Since the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 was introduced, the rental sector has changed.

A growing number of Victorians are renting, for different reasons and for different lengths of time. Although the sector has always catered for a broad range of tenants, in the past a greater proportion of tenants were newly formed households, younger people and students. Over time, the sector has played an increasingly important role for families, and for older people. People are increasingly looking to rental accommodation as a form of housing that will provide stability and security as well as the opportunity to participate in their community over the longer term.

This changing context means we need to take stock of the sector and determine whether the regulatory framework underpinning Victoria’s residential tenancies laws is suitable now and into the future. We need to ensure that residential tenancies laws enable and encourage a rental market that operates to provide sustainable housing options for Victorians, both in the private rental sector and the social housing sector.

Current residential tenancies laws, introduced in 1997, aimed to strike a balance between the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. This review will need to consider if the current laws continue to provide sufficient safeguards for tenants while avoiding over-regulation, which could discourage people operating in the property market as landlords.