With the Victorian state election coming up on 26 November 2022, we wrote to representatives from Labor, the Liberals and the Greens to ask their position on a range of key rental issues:

• ending no cause terminations,
• tackling excessive rent increases, and
• expanding energy efficiency minimum standards.

For each question we provided some context about why this issue matters and the response that Better Renting would want to see. We have reproduced this below, along with responses from the relevant party spokespeople. 

We received quite different responses, and we have not scored them or evaluated them against one another. However, we hope that by obtaining and presenting this information we can help you to take the responses into account as election day draws nearer.

This fact sheet will deal with the requirements for a termination notice to be valid under ACT tenancy law. Both tenants and landlords can issue termination notices, but this overview focuses on those issued by landlords. Further, this fact sheet will not deal with terminations that are based on a breach of the agreement by either tenants or landlords. Our focus is on ‘no fault’ terminations. You can read more about how this category of termination functions around Australia here.

A notice is basically a formal communication relating to the tenancy agreement. A landlord may give you notice for a whole number of things, such as a notice to conduct an inspection. This fact sheet will deal with the specific requirements of a notice to increase the rent in the ACT. This information only applies if you are in a periodic tenancy agreement and not if you are starting or renewing a fixed term lease. 

This fact sheet will clarify the idea of "fair wear and tear" and help you to get your bond back. Many tenants can feel anxious near the end of your lease because your landlord may try to make a claim on your bond. Actually, the law in the ACT says that certain damage is okay - as long as it is "fair wear and tear", and your landlord cannot make a bond claim for this sort of damage. But the legislation is not super helpful when trying to figure out what this really means! This is where we come in.

We hear from lots of people interested in renting with pets. And it's no surprise: most Australian households have pets, and with more people renting long-term, more of us want the opportunity to have pets in a rental home.

If you rent in Queensland, here are answers to some common questions about renting with pets.