Accommodation

Accommodation in short-term rentals covers the way dwellings are offered to guests for brief stays and the standards, permissions and guest-facing inclusions that apply. For owners and investors, understanding how different states define and regulate short stays is essential to operating legally, protecting your asset and delivering a reliable guest experience.

While the core concept is similar nationwide—temporary stays for visitors rather than long-term residents—each jurisdiction sets its own definitions, registration requirements and operational limits. Getting these details right informs your compliance, pricing and occupancy strategy from day one.

Definition and Scope in STR

In New South Wales, short-term rental accommodation is the commercial letting of a dwelling to people who are not ordinarily resident for three months or less, with mandatory registration and compliance with the STRA Code of Conduct. Queensland’s planning frameworks also treat short-term accommodation as stays under three consecutive months, with local planning schemes determining where this use is permitted and when approvals are triggered.

Victoria defines a short-stay arrangement within an owners corporation building as a stay of no more than seven consecutive days, and it provides behaviour and damage remedies under the Owners Corporations Act 2006. These differences mean the same property type can be regulated differently across states and even by local scheme rules.

Legal or Zoning Considerations

NSW’s STRA framework requires all eligible properties to register and meet fire safety standards. Non-hosted whole-home letting is limited to 180 nights per year in Greater Sydney, while Byron Shire applies a 60-day annual cap for most unhosted short stays, now in force. Ensuring your listing, calendar and house rules reflect these caps is critical to compliance.

In Victoria, a statewide 7.5% Short Stay Levy applies to bookings from 1 January 2025 and is collected per booking by platforms. Some councils add local obligations—City of Melbourne, for example, requires host registration. In Brisbane, Council has increased the short-term letting rates surcharge to 65% of the general rate from 1 July 2024, and depending on your zoning and use, development approval may be required under the Brisbane City Plan.

Guest Expectations and Inclusions

NSW’s STRA Fire Safety Standard sets clear inclusion benchmarks: compliant smoke alarms in bedrooms and connecting hallways, a fire extinguisher and fire blanket where there is a kitchen, and a prominently displayed evacuation diagram, emergency contacts and the maximum number of occupants. NSW planning rules also cap occupancy at two adults per bedroom (with limited additional persons) and require the maximum permitted guests to be stated and displayed inside the premises.

Queensland requires photoelectric, interconnected smoke alarms in every bedroom, in hallways connecting bedrooms and on each storey for rental dwellings used for short-term accommodation, a standard in force since 1 January 2022. Aligning your fit-out and guest communications with these safety and occupancy settings supports compliance and a smoother guest experience.

Pricing and Occupancy Impact

Market performance remains robust. AirDNA reports Australian short-term rental demand reached record highs in 2024, with rapid listing growth slightly easing occupancy, while average daily rates stayed above pre‑COVID levels. In this environment, pricing precision and minimum-stay strategies help balance occupancy with revenue.

Regulatory costs directly influence nightly rates. Victoria’s 7.5% Short Stay Levy applies per night from 1 January 2025 and typically flows through to guest pricing. In Brisbane, the 65% rates surcharge for short-term letting increases holding costs, which many operators factor into ADR, length-of-stay requirements or seasonal pricing to preserve margins.

Conclusion

Short-term rental accommodation is tightly defined and locally regulated, so success hinges on getting the basics right: register where required, meet fire safety and occupancy standards, track local night caps and factor new levies and rates into your pricing. As at 2025, Victoria’s statewide Short Stay Levy is in effect and collected by platforms, Western Australia’s mandatory register has commenced with registration numbers to be displayed and potential local night caps, and Byron Shire’s 60-day annual cap for most unhosted stays is now operating.

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