Hundreds of thousands of tenants set to benefit as long-awaited rental reforms introduced to Victorian parliament

Landlords and real estate agents will have to provide renters with proof to back up a bond claim and will be banned from charging fees to process rent, under long-awaited legislation to be introduced to Victorian parliament.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, and minister for consumer affairs, Nick Staikos, on Wednesday announced the introduction of Labor’s latest rental reforms to parliament, which if passed would also establish a portable bond scheme the government said would benefit about 736,000 households.

Under the new bill, landlords and agents would also be required to provide renters with documentary evidence to support a bond claim at least three days before the claim can be submitted.

If they wanted to take a tenant to the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal over a bond claim, they would also be required to provide supporting documentation. Failure to do so could attract fines of $5,087 for individuals and $25,438 for body corporates.

Staikos said the measures would “crack down on dubious bond claims”, which were among the most common disputes between renters and landlords, along with rent increases, repairs and maintenance.

Analysis of public data by Guardian Australia last month found a growing number of tenants were losing some or all of their bond after their leases expire in Australia’s biggest housing markets.

In Victoria, the share of bonds fully refunded fell from 68% in mid-2021 to 64% in mid-2024.

A separate report – released by the state’s commissioner for residential tenancies in April – said advocacy body Tenants Victoria had assisted 1,150 renters with bond claims in 2023-24, making up 12% of the services it provided in the financial year. The Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program also assisted in 629 bond claim cases.

The bill would also ban charging tenants to process rent. It follows Guardian Australia’s Hot Property series, which revealed an increasing number of real estate agents were moving tenants’ payments on to third-party “rent tech” platforms, which charge service fees.

The bill’s portable bond scheme was first promised in 2023 by the then premier, Daniel Andrews, as part of the government’s housing statement. In 2024, Allan announced further rental reforms, including a ban on no-fault evictions, which passed parliament via a separate bill in March.

Allan said it would ensure renters won’t have to pay a new bond while they’re still waiting for their old one to be returned when moving house.

“Most renters don’t just have a spare few thousand dollars lying around to cover the unnecessary cost of the dreaded double bond,” she said.

Staikos said it was a “practical change that will make a real difference”.