Victoria has passed strong new rental protection laws through parliament, taking aim at a practice that has squeezed renters applying for homes: charging just to submit an application.
Under the reforms, real estate agents can no longer charge fees for rental applications or payments. For many renters, this removes a frustration that compounded the already stressful house hunt. Applying for a property will be easier for both renters and real estate agents with a new standard application form.
Two New Brunswick residents, Scarlett Knight and Lou Mae Messenboeck, described their experience. Knight noted that some applications asked for personal details that felt unnecessary, saying one requested a profile photo, which she found invasive. Messenboeck recounted being asked to pay to keep her information secure for 30 days. "I guess if we ever move out again, we know it'll be much better thanks to these changes," Knight said after hearing about the reform.
The laws include stopping all types of rental bidding to ensure renters are getting a fair price and changing the notice period from 60 to 90 days, giving renters more time when they receive a notice of rental increase or notice to vacate. The new laws also ban no fault evictions so that Victorian renters can't be kicked out of their home for no reason.
Consumer Affairs Victoria and VCAT can now consider additional factors when assessing if a rent increase is excessive, a change aimed at protecting renters from unjustified increases.
However, the state opposition has raised a concern that cuts to the heart of the rental crisis: supply. Shadow Housing Minister Tim McCurdy said the rule changes, while welcome for those applying, won't address the shortage of available rental properties. "These changes won't make any more rentals available and that's the concern we've got," he said.
The distinction is telling. Victoria's approach has consistently focused on protecting renters within the existing market, imposing new costs on landlords and agents to absorb, rather than targeting the undersupply that keeps rents climbing. Since its establishment in 2024, the renting taskforce has issued over 90 fines totalling more than $750,000 for key rental offences, signalling the government's enforcement intent.
In March 2026, additional reforms include standardising rental applications with use of a prescribed form, privacy and secure handling of renter information, and a ban on third party fees for applications and rent payment. The standardised form is already available online on the Consumer Affairs Victoria website, giving renters and agents advance notice of the change.
For renters feeling powerless in a tight market, the application fee ban removes one source of friction. But whether these protections will meaningfully ease the cost-of-living pressures facing Victorian renters ultimately depends on solving a harder problem: making more homes available to rent.