NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
ACCOMMODATION PROVIDERS ACT 1981
As in force at 1 July 2022
Table of provisions
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1
3 Interpretation ................................................................................... 1
4 Guest at accommodation establishment .......................................... 2
5 Liability of accommodation provider ................................................ 2
6 Restriction of accommodation provider's liability ............................. 2
7 Liability for vehicles ......................................................................... 3
8 Defences ......................................................................................... 4
9 Lien over guest's property ............................................................... 4
10 Sale of property ............................................................................... 4
11 Application of proceeds of sale ........................................................ 5
12 Regulations...................................................................................... 5
13 Transitional matters for Justice and Licensing Legislation
Amendment Act 2022 ...................................................................... 5
Schedule
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 1 July 2022
ACCOMMODATION PROVIDERS ACT 1981
An Act to regulate the liabilities and rights of accommodation providers
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Accommodation Providers Act 1981.
2 Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the
Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
3 Interpretation
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
accommodation establishment means, irrespective of whether it
is licensed under the Liquor Act 2019:
(a) a common inn or an establishment held out by an
accommodation provider as providing, without special
contract, sleeping accommodation to a person presenting
himself who appears able and willing to pay a reasonable sum
for the services and facilities offered and who is in a fit state to
be received;
(b) any premises used for the purposes of providing board and
lodgings for members of the public as a commercial enterprise
and includes a boarding-house, guest-house and lodging-
house; and
(c) a facility that is prescribed, or is of a type that is prescribed, for
the purposes of this definition,
but (subject to paragraph (c)) does not include a caravan park or
the erection or placement and use of tents, mobile homes or cabins
for the purposes of providing board and lodgings for members of
the public as a commercial enterprise.
accommodation provider means the operator of an
accommodation establishment.
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 2
vehicle means a vehicle within the meaning of the Motor Vehicles
Act 1949, a horse and carriage, and chattels used in connection
with a vehicle.
(1A) The Regulations may prescribe a facility or type of facility as an
accommodation establishment for the purposes of the definition of
accommodation establishment in subsection (1) despite that the
facility is of a type that would otherwise be excluded by the terms of
the definition.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the liability of a person for loss of, or
damage to, property caused by his default, neglect or wilful act, or
that of his servant.
(3) The law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act
relating to the rights and liabilities of an innkeeper with respect to
the property of a guest shall cease to apply to an hotel-keeper on
and from the commencement of this Act.
(4) If a regulation prescribes a facility or type of facility to be an
accommodation establishment for the purposes of this Act, the law
in force immediately before the commencement of the regulation
relating to the rights and liabilities of an innkeeper with respect to
the property of a guest ceases to apply to the operator of the facility
(or a facility of that type, as the case may be) on and from the
commencement of the regulation.
4 Guest at accommodation establishment
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be a guest at an
accommodation establishment only where sleeping accommodation
at the accommodation establishment has been engaged by or for
him.
5 Liability of accommodation provider
Subject to sections 6, 7 and 8, an accommodation provider is liable,
in his capacity as an accommodation provider, for loss of, whether
by theft or otherwise, or damage to, property brought to an
accommodation establishment by or on behalf of a guest.
6 Restriction of accommodation provider's liability
(1) Subject to this section, the amount payable in respect of the liability
of an accommodation provider to any one person who is a guest at
the accommodation establishment with respect to property that,
while at the accommodation establishment, is lost, whether by theft
or otherwise, or damaged shall not exceed 750 monetary units or, if
the Regulations prescribe another amount for the purposes of this
subsection, that amount.
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 3
(1A) The amount that applies in respect of the loss of or damage to
property referred to in subsection (1) is the amount that is
prescribed at the time the loss or damage occurred.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not have effect unless, at the time the property
in question was brought to an accommodation establishment, a
copy printed in plain type of the notice appearing in the Schedule
was conspicuously displayed in the sleeping accommodation
occupied by a guest and in a place where it could conveniently be
read by the guest at or near the reception office or desk or, where
there is no reception office or desk, at or near the main entrance to
the accommodation establishment.
(3) Notwithstanding compliance with subsection (2), subsection (1)
shall not have effect where the property in question:
(a) was lost, whether by theft or otherwise, or damaged through
the default, neglect or wilful act of the accommodation
provider or his servant;
(b) was deposited by or on behalf of a guest expressly for
safekeeping with the accommodation provider or his servant
authorized or appearing to be authorized for the purpose and,
if so required by the accommodation provider or his servant,
deposited in a container fastened or sealed by the depositor;
or
(c) was offered to the accommodation provider or a servant
authorized or appearing to be authorized for the purpose for
deposit for safekeeping and the accommodation provider or
the servant refused to receive it or, through the default of the
accommodation provider or the servant, was unable to receive
it.
7 Liability for vehicles
(1) An accommodation provider is not liable, in his capacity as an
accommodation provider, for loss of, whether by theft or otherwise,
or damage to, a vehicle brought to the accommodation
establishment by or on behalf of a guest or to property left in or on
the vehicle.
(2) An accommodation provider, in his capacity as an accommodation
provider, shall not have a lien over property referred to in
subsection (1).
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 4
8 Defences
An accommodation provider is not liable, in his capacity as an
accommodation provider, for loss of, whether by theft or otherwise,
or damage to, property of a guest if the accommodation provider
establishes:
(a) that the loss or damage was due to the misconduct or
negligence of the guest or his servant or a person
accompanying the guest or an act of God or the Crown's
enemies; or
(b) that the guest had assumed exclusive charge and custody of
the room in which the property was at the time of the loss or
damage.
9 Lien over guest's property
Subject to section 7(2), an accommodation provider has a right of
lien over property brought to an accommodation establishment by
or on behalf of a guest for the accommodation provider's charges
for food, drink, accommodation or services provided to the guest or
on that guest's account.
10 Sale of property
(1) Where an accommodation provider's charges for food, drink,
accommodation or services remain unpaid for 28 days after they
become due and payable, the accommodation provider may, in
addition to any other remedy provided by law, sell by public auction
property that he has held in pursuance of section 9.
(2) An accommodation provider shall give notice of a proposed sale
under subsection (1) not later than 7 days before the proposed
sale:
(a) by placing an advertisement in a newspaper published or
circulating in the area where the accommodation
establishment is located; and
(b) by posting a notice by registered mail to the last-known place
of residence or business of the guest whose property he
proposes to sell or by serving upon that guest personally a
notice of the proposed sale.
(3) A notice under subsection (2) of a proposed sale shall indicate:
(a) the name of the guest;
(b) the amount of the guest's indebtedness;
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 5
(c) the time and place of the proposed sale;
(d) the property to be sold; and
(e) the name of the auctioneer.
11 Application of proceeds of sale
(1) The proceeds of a sale made under section 10 shall be applied by
an accommodation provider, in order of preference, in payment of:
(a) the amount owed to the accommodation provider; and
(b) the costs of the advertisement and sale made pursuant to
section 10,
and the surplus, if any, shall, upon application being made by the
guest within one month after the date of the sale, be paid to that
guest.
(2) If no application is received under subsection (1) within the
specified time for the surplus proceeds of a sale the
accommodation provider shall pay the surplus to the Public Trustee
as unclaimed moneys.
12 Regulations
The Administrator may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or
giving effect to this Act.
13 Transitional matters for Justice and Licensing Legislation
Amendment Act 2022
(1) A notice in accordance with the Schedule as in force immediately
before the commencement, displayed in accordance with
section 6(2), is taken to be the notice set out in the Schedule as in
force after the commencement.
(2) In this section:
commencement means the commencement of Part 2 of the
Justice and Licensing Legislation Amendment Act 2022.
Schedule
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 6
Schedule
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
ACCOMMODATION PROVIDERS ACT 1981
section 6(2)
NOTICE
LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO GUEST'S PROPERTY
Under the Accommodation Providers Act 1981, an accommodation provider of
an accommodation establishment may, in certain circumstances, be liable to
make good any loss of or damage to a guest's property even though it was
not due to any fault of the accommodation provider or any servant in his
employ.
This liability, however:
(a) extends only to the property of guests who have engaged a room for
sleeping;
(b) is limited to the amount determined in accordance with section 6(1) of
the Act to any one guest except in the case of property which has been
deposited, or offered for deposit, for safekeeping; and
(c) does not cover motor vehicles or other vehicles of any kind or property
used in connection with a vehicle.
ENDNOTES
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 7
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Hotel-keepers Act 1981 (Act No. 58, 1981)
Assent date 14 July 1981
Commenced 11 December 1981 (Gaz G49, 11 December 1981, p 2)
Hotel-keepers Amendment Act 2002 (Act No. 36, 2002)
Assent date 13 September 2002
Commenced 16 October 2002 (Gaz G41, 16 October 2002, p 3)
Liquor Act 2019 (Act No. 29, 2019)
Assent date 3 September 2019
Commenced 1 October 2019 (Gaz G39, 25 September 2019, p 2)
Justice and Licensing Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Act No. 6, 2022)
Assent date 14 April 2022
Commenced pt 6: 1 May 2022; rem: 1 July 2022 (Gaz S17, 27 April 2022)
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: ss 1 and 3 and sch.
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
lt amd No. 36, 2002, s 4
s 1 amd No. 36, 2002, s 5
s 3 amd No. 36, 2002, s 6; No. 29, 2019, s 336
s 4 amd No. 36, 2002, s 7
s 5 amd No. 36, 2002, s 10
s 6 amd No. 36, 2002, s 8; No. 6, 2022, s 4
ss 7 – 11 amd No. 36, 2002, s 10
s 12 ins No. 36, 2002, s 9
ENDNOTES
Accommodation Providers Act 1981 8
s 13 ins No. 6, 2022, s 5
sch amd No. 36, 2002, s 10; No. 6, 2022, s 6