How to cancel a timeshare or holiday club in the cooling-off period (Australia)

In Australia, a timeshare cooling-off period is 7 days if the operator belongs to the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council (ATHOC), or 14 days if it does not. To cancel, tell the operator in the way set out in your product disclosure statement (PDS) or cooling-off statement, usually by email or letter, before the period ends. If you cool off in time, all the money you paid for the application must be returned to you.

Claim Done drafts a timeshare cooling-off cancellation notice from your answers for a flat A$49. You download it straight away and send it yourself, so you control the timing.

Who has a cooling-off right

Timeshares, including points-based holiday clubs, are regulated as financial products. Moneysmart explains that timeshare schemes are a type of managed fund, so the operator must hold an Australian financial services (AFS) licence, register the scheme with ASIC and give you a PDS. There are two main kinds: schemes that give you a set time at a set property, and points-based schemes where you buy points to use at different resorts or on other travel.

The cooling-off right does not come straight from the Corporations Act. ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 160 Time-sharing schemes says these purchases are not covered by the Act’s general cooling-off rules, so ASIC has imposed its own: operators must give you cooling-off rights and a full refund of all the money you paid. The current version of RG 160 was issued on 11 December 2020, and ASIC said operators of registered schemes had to follow its new requirements by 1 October 2021.

Not sure your “holiday club” is a registered timeshare? Look up the company’s AFS licence on ASIC’s Professional Registers Search. If there is no PDS and no cooling-off statement in your papers, the rules below may not fit your agreement, so get advice before you rely on them.

How long you have, as at November 2026

These are minimums, so an operator can offer longer. Your PDS and application form must state your cooling-off period, so read the figure in your own papers.

Under RG 160 the clock starts on the day you sign the acknowledgement that you received the cooling-off statement. You can cool off up to midnight on the 7th or 14th calendar day after that. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, public holiday or bank holiday where you are, the period ends on the next day that is not.

Moneysmart warns that people miss the deadline because it is short or ends before they get home from holiday. Count the days today.

Papers to find before you write

If you signed, the operator or promoter must give you copies to keep of:

• the signed and dated application form
• the cooling-off statement
• the “subject to finance” notice
• your signed and dated acknowledgement that you received those two notices
• the PDS, if one was required

The acknowledgement date starts your clock. The PDS or cooling-off statement says how to give notice.

What your cancellation notice should say

• Your full name, address and member or contract number, if you have one.
• The name of the operator and the scheme.
• The date you signed and the date you signed the cooling-off acknowledgement.
• A clear statement that you are exercising your cooling-off right and withdrawing your application.
• The amount you have paid, including any deposit, administration fee or other fee.
• A request for a full refund. If you cool off, all money you paid for the application, including administration or other fees, must be returned.
• A request to cancel any direct debit, card authority or finance linked to the purchase.
• The date and your signature.

The structure of the notice

The Claim Done notice follows this order, built only from what you tell us:

1. Heading and parties. Your details, the date, and the operator or person you name.
2. The agreement. The scheme, the date you signed or got your documents, and the amount paid or committed.
3. Your position. If you say you are inside the cooling-off period, the notice says you are using your cooling-off right to cancel from the date of the notice. If you are outside it or unsure, it does not claim a cooling-off right. It asks to cancel and sets out your other grounds from your own words, such as how it was sold or hardship.
4. Numbered requests. Written confirmation of cancellation, a refund of the amount you paid within 14 days, and an end to all direct debits, card payments, levies and any finance linked to the scheme.
5. Next steps. That you may take the matter to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and raise it with ASIC if it is not resolved.
6. Sign-off. A dated signature line.

The 14 days in the requests is a reply date the notice sets. It is not a legal deadline. The notice is not legal or financial advice and does not promise an outcome.

If you used finance

If you borrowed to pay for the timeshare, RG 160 gives you extra rights. An operator must not make you accept the finance it offers. If your application was “subject to finance”, it is withdrawn when you tell the operator you did not get finance, decided not to go ahead with a finance application, or rejected a finance offer. ASIC says this right can apply even after the cooling-off period has ended, as long as you do not go ahead with the finance before the loan is provided.

If the loan came from a lender linked to the seller, RG 160 notes that under section 135 of the National Credit Code you are entitled to end that tied loan, and recover interest and other amounts paid under it, if the sale contract is rescinded or discharged. Send a copy of your notice to the lender as well.

How to send it and what to keep

Use a method the PDS or cooling-off statement lists. Moneysmart says this is usually in writing, by email or letter, before the period ends. If you post it, get proof of the date sent. Keep:

• a copy of the notice and the sent email or postal receipt
• your application form, cooling-off statement and acknowledgement
• bank or card statements showing what you paid
• any reply from the operator

What happens next

A valid cooling-off notice withdraws your application, and the operator must return the money you paid for it. Watch your bank account. If a payment is still taken, or the refund does not arrive, contact the operator in writing and keep a copy.

If it is not fixed, make a formal written complaint to the operator. Moneysmart’s complaint guide calls this internal dispute resolution and says to keep the originals and a copy of your letter. Timeshare operators must belong to an external dispute resolution scheme, so you can then take the dispute to AFCA, which is free and independent.

If the cooling-off period has passed

This is much harder. The warning ASIC requires on every PDS says that after cooling-off ends it may be difficult to get out and you may not be able to sell it or get any money back. Moneysmart says the main way out is to sell or transfer, that you must keep paying the ongoing costs until you exit, and that if you stop paying you may be in breach of contract and could face legal action. If you are in financial hardship, you can ask the operator to let you out, but it is under no obligation to agree. The “subject to finance” right above may still help if the loan has not been provided.

Mistakes to avoid

• Waiting until you get home. Count from the acknowledgement date, not your return flight.
• Assuming you have 14 days. If the operator is an ATHOC member, the minimum is 7.
• Telling a salesperson by phone and nothing else. Put it in writing using a method in your papers.
• Forgetting the finance. Cancel the timeshare and tell the lender.
• Stopping payments after the cooling-off period without a plan. That can be a breach of contract.

If you are still inside the window, act today. You can answer a few questions and download your timeshare cancellation notice for A$49 in minutes.