation to signed document
01
Describe your share house arrangement
Rent split, bond, bills, and any house rules that matter to your household — in plain English.
02
AI drafts your agreement
A structured housemate agreement is generated in seconds. Review and adjust any detail.
03
Every housemate reviews
Each person gets a secure link by email to review, request changes, and approve — no account needed.
04
Everyone e-signs
Draw or type a signature in the browser. Each signature is timestamped and tied to the signer's email.
05
Sealed PDF for the whole house
A finished copy is emailed to every housemate and stored in your dashboard.
Example Agreement
What it actually looks like
A sanitised example — your actual agreement is generated from what you describe, so the terms, clauses and length will match your specific household.
Housemate AgreementVIC
Sarah Chen, Jake Morrison & Priya Patel
Example only — 3-bedroom share house
Rent: $650/month each, paid on the 1st
Bond: $1,950 total, split evenly three ways
Bills: Utilities and internet split equally, reconciled monthly
Cleaning: Rotating weekly roster for shared areas
Guests: Overnight guests fine, 5+ consecutive nights needs a heads-up
Notice: 3 weeks' written notice to leave or replace a housemate
Australian Considerations
What differs by state
A housemate agreement itself is a private contract and works the same way nationally, but how it sits alongside tenancy law does vary — worth knowing before you assume one rule applies everywhere:
| State | Worth knowing |
|---|---|
| NSW | The Residential Tenancies Act generally doesn't cover boarders and lodgers the same way it covers tenants — a private housemate agreement fills that gap. |
| VIC | Victoria's tenancy laws include specific rooming house provisions, which can apply in some share-house setups — check whether your arrangement counts as a rooming house before assuming it doesn't. |
| QLD | Rooming accommodation is covered separately from standard tenancies under Queensland's residential tenancies legislation. |
| WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT | Each state and territory tenancy authority treats share-house and lodger arrangements slightly differently — a housemate agreement is designed to sit alongside whichever tenancy rules apply, not replace them. |
This is general information, not legal advice, and tenancy legislation changes — check your state or territory's tenancy authority for the current rules that apply to your specific arrangement.
Sources: NSW Fair Trading — Renting, Consumer Affairs Victoria — Renting, QLD Residential Tenancies Authority.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Is a housemate agreement legally binding in Australia?
A housemate agreement is a private contract between the people sharing a home, and it's designed to meet the requirements of a valid agreement under Australian contract law. Whether a specific clause is enforceable depends on its terms and the circumstances — it's not the same as a residential tenancy agreement, and SignedSorted isn't a law firm, so for high-value or complex disputes we recommend independent legal advice.
What's the difference between a housemate agreement and a lease?
A lease (residential tenancy agreement) is between a tenant and a landlord and is governed by your state's tenancy legislation — it's lodged, bonds are protected through a government scheme, and disputes go to your state tribunal. A housemate agreement is a private arrangement between the people actually living in the property, covering things a lease doesn't — like how bills are split, whose turn it is to clean, and what happens if someone wants to bring in a new housemate. Most share houses need both: a lease with the landlord, and a housemate agreement between the people in the house.
Do all housemates need to be on the lease for this to work?
No. A housemate agreement works whether everyone is on the lease, only one person is (the head tenant) and the others are subletting from them, or there's no formal lease at all. It documents the arrangement between the people in the house, separately from whatever tenancy arrangement exists with the landlord.
How do we handle the bond in a housemate agreement?
If the bond is lodged with the state bond authority under the lease, the housemate agreement can't override that — it can only record how the housemates have agreed to split the cost and share any refund between themselves. Keep the two separate: the lodged bond is between tenant(s) and landlord; your internal split is between housemates.
Can we include rules about guests and overnight stays?
Yes — this is one of the most common sources of housemate conflict, so it's worth being specific. Common approaches include a cap on consecutive nights before someone is considered a new occupant, a heads-up requirement for overnight guests, or a simple "be reasonable and communicate" clause for smaller households.
What happens if a housemate stops paying their share?
Your agreement should set out what happens next — typically a written reminder, a short grace period, and then a clear next step (which might include ending the arrangement). Since a housemate agreement is a private contract, unpaid amounts are generally recovered the same way as any private debt — starting with a letter of demand, and small claims tribunal if it isn't resolved.
How much notice should a housemate give before moving out?
There's no single legal minimum for informal share-house arrangements the way there is for a tenancy — it's whatever the household agrees to upfront, commonly 2 to 4 weeks. Putting a specific number in writing before anyone needs it avoids the awkward "how much notice is fair?" conversation happening during an actual falling-out.
Can a housemate agreement cover pets?
Yes. It can record whether pets are allowed at all, whether new pets need everyone's agreement, and who's responsible for any damage or cleaning a pet causes — useful even if the head lease is silent on pets, since that's a landlord-facing rule, not a housemate-facing one.
What if we need to replace a housemate partway through?
Your agreement can set out the process upfront — how much notice the leaving housemate gives, whether the remaining housemates need to approve the replacement, and how bond and unpaid bills get settled at handover. Agreeing this before someone actually needs to move out avoids most of the argument.
Does the agreement need to be signed by everyone in the house?
For it to reflect the actual arrangement, yes — every housemate it applies to should review and sign. SignedSorted sends each party a secure link to review, request changes, and e-sign, so nobody needs to be in the same room to get it done.
Is this different for a couple living together vs. a share house?
The same basic document works for both — a couple moving in together often uses it to document how rent, bills and larger shared costs are split, without the "tenancy" framing that can feel like the wrong fit for a relationship. It's the same underlying idea: get the money and household expectations in writing before there's a disagreement about them.
How long does it take to create one?
Most housemate agreements are drafted in a few minutes once you've described the arrangement — rent, bond split, bills, house rules, and any specific concerns. Each housemate then reviews and signs at their own pace.
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