If you’re moving from one rental home to another, you can now choose to move your bond to your new property using the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority’s (RTBA) Portable Rental Bond Scheme. This means you don’t have to wait for your bond to be refunded by the RTBA to pay the bond for your new home. It costs $25 to move your bond. If the new bond is more than your existing bond, you need to pay the difference.
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New renting rules have come into effect in Victoria. A standard application form is now used, and there are restrictions on what information can be demanded by landlords. Charges for Rental Apps and Third Party Fees have also been disallowed. There is a new process for rental increases beyond the CPI rises and increases can now be challenged.
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Victorian renters who moved into their homes before rental reforms began on 29 March 2021 miss out on some important legal protections. Tenants Victoria is calling on the State Government to make renting fair for all Victorian renters, regardless of when they moved in or whether they are on a fixed-term lease or a periodic (month-to-month) tenancy.
The Victorian Government has passed legislation for a new portable rental bonds scheme, due to launch in the first half of 2026. The scheme will allow renters to transfer their bond from one property to the next, rather than paying a second bond while waiting for the first to be released.
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Living in a caravan park as your main home comes with rights and responsibilities under Victoria’s rental laws. To help renters understand these, Tenants Victoria has updated the Caravan parks page, which explains everything from residency agreements and rent rules to repairs, park rules, and what to do when moving out.
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Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) is a free service for renters and landlords to resolve their disputes without having to go to a formal hearing at VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal).
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Tenants Victoria’s latest research report, ‘Restricted, Resilient, Resourceful: Legal help-seeking among single-parent renters’, developed in partnership with the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, reveals just how complex the path to attaining safe, secure and affordable housing can be for single parents. In interviews with 19 single parents, we heard stories from renters who at times feel unable to assert their rights because they don’t want risk losing a roof over their children’s heads and stability for their family.
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Tenants Victoria advises the passage of new rental law reforms in Parliament, first outlined in the Victorian Government’s 2023 Housing Statement, as a significant step toward strengthening renters’ rights in Victoria. Here, we give Key reforms and implementation timelines along with some explanation of renters rights and repairs.
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