Rental law changes 2026: bond transfers for A$25 in NSW and Victoria

For A$25, a renter in New South Wales or Victoria who qualifies can now move a bond from one rental to the next. Moving house has often meant paying a new bond before the old one is returned; the transfer spares those who use it what both governments call the “double bond”. Among the rental law changes 2026 has brought to the two states, it is one of several that apply at the point of moving.

Renting is more common than average in homes where someone was born in India. At the 2021 Census, 41.5 per cent of occupied private dwellings in Australia with at least one India-born occupant were rented, against 30.6 per cent of all occupied private dwellings. Victoria publishes guidance on its Portable Rental Bond Scheme in ten languages other than English, among them Hindi and Punjabi.

Two schemes, one fee and a claim that can come later

Victoria moved first. Its scheme began on 1 July 2026, with transfers made through the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA), which holds the state’s rental bonds in trust. NSW launched Smart Rental Bonds on 10 August in Parramatta, Penrith and the Central Coast and took it statewide on 16 September, earlier than planned. In the month that followed, more than 1,800 NSW households transferred more than A$5 million in bonds, the state government said on 15 October.

In both states the renter pays the fee and, where the new bond is higher, the difference. The previous landlord can still claim against the old bond. If the claim is agreed or ordered, the government pays it and the renter repays the government, within 28 days of a Revenue NSW invoice or, in Victoria, within eight weeks of a government notice unless the renter takes up a payment plan. By mid-October, the NSW government said, more than 95 per cent of bonds transferred in NSW had drawn no claim.

Four weeks in NSW, an exact match in Victoria

NSW requires the same tenants on both leases and allows four weeks of overlap: the renter must leave the old home within four weeks of entering the new one. In Victoria the renters’ details must “match exactly on both bonds”, including the spelling of each name and the date of birth, and the new lease must already be signed. Neither scheme covers a share house splitting up for different addresses, and Victoria’s guidance adds that two people moving in together from separate rentals cannot combine their bonds.

What the new landlord is told

In NSW the new landlord need not find out. NSW Fair Trading calls a transfer “a private transaction between you and the NSW Government”. Renters do not have to say on an application how they will pay the bond, and landlords and agents are not notified.

In Victoria the renter starts by telling the new rental provider or agent that the bond will be paid straight to the RTBA. Since 9 September that choice can be made by written notice, and the provider must then select it when lodging the bond. The law gives the renter two days to pay once the RTBA’s request arrives. Any renter can pay this way, transferring or not, and turning down a renter because of that choice is due to become an offence on 1 June 2027.

Victoria now requires evidence before a bond claim

Victoria’s latest changes took effect on Tuesday 13 October. A rental provider who intends to claim on a bond must now give each renter the evidence, in the form of “invoices, receipts, quotes or photographs”, at least three days before lodging the claim, and that evidence must not conflict with the condition report. Providers and agents can no longer charge renters fees for applications or rent payments, a ban that has bound rental apps and payment platforms since 31 March. Since then, too, applications have gone on a standard form, and providers may ask only for what it covers.

More is set for 1 June 2027. Lease-break fees will be capped. Providers and agents must not unreasonably refuse a request for an extra key or fob, though they may charge a reasonable fee for it, and deactivating one becomes an offence unless permitted. Turning away an applicant because they have experienced family or personal violence will also be barred.

Pets, Centrepay and other rental law changes 2026 brought to NSW

Since 2 October, a NSW tenant who moves in with a pet and applies for consent within seven days of entering into the lease can keep the animal while the landlord decides. The landlord still has 21 days to answer, and silence for that long means the pet is “automatically approved without conditions”. A refusal does not send the animal away that day: the tenant has 21 days, longer if the refusal goes to the Tribunal. A tenant who misses the seven-day window needs consent before the pet moves in.

From 2 March, landlords and agents have also had to offer Centrepay, which deducts rent from a Centrelink payment, as a fee-free way to pay. Changes from 21 September made it easier for victim-survivors of domestic violence to end a tenancy early. NSW’s own standard application form is still to come: laws passed in September, expected to take effect in early 2027, will require one and allow ID documents to be collected only from the preferred applicant, before the lease is signed.

On either side of the Murray, the double bond both governments set out to remove now costs A$25 to avoid. The conditions differ: four weeks to leave the old home in NSW, an exact match of names and birthdates in Victoria. Neither scheme settles the old bond on moving day. A claim agreed or ordered after the move is paid by the government first and by the renter later.