Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:51): (2041) My constituency question is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs. In 2021 the Labor government passed laws that address rental bidding by mandating that rental properties be advertised at a fixed price under rental bidding protections. Just last week a further tranche of reforms came into effect which bans all remaining forms of rental bidding. That means not only will agents and rental providers be prohibited from soliciting offers beyond the listed terms but they are also now banned from accepting unsolicited offers. Rental bidding is an unfair practice. It punishes our prospective renters who take the price of a listing at face value, it encourages a predatory environment that can pressure people into paying more than they feel is fair and reasonable and it impacts cost-of-living pressures for hundreds, potentially thousands, of households. Minister, how will the government’s rental reforms benefit renters in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region?