Rent Bidding Ban and Pet Request Rules for Australian Landlords — State-by-State Guide

Two rules every Australian landlord needs to know before listing a property: rent bidding is banned across Australia, and refusing a tenant's pet request only works on documented reasonable grounds. The first rule is nationwide and applies the moment you advertise a rent — the second is per-state, comes with a tenant rebuttal pathway, and is one of the more common disputes that lands at NCAT, VCAT and QCAT.

This guide covers both, side by side, for NSW, VIC and QLD — the three states whose rent-bidding and pet-refusal rules HoldKey's landlord agent currently encodes. The wording below is matched to what the agent answers when asked, so what you read here is the same rule set the app will tell you.

1. Rent bidding — the nationwide ban

Rent bidding is the practice of a prospective tenant offering, or a landlord/agent soliciting, a rent amount above the advertised asking rent. In Australia, this is banned in every state and territory. The advertised rent is the asking rent, and that is the rent the landlord may accept — subject to the tenancy agreement being signed at that figure. Any request for higher offers, or any "best offer" framing in an ad, is treated by state authorities as misleading or deceptive conduct.

The headline rules, state by state:

• List at the rent you intend to charge. Don't invite competing bids and don't publish an ad that suggests a range above which the tenant may go.
• Do not solicit higher offers from applicants. State authorities treat any "would you pay more?" framing (including via your agent) as a breach.
• The advertised price is the asking price. The tenancy agreement should be offered at the advertised figure, not at a counter-offered figure.
• The ban applies across all AU states. NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), and the RTA Queensland each enforce the same national prohibition through their respective Residential Tenancies Acts.

NSW — rent bidding under NSW Fair Trading

Rent bidding is banned across Australia. A prospective tenant cannot offer, and a landlord or agent cannot solicit, a rent amount above what was advertised for the property. The advertised rent is the asking rent — and that is the rent the landlord may accept (subject to the tenancy agreement being signed). NSW Fair Trading treats any request for higher offers as misleading or deceptive conduct. Landlords must list the property at the rent they intend to charge and must not invite competing bids.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), s.29–s.30 (rent and rent-related terms — landlord cannot require higher rent than advertised); NSW Fair Trading rent bidding guidance (advertised price is the asking rent; agents/landlords must not solicit offers above it).

VIC — rent bidding under Consumer Affairs Victoria

Rent bidding is banned across Australia. A prospective tenant cannot offer, and a landlord or agent cannot solicit, a rent amount above what was advertised for the property. The advertised rent is the asking rent — and that is the rent the landlord may accept (subject to the tenancy agreement being signed). Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) treats rent bidding as unfair or misleading conduct. Landlords must list the property at the rent they intend to charge and must not invite competing bids.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), s.46–s.50 (rent and rent-related terms — landlord cannot require higher rent than advertised); Consumer Affairs Victoria rent bidding guidance (advertised price is the asking rent; agents/landlords must not solicit offers above it).

QLD — rent bidding under the RTA

Rent bidding is banned across Australia. A prospective tenant cannot offer, and a landlord or agent cannot solicit, a rent amount above what was advertised for the property. The advertised rent is the asking rent — and that is the rent the landlord may accept (subject to the tenancy agreement being signed). The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) Queensland treats rent bidding as misleading or deceptive conduct. Landlords must list the property at the rent they intend to charge and must not invite competing bids.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 1984 (Qld), s.55–s.57 (rent and rent-related terms — landlord cannot require higher rent than advertised); Residential Tenancies Authority Queensland rent bidding guidance (advertised price is the asking rent; agents/landlords must not solicit offers above it).

Have HoldKey flag any ad copy that invites higher offers →

2. Pet request refusal — the reasonable-grounds rules

Under the recent Residential Tenancies Act pet-amendment regimes in NSW, VIC and QLD, a tenant may apply to keep a pet (including a companion animal) and the landlord must not unreasonably refuse consent. A bare "no pets" policy is no longer lawful in these states — the refusal must be specific, documented, and based on reasonable grounds, and the tenant has a formal rebuttal pathway.

The three states share an almost identical list of reasonable grounds. The common grounds are:

• Property is unsuitable for the type/size of pet — e.g. body corporate / owners corporation rules that prohibit animals, or premises that are too small for a large dog.
• Documented insurance or strata/owners corporation rules that prohibit the pet — a real written restriction, not a general "we don't allow pets".
• A previous breach by the same tenant relating to animals — a documented history of nuisance, damage or by-law breaches tied to a previous pet.
• Safety concerns — a specific, evidence-supported safety risk associated with the type of animal or the property layout.

If you refuse on any of these grounds, you must put the refusal in writing with reasons. The tenant can then rebut the grounds — typically by producing evidence that the cited restriction does not actually apply (e.g. a body corporate confirmation that pets are permitted) — and, if the rebuttal stands, escalate to the state tribunal if the refusal is unreasonable.

NSW — pet requests and NCAT

Under the recent NSW Residential Tenancies Act pet-amendment regime, a tenant may apply to keep a pet (including a companion animal) and the landlord must not unreasonably refuse consent. Reasonable grounds for refusal include: the property is unsuitable for the type/size of pet (e.g. body corporate by-laws prohibiting animals, premises too small for a large dog); the landlord has documented insurance or strata rules that prohibit the pet; a previous breach by the same tenant relating to animals; or safety concerns. If the landlord refuses, they must give written reasons and the tenant can rebut those grounds (with supporting evidence — e.g. a body corporate confirmation that pets are permitted) and escalate to NSW Fair Trading or the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) if the refusal is unreasonable.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), s.70C (pet request framework — landlord must not unreasonably refuse; tenant may rebut grounds); NSW Fair Trading pet request guidance (consent and reasonable refusal grounds).

VIC — pet requests and VCAT

Under the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act pet-amendment regime, a tenant may apply to keep a pet (including a companion animal) and the landlord must not unreasonably refuse consent. Reasonable grounds for refusal include: the property is unsuitable for the type/size of pet (e.g. owners corporation rules prohibiting animals, premises too small for a large dog); the landlord has documented insurance or owners corporation rules that prohibit the pet; a previous breach by the same tenant relating to animals; or safety concerns. If the landlord refuses, they must give written reasons and the tenant can rebut those grounds (with supporting evidence — e.g. an owners corporation confirmation that pets are permitted) and escalate to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if the refusal is unreasonable.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), s.71A–s.71D (pet request framework — landlord must not unreasonably refuse; tenant may rebut grounds); Consumer Affairs Victoria pet request guidance (consent and reasonable refusal grounds).

QLD — pet requests and QCAT

Under the Queensland Residential Tenancies Act pet-amendment regime, a tenant may apply to keep a pet (including a companion animal) and the landlord must not unreasonably refuse consent. Reasonable grounds for refusal include: the property is unsuitable for the type/size of pet (e.g. body corporate by-laws prohibiting animals, premises too small for a large dog); the landlord has documented insurance or body corporate rules that prohibit the pet; a previous breach by the same tenant relating to animals; or safety concerns. If the landlord refuses, they must give written reasons and the tenant can rebut those grounds (with supporting evidence — e.g. a body corporate confirmation that pets are permitted) and escalate to the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) Queensland or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) if the refusal is unreasonable.

Authority: Residential Tenancies Act 1984 (Qld), pet-amendment provisions (request framework — landlord must not unreasonably refuse; tenant may rebut grounds); Residential Tenancies Authority Queensland pet request guidance (consent and reasonable refusal grounds).

Get a written-reason template + rebuttal-response templates in HoldKey →

How HoldKey keeps this page and the agent in sync

The rules above are not a paraphrase — they are copied verbatim from services/compliance-rules.js, the same source-of-truth module that drives the HoldKey landlord agent's compliance answers. HoldKey encodes each NSW / VIC / QLD rent-bidding and pet-refusal rule with a structured body and a citation field so the agent can quote the law verbatim with an Act cite attached. When the rule changes upstream, both this page and the agent pick up the new wording on the next deploy.

The citations in this article come from AU compliance research report ID 1811035, the verified record used to encode the rent-bidding and pet-refusal rules into services/compliance-rules.js. If you spot a discrepancy between this page and what the agent tells you, the agent's stored body wins — and we'd want to hear about it.

Frequently asked questions

Is rent bidding actually illegal in every Australian state?

Yes. The ban is nationwide — NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), and the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) Queensland each enforce the same rule through their respective Residential Tenancies Act. The advertised rent is the asking rent; soliciting or offering above it is misleading or deceptive conduct.

What counts as a "reasonable ground" to refuse a pet request?

In NSW, VIC and QLD the accepted reasonable grounds are: the property is unsuitable for the type/size of pet (e.g. body corporate / owners corporation rules prohibiting animals, premises too small for a large dog); documented insurance or strata/owners corporation rules that prohibit the pet; a previous breach by the same tenant relating to animals; or specific safety concerns. The refusal must be in writing with reasons — a bare "no pets" policy no longer stands up.

What happens if a tenant rebuts my refusal?

If the tenant produces evidence that the cited reasonable ground doesn't apply (for example, a body corporate confirmation that pets are permitted in the building), the refusal is no longer defensible. The tenant can then escalate to the state tribunal — NSW: NCAT; VIC: VCAT; QLD: QCAT — which can find the refusal unreasonable and direct you to consent.

Does HoldKey keep the public guide and the landlord agent in sync?

Yes. The HoldKey landlord app encodes every rent-bidding and pet-refusal rule on this page, and the in-app landlord agent quotes the same services/compliance-rules.js wording. So the public guide and what the agent tells you stay consistent — if you change the rule in one place, the other picks it up on the next deploy.

For more on HoldKey's compliance handling, see the AI property manager page, or return to the HoldKey homepage to get started.