Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:32): My question is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs. This year we have seen rental properties advertised for a certain price, but only when you look at the fine print do you see that there is a subsequent rent increase of often up to 30 per cent a few months later. This seems to be designed to lure renters into a trap. Will the minister crack down on this sneaky practice?

 Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh – Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Local Government) (14:33): I thank the member for his question. On this side of the house we are proud that, in all of Australia, the fairest place in which to be a renter is Victoria. It is not happenstance; it is because Labor has ensured that Victoria is the fairest place in which to be a renter. That has resulted in 150 rental reforms, including around rents, and it is because of this government that rent increases are limited to one per year. As of today we are even broadening the scope of rent reviews. It is as of today that Consumer Affairs Victoria and Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria can take into consideration a broader range of factors when it comes to rent reviews. It means that, if you are one of the nearly one-third of Victorians who are renters and you receive a notice for a rent increase and you feel that it is an unfair rent increase, you can refer that matter to Consumer Affairs Victoria or to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria and, for the first time ever, both those agencies can take into consideration both the scale of the rent increase as well as how it compares to the current rate of inflation. It is easier than it has ever been to challenge an unfair rent increase in this state, because it was our government that started –

Tim Read: On a point of order, Speaker, at the risk of being included in Minister Brooks’s statistics, on relevance, I think we are a long way from the question.

The SPEAKER: I think the minister was being relevant.

Nick STAIKOS: The question was around rent increases, and I am taking the member through exactly how in this state, thanks to the Allan Labor government, renters can challenge an unfair rent increase. We formed Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria. It launched last year. It is a free, fast and fair service. Since it launched in June last year, more than 10,000 rental disputes have been resolved for free, and because it is free more and more renters are raising these rental disputes than ever before. One of the four key disputes raised with Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria is around unfair rent increases. We have made it easier for renters to challenge unfair rent increases – easier than it has ever been before.

Not only that, but we have increased notice periods from 60 to 90 days for rent increases. We have ended no-fault evictions. We have ended rental bidding. And we are not going to rest on our laurels; we are going to do even more. Very, very soon we will be launching the nation-leading portable rental bond scheme – a game changer. It will mean that renters will no longer need to be out of pocket for two bonds when moving homes. Every step of the way, we are making renting fairer and more affordable in this state. This is the fairest jurisdiction in which to rent. It is not because of the Greens political party or the Liberal Party or the National Party or One Nation; it is because of Labor.

 Tim READ (Brunswick) (14:36): The minister may not have appreciated that this practice appears to be legal. The Residential Tenancies Act only allows rent increases every 12 months, but another clause in the act, the preceding clause, allows for additional rent increases if they or the method by which they are calculated are specified in the contract. This kind of defeats the purpose of limiting rent increases to once per 12 months. Does the minister see a problem here?

 Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh – Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Local Government) (14:37): I thank the member for his supplementary question. Again, it is because of our government that we have limited rent increases to one every 12 months. I repeat that fact for the Greens political party. The Greens political party do like to take credit – they and their three members – for everything that we and our 54 members have managed to get done in this house. But I will put this to you: I did say earlier that we are the fairest jurisdiction in which to rent, but we are also the most affordable. I have the most recent Rental Affordability Report here, and I will quote from it –

Tim Read: On a point of order, Speaker, surely this cannot be relevant.

The SPEAKER: The minister will come back to the question.

Nick STAIKOS: I addressed the question at the outset, but I will just quote from the Rental Affordability Report:

Victoria stands out as the most affordable state to rent in by some margin. This is a relatively recent development as Victoria was the second-least affordable state for renters as recently as 2016–17.

So when this government – (Time expired)