GREAT SOUTHERN LOCK
For agencies
Locksmith for property managers and real estate agencies
Rekeys between tenancies, rental minimum standards brought up to compliance, and after-hours tenant lockouts taken off your desk. One locksmith, one invoice, Melbourne's inner south-east.
- Open 24 hours
- On site inside the hour
- No fix, no fee
- Public liability insured
- 24/7
Answered every hour
of every day - Inside the hour
On site across
Melbourne’s inner suburbs - No fix, no fee
Can’t open it? You
don’t pay a cent - Insured & ABN
Public liability cover
ABN registered
The work
What agencies actually call us for
Four jobs, over and over, across managed portfolios in the inner south-east.
Rekeys between tenancies
The bread and butter. Vacate inspection done, keys handed back, cylinders rekeyed so every key still floating around stops working — without buying new hardware. Usually 15 to 30 minutes per property.
Minimum standards compliance
Deadlatches on external doors and working locks on external windows are a legal minimum in Victoria, and a large share of older stock does not meet it. We assess, fit, and note on the invoice what was brought up to standard.
After-hours tenant lockouts
A tenant on the doorstep at 11pm is the call every property manager dreads. Hand them our number instead. Non-destructive entry, and the tenant pays on the spot unless you say otherwise.
Restricted keys for blocks
Where keys to a building have quietly multiplied over twenty years, a restricted system means copies can only be cut on your written authority. Sensible on common entries and owners corporation doors.
Broken keys and failed locks
Snapped keys extracted, seized cylinders serviced or replaced. Usually cheaper than the new-lock quote the tenant was expecting.
The legal bit
What the rental minimum standards actually require
Worth having straight, because it is the thing that turns up in a dispute. Under Victoria’s rental minimum standards, a rented property must have:
- Every external entry door other than a screen door must either be securable with a functioning deadlock, or be fitted with a lock that can be operated by a key from the outside.
- Windows must open and close properly and have functioning latches to secure them against entry. A keyed window lock is not required by the standard.
That is the rental provider’s responsibility, not the renter’s, and it applies at the start of every tenancy. If a renter asks for it in writing, it is not a favour they are requesting.
There is one other rule worth knowing: a renter with a family violence intervention order, family violence safety notice or personal safety intervention order does not need consent to change external door or window locks. If that situation arrives, say so when you ring — it changes the paperwork and how quickly we treat the job.
Plain-English detail for renters is on our locks and renting in Victoria guide, which you are welcome to send to tenants.
For your contractor file
- ABN 73 112 836 867
- Public liability insurance — certificate of currency on request
- Current National Police Check
- Available 24 hours, 7 days
- Invoiced to the office against the property address
Ask and all of it comes back by email the same day.
Call 0468 770 558How it runs
The bit that matters to a property manager
Booking. Ring or text the property address, the number of external doors, and whether it is a rekey, a compliance fit or a lockout. You get a price before anyone travels, and it does not change on arrival unless the work does.
Access. Tell us how we are getting in — key in the office, lockbox code, tenant meeting us there. If it is a common-entry building, mention it, because a shared front door or fire door is usually owners corporation territory rather than something a single resident can authorise.
Invoicing. Back to the office against the property address and your work order reference. No account application, no minimum spend, no monthly fee.
Rekey rather than replace, where it is honest to. Rekeying an existing cylinder is materially cheaper for the owner than new hardware and achieves the same thing: every old key stops working. We will tell you when a lock is genuinely too worn or too far out of date to keep — and when it is not.
Managing properties in the inner south-east?
Ring and say which agency you are with. Certificate of currency and police check come back by email the same day.
Read next
Guides on this
Longer answers to the questions that come up before people ring.
Questions
What agencies ask first
Do you invoice the agency or the tenant?
Whichever suits your process. Most agencies want the invoice back to the office against the property address and the work order number, and that is the default. If a tenant is paying for their own lockout, we take that on the spot instead and the agency never sees it.
How fast can you rekey a property between tenancies?
Usually same day if we know the day before, and often within a few hours at short notice. A standard rekey of front and back cylinders is 15 to 30 minutes on site. Tell us how many external doors when you book and the quote and the time will be accurate.
What are the Victorian rental minimum standards for locks?
Every external entry door other than a screen door must either be securable with a functioning deadlock, or be fitted with a lock that can be operated by a key from the outside. Windows sit under a separate standard: they must open and close properly and have functioning latches to secure them against entry — a keyed window lock is not required. That is the rental provider's responsibility, not the renter's. We assess and fit to that standard, and note on the invoice what was brought up to compliance.
Can you supply a certificate of currency and a police check?
Yes to both. ABN 73 112 836 867, public liability insurance, and a current National Police Check. Ask and they come straight back by email for your contractor file.
Do you attend after-hours tenant lockouts?
Yes, 24 hours. It is one of the more useful things an agency can hand off — a tenant locked out at 11pm rings us directly rather than the property manager's mobile.
Can you set up one key for a whole managed portfolio?
Not one key across different owners' properties — that would be a security problem, not a convenience. What does work is a restricted key system per building or per owner, where copies can only be cut on your written authority. Worth doing on blocks where keys have quietly multiplied over the years.
Other things we do
Car key replacement
Lost every key to the car? We cut and program a new one at the roadside for most makes and models — no tow, no dealership wait.
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24/7 emergency lockout
Locked out of the house, car or shop. Non-destructive entry wherever it’s possible, any hour of the night.
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Lock rekeying & changes
New place, old tenant, or a key that walked off. Rekeying kills the old keys without paying for all-new hardware.
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Commercial locksmith
Shopfronts, offices and rentals. Master key systems, restricted keys and scheduled maintenance for property managers.
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Mul-T-Lock restricted keys
High-security cylinders that can’t be copied at a kiosk. Real control over who holds a key to your building.
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Deadlocks & window locks
Proper deadbolts on every external door, patio bolts on sliders and key locks on the windows that matter. Keyed alike if you want one key.
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