The introduction and maintenance of the capital gains tax (CGT) discount created a rental housing market dominated by highly leveraged hobby landlords incentivised to churn properties by the hefty tax discount on eye-watering capital gains. Continuing to offer tax breaks to investors wealthy to own extra homes is deeply inequitable. For renters, it contributes to rental unaffordability, the financial and emotional stress
of unstable housing, and the poor condition of Australian rental homes.

Read our full submission below, or get a PDF here.

Better Renting welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Solar Sharer Offer consultation. Renters are one of the groups most disadvantaged in the transition to renewable energy, with limited ability to install solar and access cost savings directly. The Solar Sharer Offer presents an important opportunity to redress this inequity by providing renters with regulated access to the benefits of solar generation, helping reduce energy bills and energy hardship. 

Renters in Australia are disproportionately exposed to energy-inefficient housing, with many living in homes that are cold in winter, hot in summer, and expensive to run. This exposes renters to avoidable health risks, including respiratory illness¹, heat stress, and worsened chronic conditions². Energy-inefficient rental homes also drive higher energy bills, exacerbating existing cost of living pressures - renters are consistently more likely to experience energy hardship, accounting for around 7 in 10  households meeting multiple hardship indicators³.

Read the full submission below, or get a PDF here.

Better Renting welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Australian Government’s
Economic Reform Roundtable. We acknowledge the focus on building a more productive,
resilient, and fiscally sustainable economy. Economic reform can ensure Australia has a fairer
rental housing market that provides renters with stable, affordable, and comfortable homes.
The Roundtable should support reforms to the housing tax settings that currently benefit
property investors and burden renters with increasing housing costs and decreasing stability.

Better Renting welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Residential Tenancies (Minimum Standards) Amendment Bill 2024. This legislation is timely, necessary, and life-saving.

We strongly support the introduction of minimum standards for insulation, draught-proofing, heating and cooling, and appliance efficiency. Renters in South Australia are among the most exposed in the country to the health and financial harms of energy-inefficient housing. The Bill would align with leading jurisdictions. The practical, evidence-based reforms it proposes would deliver tangible health and financial benefits to South Australian renters, and improve broader public health outcomes.

However, to achieve these benefits, the new minimum standards must:

● Be supported by strong compliance mechanisms and effectively enforced;
● Avoid unintended consequences and ensure renters do not face eviction or rent hikes as a result of upgrades; and
● Be adequately resourced, with targeted and conditional financial assistance provided to landlords where appropriate.

Without enforcement, even well-designed standards risk being ignored, leaving renters without the benefits of the new standards and bearing the burden of holding landlords to account. Safeguards must be implemented to protect renters against unintended consequences such as rent increases or evictions that would undermine the benefits of these upgrades. Conditional support for landlords will help overcome financial barriers to compliance, while ensuring that public money delivers genuine benefit without increasing renters’ housing stress.

Better Renting welcomes the Human Rights (Housing) Amendment Bill 2025 and strongly supports the recognition of housing as a human right in ACT law. In this submission, we reflect on the importance of grounding the right to housing in the lived experience of renters, and the need to ensure this right is made real through effective implementation, enforcement, and accountability. We offer recommendations to support the bill’s intent and ensure it delivers tangible, positive outcomes for renters in the ACT.

In July 2024 the ACT Government opened consultation regarding changes to existing minimum rental standards, as well as occupancy law reform. Better Renting made a submission responding to both of these areas. You can find our submission here.

In June 2024 the Victorian Government consulted on a potential expansion of existing minimum rental standards for rental homes. Better Renting's submission is here.

In April 2024 the Commonwealth Government sought feedback on proposed tax concessions for new build-to-rent projects. Better Renting made a submission calling for affordable tenancies, single ownership retention, and tenancy security. The body of our submission is below.

NSW recently sought submissions in response to a consultation paper on improving rental laws. Our submission provided feedback on removing 'no grounds' terminations, making it easier for renters to have pets, protecting renters' privacy, the issue of excessive rent increases, and the need for minimum energy efficiency standards for rental homes. The submission is available for download here.

In June 2023 the Australian Senate referred an inquiry into the worsening rental crisis in Australia to the Community Affairs References Committee. Better Renting made a submission to this inquiry, calling for action to: limit rent increases, give tenants more control over how their tenancies end, and establish minimum energy efficiency standards for rental homes. You can download our submission here.