Thin walls, footsteps at midnight, a dog that barks every time the hallway door opens — noise complaints are one of the most common friction points in apartment living, and also one of the easiest to accidentally make worse. Going in too aggressively can turn an annoying situation into a genuinely hostile one that follows you for the rest of your lease.
Here’s a more measured approach, starting with the least confrontational option and working up.
Step 1: Rule Out the Obvious First
Before assuming it’s a “bad neighbour” problem, consider whether it might be a building issue:
- Is the noise happening at a consistent, predictable time (which might mean it’s unavoidable — a work schedule, a baby, a medical device)?
- Could it be structural — poor soundproofing between units rather than genuinely excessive noise?
- Is it a one-off (moving furniture, a party) or an ongoing pattern?
This matters because how you approach a one-off is very different from how you approach a recurring issue.
Step 2: Try a Friendly, Direct Conversation First
This step gets skipped more than it should, usually out of discomfort — but it resolves the majority of noise issues on its own. Most people genuinely don’t realise how much sound travels through their floor or walls.
A few things that help this go well:
- Choose a calm moment, not right after you’ve been woken up at 1am
- Keep it about the impact, not the character: “The sound carries a lot into our bedroom late at night” lands very differently from “You’re so inconsiderate”
- Suggest something specific and easy, like moving speakers away from shared walls, or a cut-off time for louder activities
Most neighbours respond reasonably to a polite, specific request — especially framed as “I wanted to mention this before it became an issue” rather than a confrontation.
Step 3: Put It in Writing (Politely) If It Continues
If the direct conversation doesn’t change anything, a short, friendly note or message creates a paper trail without escalating tone:
“Hi [name], following up on our chat last week — the noise late at night has continued and it’s been affecting our sleep. Would it be possible to keep things a bit quieter after 10pm? Really appreciate it.”
Keep a copy. This isn’t about building a case against someone — it’s just useful if the issue continues and you need to show you tried to resolve it directly first.
Step 4: Check Your Lease and Building Rules
Most residential leases include a standard clause about “quiet enjoyment” of the property, and many apartment buildings or strata schemes have specific noise rules — often including designated quiet hours. Check:
- Your own lease for noise-related clauses
- Building or strata bylaws, if it’s a managed apartment complex
- Whether there’s a formal noise complaint process already in place
Knowing this before you contact your landlord means you can point to something specific rather than a general complaint.
Step 5: Involve Your Landlord or Property Manager
If direct conversation hasn’t worked, this is the appropriate next step — not a last resort, but not the first move either. When you reach out:
- Stick to facts: dates, times, what kind of noise, how long it’s been going on
- Mention that you’ve already tried speaking with the neighbour directly (this matters — it shows reasonableness)
- Ask what the process is from here, rather than demanding a specific outcome
Property managers generally handle this more often than you’d think, and most have a standard process — a written warning to the other tenant is often the first step.
Step 6: Know When to Escalate Further
If the issue continues despite all of the above, most areas in Australia have formal options:
- Local council noise complaints — many councils have specific noise regulations and can investigate, particularly for excessive or late-night noise
- Your state’s civil and administrative tribunal (like NCAT in NSW, VCAT in Victoria, or QCAT in Queensland) — these handle tenancy disputes, including situations where a landlord hasn’t acted on a legitimate noise complaint
- Police non-emergency line — appropriate for very late-night disturbances that need immediate response, not for ongoing daytime noise
This is rarely needed if the earlier steps are followed properly, but it’s worth knowing it exists.
What to Avoid
- Retaliation noise. Playing loud music back “so they know how it feels” almost never works and can turn you into the subject of the complaint instead.
- Confronting at the door in the moment of frustration. Cooling off first leads to much better outcomes.
- Skipping straight to the landlord without ever speaking to the neighbour, unless the situation feels unsafe. Landlords and property managers generally respond better when they can see you’ve made a reasonable first attempt yourself.
In the Meantime: Reducing What You Hear
While you’re working through the situation, a few things can take the edge off:
- Rearranging furniture so beds and desks aren’t directly against a shared wall
- Adding soft furnishings (rugs, curtains, upholstered furniture) which absorb sound rather than reflecting it
- A white noise machine or fan for sleep, which many people find more effective than trying to block the noise entirely
None of these fix the underlying issue, but they can make the situation more bearable while it gets sorted out.
The Bottom Line
Most noisy neighbour situations resolve at the “friendly conversation” stage — genuinely, most people don’t want to be a bad neighbour, they just don’t realise there’s a problem. Starting calm and specific, and only escalating when it’s clearly needed, tends to get better results than jumping straight to a formal complaint — and it makes for a much more comfortable building to live in either way.
Dealt with a noisy neighbour situation that worked out well (or badly)