On 9 April the ACT Attorney-General tabled the Housing and Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2024. The Bill covered a range of changes to different Acts and incorporates 60 amendments to the RTA, as well as other changes to the Unit Titles (Management Act) and the Housing Assistance Act. The Bill was presented and passed on 26 June 2024.
The changes will commence in two phases on 10 December 2024 and 9 January 2025.
According to the Government the changes will:
- implement several reforms from the ‘Better Deal for Renters’ reform package agreed by National Cabinet in August 2023. The reforms will:
- ensure that rent cannot be increased at intervals of less than 12 months in any circumstances;
- make it easier for tenants who are victim-survivors of domestic and family violence (DFV) to end their tenancy early (without penalty) with supporting documentation from an appropriate professional; and
- make the currently optional “break lease fee clause” a mandatory standard tenancy term, as an additional protection for tenants in fixed-term tenancies; and
- make minor additional reforms to streamline rental processes for tenants and landlords including:
- making the legal requirements for condition reports more flexible, so that final inspections and new condition reports are not required each time a new fixed term agreement (with at least one continuing tenant) is entered into over the same property;
- amending the defective termination notice provision to allow ACAT to correct errors in other types of notices (such as rent increase notices or notices to remedy); and
- introducing a power to make regulations prescribing matters that must be disclosed by landlords when advertising a rental property or entering into a tenancy agreement.
The ACT Government has produced some very general information outlining the changes. They are available on the Government’s Law and Justice webpage
A detailed overview of, and reasoning for, the changes can be found in the associated Explanatory Statement and Human Rights compatibility Statement – Part 8 Residential Tenancies Act 1997. (ES). A Supplementary Explanatory Statement was tabled on 26 June 2024.
The Residential Tenancies Act page provides all legislation relevant to the Act, including the Explanatory Statements and Regulations.
The document below provides detail of what has been changed and some comments about the changes..