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Our obligations regarding properties with methamphetamine contamination

We have a number of statutory obligations to meet once we are aware that a property has a certain level of methamphetamine contamination.

When we first hear about a methamphetamine contamination at a property

When we find out that a property is contaminated by the presence of methamphetamine, we contact the owner of that property.

The owner then has to have the property tested to determine:

if the property is contaminated
the level of contamination.

If the property is contaminated, it will need to be vacated and decontaminated. See Your obligations as an owner of a methamphetamine contaminated property for more information.

You should know

Properties contaminated with methamphetamine above acceptable levels pose a health risk to occupants.

If the property is occupied and hasn't been decontaminated within 20 working days we will issue a Cleansing Order.

If the property is occupied and hasn't been decontaminated for a further 20 working days, we will issue a Repair Notice. This requires the property to be immediately vacated.

If the property is occupied and hasn't been decontaminated for a further 20 working days, we will issue a Closing Order. This requires the property to be immediately vacated.

Legal proceedings will be carried out against owners who don't comply with a Closing Order.

Properties with contamination level less than 15ug/100cm2

A report released in May 2018 by the Prime Minister's office found that there is unlikely to be a health risk to occupants of a property when:

the level of methamphetamine contamination is less than 15ug/100cm2
there is no evidence that the property was used to manufacture methamphetamine.

For more information, see the Gluckman report - Methamphetamine contamination in residential properties (PDF 532KB).

Our obligations for decontaminated properties

Once the property is decontaminated, we will:

remove the methamphetamine contamination tag from the Land Information Memorandum (LIM) of an existing property if there was no evidence of meth manufacture
not take action on any new notifications of methamphetamine use.

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