Two Year Performance Report on the progress of A Better Deal for Renters

The National Cabinet in August 2023 met and agreed to focus on delivering more secure and affordable housing for Australians. One of the priorities to deliver on this was for each State and Territory to implement the Better Deal for Renters which would strengthen and harmonise renters rights across Australia.  

In August 2024 NARO and National Shelter released a one year report card on the progress of each State and Territory in implementing the Better Deal for Renters. In that report card we can see that States and Territories had been consulting on the rental reforms and in some cases proposing and adopting legislation. What was fundamentally missing was any transparency around the overall process of engagement nationally on the Better Deal for Renters.  

Two years on since the Better Deal for Renters was announced there is still no process of engagement nationally on the Better Deal for Renters.

We also can see a further widening in the experience of renters dependent on where they live in Australia. Some states and territories have implemented the majority of the rental reforms but others have barely made any progress. In addition to the Better Deal for Renters NARO has been advocating for other key principles that were missing in the National Cabinet's priorities. These additional principles are essential to strengthen renters rights but unfortunately to date there has been little progress in these areas across all jurisdictions. 

This report consolidates work undertaken by National Shelter and NARO collectively, as well as NARO individually for better rental regulations for the third of Australians who rent. This includes calling for Commonwealth leadership and national consistency to harmonise rental regulations in Australia as a key area of law reform to ensure renters have access to safe, affordable, and secure homes.

The Better Deal for Renters includes:
- Developing a nationally consistent policy to implement a requirement for genuine reasonable grounds for eviction.
- Moving towards limiting rent increases to once a year.
- Phasing in minimum standards.

The aim of these changes was to “make a tangible impact for the almost one-third of Australia households who rent”.