I was also wondering... if you take a twelve month lease on a house and then want to leave after six months - what happens? do you just have to give notice or will you have to pay a fee??? i have absolutely no idea about renting in either country :(
so any help, as always, is much appreciated!!
jax :)

We are just in this situation - we will be leaving our 12 month lease after 3 months! We found the house that we wanted to buy (before we expected to) so we are buying it and doing what is necessary to get out of the lease.

We have given our landlord loads of notice, understandably he wasn't very happy! He has come round now and back on speaking terms! We have to pay his advertising costs and any other reasonable costs for him finding a new tenant - which is right and understandable. We have tried to be as helpful as possible and have shown about 15 groups around our house. The landlord now has a new tenant lined up, we are still to hear what it will cost us - but we want this other house so were prepared to pay what we had to do!

Hope this helps - if there is a moral to the story - don't go to open inspections in case you find the house of your dreams before you are ready!!

Termination by Tenant

Fixed Term Tenancy

Under a fixed term agreement a tenant cannot give valid notice of his or her intention to vacate prior to the final day of the term. The fixed term is binding. The tenancy can be terminated early if the landlord consents to the tenant vacating and waives liability.

Where the agreement is for a fixed period and the tenant leaves before the expiry date, the landlord may claim for loss of rent until the premises are re-let, pro-rata advertising costs and other compensation, which may arise under the agreement, such as a proportion of re-letting fees charged to the landlord by the agent. Under these circumstances, the landlord has an obligation to re-let the premises as soon as possible.

It is suggested that where a tenant intends to vacate at the end of a fixed term lease agreement, they should notify the landlord of their intention to vacate.

The tenant, however, may apply for termination of the fixed term, if continuing the tenancy would cause undue hardship. The tenant may be liable for rent if the application is dismissed by the Tribunal.

Periodic Tenancy

Where the tenancy is periodic (no fixed term), the tenant must give at least twenty one (21) days notice in writing, or a period equivalent to one rental period (whichever is longer) specifying the day on which they will deliver up possession of the premises.

A Notice of termination by tenant for a periodic tenancy form is available from the Tenancies Branch, for this purpose.

Breach of Agreement

Where there is a breach of the agreement by the landlord, the tenant may give seven (7) days' notice to the landlord, on the prescribed form (Notice by tenant to landlord to remedy breach of agreement), to remedy the breach. This notice could also terminate the tenancy if the breach is not remedied.

taken from OCBA website ............... http://www.ocba.sa.gov.au/tenancies/leaset...ent_tenant.html