Short Stay RulesNational comparison
Every government fee a short-stay host pays, by jurisdiction
The cost of being legal ranges from nothing to five thousand dollars for a single application. At the cheap end, several states charge no registration fee at all. At the expensive end, a discretionary change-of-use planning permit for visitor accommodation in the City of Hobart costs $5,000 per application, which is twenty times the $250 charged for the simpler permitted pathway in the same council.
Last verified 2026-07-25 against official sources. Every amount is quoted from the official fee schedule or legislation that sets it. Every figure below links to where it comes from.
Two things make this table unusual. The amounts are quoted as the official source states them, conditions and all, rather than rounded into a tidy number that loses the caveat. And where a fee is proposed rather than in force, it says so, because a proposed levy that never passes has cost you nothing and several sites report those as though they were live.
| Jurisdiction | State | What you pay for | Amount | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra | ACT | Host/property registration fee | None, the ACT has no host/property registration or licensing scheme, so no associated fee source | 2026-07-24 |
| Canberra | ACT | Short-term rental accommodation levy | 5% of total booking amount (rising to 7.5% from 1 July 2027), paid by the booking service provider, not the host, on unhosted bookings of 28 nights or less source | 2026-07-24 |
| Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro) | NSW | STRA Register, annual renewal | $25/year (non-refundable) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Greater Sydney (Sydney Metro) | NSW | STRA Register, initial registration (12 months) | $65 (one-off, non-refundable) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Muswellbrook Shire Council | NSW | source | 2026-07-24 | |
| Muswellbrook Shire Council | NSW | source | 2026-07-24 | |
| New South Wales | NSW | STRA Register, annual renewal | $25 (non-refundable) source | 2026-07-24 |
| New South Wales | NSW | STRA Register, initial registration | $65 (non-refundable) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, house (principal residence) | $200 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, house (standard/investment) | $800 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, managed complex (limited use, ≤4 occasions/year) | $50 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, managed complex (standard) | $75 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, unit (principal residence) | $150 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Annual renewal, unit (standard) | $300 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Change of approval | $273 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Home hosted accommodation, annual renewal | $200 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Home hosted accommodation, application | $329 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, house (principal residence, ≤4 occasions/60 nights) | $329 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, house (standard/investment) | $1,748 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, managed complex (standard) | $450 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, managed complex (≤4 occasions/60 nights) | $329 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, unit (principal residence) | $329 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Short stay letting application, unit (standard) | $455 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Noosa Shire Council | QLD | Transfer of approval | $273 (2026/27, from 1 July 2026) source | 2026-07-24 |
| South Australia | SA | City of Adelaide differential rate uplift for short-stay accommodation (90+ nights let per year) | +22.5% on the rate in the dollar vs the standard residential category (property moved to 'Commercial, Other' category), from FY2024-25 source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Hobart | TAS | City of Hobart planning permit, change of use to visitor accommodation (discretionary application) | $5,000.00 per application. CONFIRMED 25/07/2026 directly in the council's adopted 2026-27 Fees and Charges booklet (updated 14 July 2026), under 'Applications for Planning Permits'. This replaced a $435 fee and took effect with the 2026-27 schedule on 1 July 2026. source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Hobart | TAS | City of Hobart planning permit, change of use to visitor accommodation (permitted application) | $250.00 per application. CONFIRMED 25/07/2026 in the same booklet. Tasmanian law caps permitted-pathway application fees at $250, which is why the increase applies only to discretionary applications. source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Hobart | TAS | State Short Stay Levy (passed the House of Assembly, not yet in force) | 5% of the total booking fee for stays under 28 consecutive nights booked via a booking platform. Commencement is a date to be proclaimed and had not been proclaimed as at 25 July 2026. source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Melbourne | VIC | City of Melbourne local STR registration fee | Proposed $350/year, voted on in principle 29 Aug 2024 but never implemented; policy paused (see review_notes on sourcing confidence) source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Melbourne | VIC | Short Stay Levy | 7.5% of total booking amount (per short stay); PPR exempt source | 2026-07-24 |
| Mornington Peninsula Shire | VIC | Annual short stay rental registration fee | Not published as a specific dollar figure on any official Shire page sighted (fact sheet and registration page only refer to 'the prescribed fee' / 'registration fees are not refundable'). A figure of approximately $335/year circulates in real-estate-industry and secondary sources but could NOT be verified against a primary Shire fee schedule, mornpen.vic.gov.au blocks automated access (403) to its Budget/Fees-and-Charges PDFs, and this remained unresolved in this verification session too. Treat as unverified/indicative only; do not publish the $335 figure without a human confirming it against the Shire's adopted Fees & Charges schedule. source | 2026-07-24 |
| Victoria | VIC | Short Stay Levy | 7.5% of total booking fee (stays under 28 continuous days; PPR exempt) source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Busselton | WA | Advertising/referral fee (2025/26) | $142.80 source | 2026-07-24 |
| City of Busselton | WA | Unhosted STRA development application fee (2025/26) | $295 source | 2026-07-24 |
| Perth Metropolitan Area | WA | STRA Register, annual renewal | $100 per year source | 2026-07-24 |
| Perth Metropolitan Area | WA | STRA Register, initial registration | $250 per premises source | 2026-07-24 |
| Shire of Augusta-Margaret River | WA | Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate (2026-27, applies to unhosted holiday homes) | $0.128959 in the dollar of Gross Rental Value, minimum payment $1,853 source | 2026-07-24 |
| Shire of Augusta-Margaret River | WA | Holiday House planning application / advertising fee (new) | Set annually via Council's adopted Fees and Charges Schedule (not a fixed published figure in the policy documents); applicant is invoiced after the application is assessed as complete source | 2026-07-24 |
| Shire of Augusta-Margaret River | WA | Holiday House renewal planning/advertising fee | Set annually via Council's adopted Fees and Charges Schedule (not a fixed published figure in the policy documents) source | 2026-07-24 |
| Western Australia | WA | STRA Register annual renewal fee | $100 per premises per year source | 2026-07-24 |
| Western Australia | WA | STRA Register initial registration fee | $250 per premises source | 2026-07-24 |
Amounts are reproduced as the official source states them, including any conditions attached. Where a fee is proposed rather than in force, the wording says so. This table lists what governments charge; it does not include your platform commission, cleaning, insurance or accounting costs.
Common questions
What is the most expensive short-stay approval in Australia?
The City of Hobart's discretionary change-of-use planning permit for visitor accommodation, at $5,000 per application in the council's adopted 2026-27 Fees and Charges schedule. The permitted pathway in the same council is $250, capped by Tasmanian law, so which pathway your property falls into matters more than any other single cost decision.
Do I pay a fee every year?
It depends on the jurisdiction. Registration schemes generally charge an initial fee and a smaller annual renewal, while planning approvals are usually a one-off application fee that runs with the approval. Levies are different again: they are a percentage of every booking, not an annual charge.
Does this include what Airbnb charges me?
No. This table is only what governments charge. Platform commission, cleaning, insurance, accounting and channel-management software are all real costs of hosting but they are not regulatory ones, and mixing them in would make the comparison useless.
Related
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Plain text
Short Stay Rules, "Every government fee a short-stay host pays, by jurisdiction", last verified 25 July 2026. https://shortstayrules.com/compare/costs/
Reference list
Short Stay Rules. (2026). Every government fee a short-stay host pays, by jurisdiction. Last verified 25 July 2026. https://shortstayrules.com/compare/costs/
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