The rule-change log

Every material change to Australian short-stay rules that we track, newest first. This log is why our pages stay accurate, and how you can see what changed since you last checked.

• 2027-07-01 Australian Capital Territory: Legislated levy rate increase from 5% to 7.5% takes effect. source
• 2027-07-01 Canberra: ACT STRA levy rate is legislated to increase from 5% to 7.5% of total booking amount. Confirmed directly against primary source. source
• 2027-01-01 Queensland: Final deadline for all existing Queensland dwellings (including those used for short-term letting) to have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, connecting hallway, and storey. source
• 2026-07-24 Australian Capital Territory: Verification pass: confirmed the Short-Term Rental Accommodation Levy Act 2025's penalty provisions directly from its full legislative text (s16 offence for failure to register, max 250 penalty units; penalty unit = $160/$810). Re-checked night_cap and planning_approval flags, both remain unresolved after further searches and are kept at low confidence, excluded from status_summary as settled fact. source
• 2026-07-24 Ballina Shire Council: Verification re-pass: resolved effective_from date for the 180-day cap (2021-11-01), reconfirmed the 'Council has chosen to adopt 180 days' verbatim quote via a successful rendered-browser fetch of Council's page, added three new rule entries (council_role, strata_oc, code_of_conduct) mined from previously-unread accordion sections to clear the record's structural rule-count gap, and confirmed postcode 2479 (Brooklet) belongs to Ballina Shire via Wikipedia. Rates/DCP question remains unresolved (no primary source found either way). source
• 2026-07-24 City of Cessnock (Hunter Valley): Re-verification pass: (1) confirmed NSW STRA Register fee ($65 initial / $25 annual renewal) via direct fetch of planning.nsw.gov.au and restored it to the 'other' rule's detail text with a proper source citation (previously removed for lack of verification); (2) re-confirmed night_cap and planning_approval (LEP cl 5.4, 3-bedroom cap) facts against primary sources, no changes needed; (3) made a fourth attempt to resolve zone-by-zone (RU2/RU3/RU4/RU5/C2/C3/C4) permissibility for tourist/farm-stay accommodation, still unresolved due to persistent 403s on legislation.nsw.gov.au and tooling-level domain blocks on austlii and council-hosted PDFs; left at low confidence, excluded from status_summary, documented in review_notes for human follow-up (council phone 02 4993 4100). source
• 2026-07-24 Muswellbrook Shire Council: Verification/repair pass 1: confirmed night_cap and planning_approval rules against planning.nsw.gov.au (policy page + FAQ PDF); added registration, fire_safety and code_of_conduct rules plus fees[] and penalties[] entries, each independently sourced to planning.nsw.gov.au and nsw.gov.au (Fair Trading Code of Conduct), to meet the site's >=4-rules/>=2-sources publish gate. Attempted to resolve the exact STRA Area Map boundary and Muswellbrook's specific effective_from date via austlii and legislation.nsw.gov.au; both remained inaccessible to automated fetch (403 / JS-rendered SPA) and were carried forward as open items. source
• 2026-07-24 Muswellbrook Shire Council: Verification/repair pass 2: opened legislation.nsw.gov.au (SEPP (Housing) 2021, epi-2021-0714) directly in an interactive browser, which the prior pass could not do via static fetch. Confirmed s112(3)(e) verbatim: the 180-day non-hosted cap applies to land in the Muswellbrook LGA shown on the official Muswellbrook Short-term Rental Accommodation Area Map, not the whole shire; updated night_cap source_url to the primary legislative instrument and strengthened its detail/status_summary accordingly. Located the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer URL as the correct live link for the map itself and folded it into the planning_approval rule. Attempted to trace the map's/clause's insertion date via a related ArcGIS REST layer; inconclusive within budget, so effective_from remains null on night_cap. Investigated a third-party postcode list surfaced by search; rejected it as unreliable and left postcodes unchanged. Removed all em dashes from record text per house style. source
• 2026-07-24 City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters: source
• 2026-07-24 Northern Territory: Verification pass: confirmed NT penalty-unit value ($189, FY2025-26) via agd.nt.gov.au and added indicative AUD conversions of the Planning Act s75 penalty figures; replaced the generic NT Planning Scheme overview-page citation on the planning_approval rule with the specific Schedule 2 (Definitions) and Part 4 (Zones and Assessment Tables) documents and confirmed the primary-text 'serviced apartments' definition; replaced the levy_tax rule's citation with the correctly-targeted Territory Revenue Office page. Re-attempted fetches of nt.gov.au, treasury.nt.gov.au, agd.nt.gov.au, consumeraffairs.nt.gov.au and dli.nt.gov.au, all returned HTTP 403 again, confirming site-wide bot-blocking rather than a page-specific issue. Corroborated (but did not primary-source-confirm) the registration/night-cap/levy/code-of-conduct absence claims via fresh WebSearch, including two independent Australia-wide STR-regulation trackers; confidence levels on those claims held at medium/low rather than upgraded. source
• 2026-07-24 Northern Territory: First verification pass (superseded by the entry above on the same day): confirmed RTA 1999 s6 holiday-accommodation exclusion, Unit Title Schemes Act 2009 s95 by-law mechanism, and Planning Act 1999 s75 penalty figures (500/4 penalty units) by fetching and reading full primary legislative PDF text from legislation.nt.gov.au. source
• 2026-07-24 Perth Metropolitan Area: Second verification pass resolved 3 of 4 unresolved publish-gate flags from primary sources: confirmed the 1 Jan 2026 commencement date (WA Gov media statement), confirmed $20,000 and $5,000 penalty figures (direct fetch of legislation.wa.gov.au Act/Regulations text), and removed the unsupported claim that the STRA Register itself records smoke-alarm compliance. Postcode-list remainder remains an open, low-risk item. Confidence upgraded on night_cap, planning_approval, fire_safety and penalties rules. source
• 2026-07-24 Shoalhaven: source
• 2026-07-24 Surf Coast Shire: source
• 2026-07-24 Surf Coast Shire: source
• 2026-07-01 Shire of Augusta-Margaret River: CORRECTED DATE (was 2026-01-01): proposal under discussion, to potentially take effect from the start of the 2026-27 rating year (1 July 2026), to expand the Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate category to include hosted STRA properties (currently rated Residential since the 2024 reforms), using the state STRA Register to identify them. Confirmed via direct fetch of the Shire's rates FAQ page that this is described as a proposal under consideration, not confirmed as adopted at time of writing. source
• 2026-07-01 Noosa Shire Council: Council's 2026/27 fees and charges took effect, setting the current Local Law application and annual renewal fee schedule for short stay letting and home hosted accommodation (e.g. house application $1,748 standard / $329 principal residence; house renewal $800 / $200). source
• 2026-06-10 City of Hobart: City of Hobart Planning Authority Committee reportedly endorsed a draft Hobart Local Provisions Schedule amendment to prohibit NEW whole-home (unhosted) short-stay accommodation in the Inner Residential, General Residential and Low Density Residential zones (excluding Battery Point and business/mixed-use zones); as of 24 July 2026 it is said to be in/entering public exhibition ahead of referral to the Tasmanian Planning Commission and is not yet in force. STILL unverified directly on council site due to bot-blocking after two verification passes, see review_notes. source
• 2026-05-15 Tasmania: Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 received its first reading in the Legislative Council. RECONFIRMED 24/07/2026 by directly opening the parliament.tas.gov.au bill-status page in a browser: this remains the last recorded stage, with all subsequent Legislative Council stages and Royal Assent still blank, meaning the Bill has not yet passed into law. source
• 2026-05-12 Brisbane (City of Brisbane LGA / Brisbane City Council): Council announced that the proposed Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2025 (which would have required a council permit for short-stay letting) is 'not proceeding at this time', citing eased short-stay growth, improved host/property management, and non-tourism uses of short-term lets (DV survivors, insurance claimants, hospital patients). NOTE: this date and the commonly-reported Lord Mayoral personal attribution are NOT stated on the cited council status page and were not independently corroborated in this verification pass, flagged as unconfirmed pending a dated primary source (council media release or reputable news report). source
• 2026-05-12 City of Busselton: Scheme Amendment No. 61 to Local Planning Scheme No. 21 gazetted (Minister approved 4 May 2026): unhosted STRA became an 'X' (prohibited) use in all zones by default, with new Additional Use 'A87' permitting it (as an 'A' use, application may be considered) only outside mapped 'non-preferred areas'. This converted what had been a policy preference (LPP 4.1, June 2025) into a binding statutory zoning prohibition in non-preferred areas. source
• 2026-05-12 Queensland: Brisbane City Council formally withdrew ('not proceeding at this time') its Proposed Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2025, which would have introduced a permit requirement from 1 July 2026. No permit is currently required to operate a short-term rental in Brisbane. Date corroborated by multiple independent 2026 secondary sources (Hometime, Lane Property) though not visible in the text extracted directly from the Brisbane City Council page itself in this session. source
• 2026-05-07 City of Hobart: Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 (5% levy on bookings under 28 nights) passed the House of Assembly and moved to the Legislative Council; as of 24 July 2026 it had not received Royal Assent or a proclaimed commencement date. CONFIRMED directly against the bill's official progress table both passes. source
• 2026-05-07 Tasmania: Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 passed the House of Assembly (second and third reading, with amendment). source
• 2026-04-28 City of Hobart: City of Hobart council voted 6-5 to raise the visitor-accommodation change-of-use planning permit application fee from $435 to $5,000, effective for applications from 1 July 2026 (STILL unverified directly on council site due to bot-blocking after two verification passes, see review_notes). source
• 2026-04-16 Tasmania: Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 had its first reading (tabled) in the Tasmanian House of Assembly. source
• 2026-01-01 Perth Metropolitan Area: Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation) Regulations 2024 take effect: unhosted STRA in the 30 Perth-metro LGAs exceeding 90 nights/12 months now requires local council development approval. Commencement date confirmed via a WA Government media statement dated 24 August 2025 stating operators must have lodged a development application 'from 1 January 2026'. source
• 2026-01-01 Western Australia: Perth-metro (30 local governments) unhosted STRA planning exemption threshold of 90 nights/year took effect, beyond 90 nights, development approval is required. Booking platforms also became required to verify WA listings are on the Register and barred from advertising unregistered properties from this date. source
• 2025-12-01 Tasmania: Treasury opened public consultation on the draft Short Stay Levy Bill 2025 (5% levy proposal), consultation closed 25 February 2026. source
• 2025-09-26 Noosa Shire Council: Noosa Plan 2020 Amendment No. 2 took effect, reclassifying frequent/ongoing whole-dwelling short-term letting beyond 4 occasions/60 nights a year as an 'inconsistent' use (impact assessable) in Low/Medium/High Density Residential and Rural/Rural Residential zones, while keeping it code-assessable in the Tourist Accommodation zone, and stating the change is not retrospective. source
• 2025-09-16 Adelaide (City of Adelaide): SA Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector tabled its final report (13 findings, 7 recommendations after 40 witnesses), recommending a state-wide short-stay accommodation register, code of conduct, minimum safety standards, and fees/levies on short-stay owners. Not yet legislated or actioned by government as at 24 July 2026. source
• 2025-07-15 Sunshine Coast Council: Council opened public consultation on a new Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme that would, for the first time, introduce a dedicated Short-Term Accommodation Code: formal hosted/non-hosted definitions ('occasional principal place of residence letting' capped at 60 nights/4 occurrences per year and exempt from approval, 'home-hosted accommodation', and 'non-hosted holiday house'), a continuous 24-hour management/complaints-response requirement, reclassification of non-hosted holiday houses in the Rural Zone from impact to code assessable, and an LGA-wide opt-in to the Planning Act 2016 party house restriction provisions. As of 24 July 2026 the scheme is still unadopted and remains subject to change. Verified directly against council's Short-term Accommodation Information Sheet. source
• 2025-07-01 Australian Capital Territory: Short-Term Rental Accommodation Levy Act 2025 commenced: introduced a 5% levy on eligible short-term rental bookings (<=28 nights) made through booking service providers; hosted stays and direct bookings excluded. source
• 2025-07-01 Canberra: ACT Short-Term Rental Accommodation Levy commences: 5% of total booking amount on bookings of 28 nights or less made through a booking service provider; hosted stays and direct bookings exempt. Confirmed directly against primary source. source
• 2025-06-11 City of Busselton: Council adopted the current Local Planning Policy 4.1: Unhosted Short-Term Rental Accommodation, introducing non-preferred areas, mandatory Operational Management Plans, Bushfire Emergency Plan requirements in bushfire-prone areas, time-limited approvals (12 months, then 3-year, then 5-year renewals), and mandatory public consultation on applications. source
• 2025-03-05 South Australia: SA Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector (established on a motion moved by Hon Robert Simms MLC, 27 November 2024) opens submissions, examining potential state-wide registration, night thresholds, levies and planning-code changes. The committee subsequently concluded its inquiry and, per SA media reporting not yet independently primary-source-confirmed, tabled its final report on 16 September 2025 (13 findings, 7 recommendations including a registration scheme, levy, code of conduct and mandatory data-sharing). No resulting legislation has been found introduced or enacted as of 24 July 2026, see 'other' rule and unresolved_flags. source
• 2025-01-29 City of Busselton: Cut-off date referenced for legacy holiday-home development approvals: most approvals granted before this date were not time-limited and retain non-conforming-use rights (subject to continued STRA Register registration and no gap in operation exceeding 6 months), even where the land is now in a non-preferred area. source
• 2025-01-01 Shire of Augusta-Margaret River: WA state Short-Term Rental Accommodation Register became mandatory for all STRA (hosted and unhosted) in the Shire, layered on top of the Shire's own planning-approval process for unhosted Holiday Houses. Date and scope confirmed verbatim. source
• 2025-01-01 City of Melbourne: Victoria's state-wide Short Stay Levy (7.5% of booking amount, PPR exempt) commenced under the Short Stay Levy Act 2024, applying uniformly across the City of Melbourne. source
• 2025-01-01 City of Melbourne: Owners Corporations Act 2006 amended (via the Short Stay Levy Act 2024) to let owners corporations ban short-stay letting by 75% special resolution, excluding a host's principal place of residence, highly relevant to Melbourne's apartment-heavy building stock. source
• 2025-01-01 Mornington Peninsula Shire: Victorian Short Stay Levy Act 2024 (7.5% state levy) took effect; the Shire publicly clarified it plays no role in administering or enforcing the state levy, and that its own local registration requirement continues to apply separately and in parallel. source
• 2025-01-01 Perth Metropolitan Area: STRA Register moved from voluntary/soft-launch (opened 1 July 2024) to mandatory registration statewide, including Perth metro; unregistered listings barred from advertising/bookings. source
• 2025-01-01 Victoria: Short Stay Levy Act 2024 (Vic) commenced: 7.5% levy on short stays under 28 days, PPR-exempt, platform/direct-booking remittance split. source
• 2025-01-01 Victoria: Owners Corporations Act 2006 amended (via the Short Stay Levy Act 2024) to allow owners corporations to ban short-stay accommodation by 75% special resolution, PPR-exempt. source
• 2025-01-01 Western Australia: STRA Register became mandatory statewide (both hosted and unhosted) with $250 initial / $100/yr renewal fees, after opening for free voluntary registration from 1 July 2024. source
• 2024-10-01 Shire of Augusta-Margaret River: Following the state's Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations) 2024, hosted STRA lost its Shire planning-approval trigger (and reverted to Residential rating), and LPP7's Bed & Breakfast, ancillary-dwelling, and bushfire (GF1-GF3) clauses were marked as superseded by the state amendment; the Shire reissued its PS17 information sheet and application/renewal forms in October 2024 to reflect this alongside the incoming state STRA Register. Confirmed by direct fetch of both PDFs, both dated October 2024. source
• 2024-09-27 Canberra: Final ACT Territory Plan 2023 came into effect (replacing the interim Territory Plan), restructuring zone policies and land-use tables including residential zone treatment of commercial accommodation uses. CONFIRMED via direct primary-source retrieval (24/07/2026): the RZ1-RZ5 Land Use Table does not list "Commercial accommodation use" as a permitted use, meaning it is a prohibited use in those zones per the Table's own governing rule. source
• 2024-09-23 Byron Shire: New 60-day non-hosted STRA cap and the two 365-day precinct exemptions (Byron Bay Town Centre, Brunswick Heads) took effect, replacing the previous 180-day cap; rolling transition applies based on each dwelling's registration/renewal date. source
• 2024-09-23 New South Wales: Byron Shire's non-hosted STRA cap reduced from 180 days to 60 days per 365-day period, with a new carve-out of 'Excluded Land' (Byron Bay town centre and Brunswick Heads) not subject to any state day cap, via amendment to SEPP (Housing) 2021 s112(1)(c) and the Byron Shire STRA Area Map. source
• 2024-09-01 Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro): NEWLY IDENTIFIED IN THIS VERIFICATION PASS: DPHI guidance reversed on granny-flat/secondary-dwelling STRA, renting a granny flat while the owner lives in the main dwelling on the same property is now classified as HOSTED STRA (uncapped, 365 days/year), reversing the department's Feb/April 2024 position that such rentals were non-hosted and therefore subject to the 180-day cap. Exact change date is approximate (file folder dated Sept 2024, internal document text says 'Updated May 2024'), treat as directional confirmation of a guidance change rather than a precise date. source
• 2024-08-29 City of Melbourne: City of Melbourne councillors voted in principle for a local STR registration fee ($350/yr) and a 180-day non-hosted cap; the proposal was subsequently paused by the Future Melbourne Committee pending the state levy and has not been revived as of this record (corroborated via secondary sources only, see review_notes). source
• 2024-07-01 Adelaide (City of Adelaide): City of Adelaide began rating properties used/advertised as short-stay accommodation for more than 90 days/year as Non-Residential (commercial) rather than Residential. source
• 2024-07-01 South Australia: City of Adelaide begins rating dwellings let for short-stay accommodation 90+ days/year as 'Commercial, Other', a rate in the dollar 22.5% higher than the residential category. source
• 2024-03-25 Snowy Monaro Regional Council (Jindabyne): Snowy Monaro Regional Council made a formal submission to the NSW Government's discussion paper on short- and long-term rental accommodation, citing that 27% of Jindabyne dwellings are non-hosted STRA and calling for balanced reform; no local cap or levy has resulted from this to date. source
• 2023-09 Byron Shire: Minister for Planning and Public Spaces determined Byron Shire Council's planning proposal, settling on a 60-day non-hosted STRA cap plus two 365-day exemption precincts (Byron Bay Town Centre, Brunswick Heads). source
• 2022-08-23 Mornington Peninsula Shire: Short Stay Rental Accommodation Local Law amended by the Short Stay Rental Accommodation (Amendment) Local Law of 2022, by Council resolution, the amended instrument is now referred to on the Shire's website as the 'Local Law 2022' even though the base PDF is titled 'Local Law 2018'. source
• 2022-08-01 New South Wales: STRA exclusion register (Fair Trading Act 1987 s54B(2)(g)) commenced, allowing repeat/serious Code of Conduct breachers to be barred from further STRA participation. source
• 2022-02-01 Noosa Shire Council: Short Stay Letting and Home Hosted Accommodation Local Law commenced, introducing the approval/renewal regime, 24/7 contact-person requirement and complaints/compliance framework for the shire. source
• 2022-01-31 Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro): STRA planning and regulatory framework extended to Byron Shire LGA (not part of Greater Sydney, noted for context on rollout timing). source
• 2021-11-01 Ballina Shire Council: NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 STRA provisions commenced for most of NSW, including Ballina Shire, on 1 November 2021 (Byron Shire's commencement was deferred to 31 January 2022). Ballina Shire Council elected to adopt the 180-day non-hosted STRA cap available to regional councils under the state framework (hosted STRA remains uncapped at 365 days). Confirmed this session via the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure's official STRA FAQ (PDF, updated April 2024) and via Council's own STRA page. source
• 2021-11-01 Clarence Valley Council: Statewide STRA planning framework (SEPP (Housing) 2021 Part 6) commenced, introducing the 180-day non-hosted cap for land within the Clarence Valley Short-term Rental Accommodation Area Map, alongside the STRA Register, fire safety standard and Code of Conduct. source
• 2021-11-01 New South Wales: Statewide STRA planning framework commenced: SEPP (Housing) 2021 exempt-development pathway, STRA Register requirement, 180-day non-hosted cap in prescribed areas (Greater Sydney, Ballina, mapped Clarence Valley/Muswellbrook land), and the STRA Fire Safety Standard under the EP&A (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021. source
• 2021-11-01 Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro): NSW statewide STRA planning framework commenced (exempt development pathway, hosted/non-hosted definitions, 180-day non-hosted cap in Greater Sydney and other listed LGAs, fire safety standards, STRA Register) for most of NSW. source
• 2020-12-18 New South Wales: Mandatory STRA Industry Code of Conduct commenced under Fair Trading Act 1987 Division 4A. source
• 2020-12-18 Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro): Mandatory STRA Code of Conduct commenced, applying to hosts, guests, booking platforms and letting agents statewide including Greater Sydney. source
• 2019-01-01 City of Hobart: Short Stay Accommodation Act 2019 introduced the permit-disclosure requirement and quarterly booking-platform data reporting to the Director of Building Control (exact commencement date of operative provisions not independently confirmed). Core mechanics CONFIRMED both passes. source
• 2018-09-12 Shire of Augusta-Margaret River: Local Planning Policy 7 (Short Stay Accommodation) reviewed and re-adopted by Council (v3.0), setting the current coastal-settlement/permitted-area/50m-village-centre/1ha locational criteria (HH1) and the 1-year-initial, up-to-3-year, then 5-year renewal structure for Holiday House approvals. Adoption date confirmed verbatim from the document's version-control table. source
• 2018-08-01 City of Hobart: Planning Directive No. 6 'home-sharing' exemption (≤4 bedrooms let, or whole home let only while owner/occupier temporarily absent, exempt from a planning permit) took effect statewide, replacing Interim Planning Directive No. 2, and remains the current test used in Hobart's planning scheme. Independently corroborated this pass via Devonport City Council's visitor-accommodation page (primary gazetted PD6 PDF itself still unreadable, see review_notes). source
• 2018-01-02 Douglas Shire Council (Port Douglas): Douglas Shire Planning Scheme 2018 (Version 1.0) commenced, establishing Short-term Accommodation as its own distinct assessable use category (assessed via the Tourist Accommodation Zone Code and the Multiple Dwellings, Short-term Accommodation & Retirement Village code), a materially different and generally stricter treatment than the prior scheme's approach of folding house-based holiday letting into ordinary 'House' use. source
• 2010-12-08 Douglas Shire Council (Port Douglas): Douglas Shire Planning Scheme Amendment 2010 No.4 inserted 'the short term letting of a house for the purpose of holiday rental accommodation' directly into the definition of 'House' under the then-operative (pre-2018) planning scheme, meaning such letting was treated as included within standard house use rather than requiring separate development assessment as its own use. NOTE: the wording change itself is confirmed from the source document, but the specific commencement/gazettal date of 8 December 2010 could not be independently verified in this pass, the source PDF's readable metadata did not include a date field and only exposed a document-access timestamp. source