page_title: Squatting in Australia
hierarchical_section_title: Squatting in Australia
caption_attribution_description: English: Number 2 and 4 Bendigo street, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia during the Bendigo street housing campaign
context_page_description: Squatting in Australia usually refers to a person who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. In 19th century Australian history, a squatter was a settler who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock. At first this was done illegally, later under licence.
  In more recent times, there have been squats in the major cities such as Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. It would be possible in theory for squatters to be charged with criminal trespass under the Enclosed Lands Protection Act, but squatters are simply evicted when they are discovered. As in England and Wales and also the United States, adverse possession exists in Australian law, although it is rarely used by squatters. This means that if a squatter lives uninterruptedly in a property for over 12 years and against the wishes of the owner, the ownership of the property can be claimed by the squatter.
context_section_description: Squatting in Australia usually refers to a person who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. In 19th century Australian history, a squatter was a settler who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock. At first this was done illegally, later under licence.
  In more recent times, there have been squats in the major cities such as Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. It would be possible in theory for squatters to be charged with criminal trespass under the Enclosed Lands Protection Act, but squatters are simply evicted when they are discovered. As in England and Wales and also the United States, adverse possession exists in Australian law, although it is rarely used by squatters. This means that if a squatter lives uninterruptedly in a property for over 12 years (15 in South Australia and Victoria) and against the wishes of the owner, the ownership of the property can be claimed by the squatter.
caption: Houses 2 and 4, during the 2016 Bendigo Street housing dispute
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