The start of the new financial year brings with it a raft of new rules around the renting of investment properties.

New South Wales renting agents will have to reveal if rental listing photographs have been digitally altered. This includes enhanced lighting, retouched walls, or altered room proportions. It is also introducing a standardised rental application form, which clarifies exactly what data landlords and agents are allowed to request.

Queensland is introducing new standardised rental application forms and rules limiting the type of personal information that can be collected and stored. It is changing the minimum notice period for property entry from 24 to 48 hours. 

In Victoria, new legislation will come into effect from November banning all forms of rent bidding, extending notice periods for rent increases and evictions from 60 to 90 days. It also outlaws no-fault evictions. The new rules call for mandatory smoke alarm checks and tighter underquoting penalties and require that properties meet minimum standards before they’re advertised.

In Western Australia, rent bidding has been banned, and rent increases will only be allowed every 12 months. South Australia introduced similar rent bidding restrictions in 2024, including longer notice periods for ending tenancies and restrictions on rent increases.