On 30 September 2024, new rental law reforms commenced under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024.
These build on rental law changes that commenced on 6 June 2024 and will be followed further reforms on 1 May 2025.
Rental law changes that commenced on 30 September 2024:
- Maximum bond amount – capped at no more than four times the weekly rent amount.
- Re-letting costs – calculated on the remaining time on an agreement (where an agreement is greater than 3 years). For agreements up to 3 years, it's the lower amount of the specified reletting costs or the rent until a new tenant moves in. Use our new online reletting costs calculator to help provide an estimate of possible reletting costs.
- Rent payments – tenants must be offered two ways to pay rent, including a way that does not incur more than usual bank costs and is reasonably available to a tenant.
- Utility bills – a tenant must receive utility bills within a four-week timeframe, otherwise the tenant does not need to pay.
- False and misleading information – making it an offence for anyone involved in a tenancy to provide false or misleading information to the RTA.
- Information sharing – creating new abilities for the RTA to share information with other government agencies and departments to drive greater compliance and enforcement outcomes for the sector.
- Evidence for bond claims – when making a bond claim or disputing a bond, the property manager/owner must provide the tenant with supporting evidence within 14 days of lodging a claim or dispute. For bonds lodged with the RTA before 30 September 2024, a 12-month transitional period from 30 September 2024 to 30 September 2025 applies, allowing the sector to prepare for this change. Bonds lodged after 30 September 2024 will require supporting evidence to be provided when the property manager/owner claims or disputes the bond.
Other remaining reforms, including a new standardised application form, changes to notice and entry periods, and requests for fixtures and structural changes, will commence on 1 May 2025 under part two of proclamation.
The Queensland Government is yet to announce commencement dates for reforms established under a Head of Power, including a portable bonds scheme, sector code of conduct and a framework for applying to make modifications for safety, security and accessibility. We will share these commencement dates once known.
For more information visit the RTA’s ongoing rental law changes webpage for the full list of changes commencing on proclamation parts one and two, a comprehensive list of FAQs and for insight into reforms that have commenced since 6 June 2024.
We strongly encourage Queensland tenants and property owners/managers to subscribe to RTA News to stay up to date on the latest announcements.
Form updates
To reflect the rental law changes, we have updated the following forms. Please ensure you download and use these latest versions.
| Form | Updates |
|---|---|
| Entry condition report – general tenancies (Form 1a) |
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| Entry condition report – movable dwelling/site (Form 1b) |
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| Bond lodgement (Form 2) |
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| Change of rental property (Form 3) |
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| Refund of a rental bond (Form 4) |
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| Bond refund for persons experiencing domestic violence (Form 4a) |
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| Excess bond refund for tenants (Form 4b) |
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| Change of property manager/owner (Form 5) |
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| Change of bond contributors (Form 6) |
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| Signature record (Form 8) |
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| Entry notice (Form 9) |
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| Entry notice (Form R9) |
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| Notice to leave (Form 12) |
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| Notice to leave rooming accommodation (Form R12) |
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| Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) |
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| Notice of intention to leave rooming accommodation (Form R13) |
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| Exit condition report – general tenancies (Form 14a) |
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| Exit condition report – moveable dwelling tenancies (Form 14b) |
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| Dispute resolution request (Form 16) |
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| Pocket guide for tenants – houses and units (Form 17a) |
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| Pocket guides for tenants – caravan parks (Form 17b) |
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| General tenancy agreement (Form 18a) |
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| Moveable dwelling tenancy agreement (Form 18b) |
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| Rooming accommodation agreement (R18) |
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| Notice ending tenancy interest (Form 20) |
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| Notice ending tenancy interest (Form R20) |
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| Request for approval to keep a pet in a rental property (Form 21) |
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| Complaint form |
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| Domestic and family violence report |
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| Investigation request form |
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| Update your details |
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Note: While the RTA makes every reasonable effort to ensure that information on this website is accurate at the time of publication, changes in circumstances after publication may impact on the accuracy of material. This disclaimer is in addition to and does not limit the application of the Residential Tenancies Authority website disclaimer.