Four states changed their tenancy laws between June 2024 and May 2025: Queensland and Western Australia limited how often rent can rise, South Australia required a reason to end a tenancy, and New South Wales ended no-grounds evictions. In each, the rents agreed on new tenancies kept rising in the year after the change. Each shift in the pace of growth was shared by at least one other state over the same years, and the data cannot separate a change in the law from everything else moving rents.
The series is too short to rank any quarter against its history; figures are changes over a year.
What the bond data measures, and what it does not
When a tenancy starts, the bond is lodged with the state bond authority along with the weekly rent. Five states publish those lodgements in a form that can be compared quarter by quarter from the September quarter 2023: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. The measure used here is, for each state and quarter, the average of council-area median rents for new bonds, weighted by the number of bonds lodged. Victoria publishes quarterly median rents by council area, but its latest release covers the September quarter 2025, so it is not included.
Because it records new tenancies only, this data sees the rent a tenant agrees to on moving in. It does not see what happens to tenants who stay put. Two of the four changes, Queensland’s and Western Australia’s, limit how often a sitting tenant’s rent can rise, which this data cannot observe directly. The rules themselves are set out in Tenancy Law Across the States, and what each state reports about disputes and bonds in Tenancy Disputes and Bonds: What Each State Reports.
Rent measure for new bonds by state, September quarter 2023 to June quarter 2026
Average of council-area median weekly rents for new bonds, weighted by the number of bonds, by quarter. APN calculation based on rental bond data from NSW Fair Trading, the Residential Tenancies Authority (Queensland), Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), Consumer Protection (Western Australia) and Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (Tasmania).
Over the whole period, the measure rose 15.6% in New South Wales, 22.2% in Queensland, 25.1% in South Australia, 19.9% in Tasmania and 29.5% in Western Australia. The measure moves with the seasons, so the comparisons below use changes over a full year.
The four changes
| State | Change took effect | What changed | Rents, year before | Rents, year after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | 6 June 2024 | Rent increases limited to once in 12 months per property rather than per tenancy; rent bidding banned | NIL RETURN | 6.2% |
| South Australia | 1 July 2024 | Prescribed grounds needed to end or not renew a tenancy | 10.7% | 5.5% |
| Western Australia | 29 July 2024 | Rent increases limited to once every 12 months, from every six months | 13.9% | 5.8% |
| New South Wales | 19 May 2025 | No-grounds evictions ended | 3.7% | 5.7% |
Change in the rent measure over the four quarters to the quarter the change took effect, and over the following four quarters. Queensland’s year before is NIL RETURN because the series begins in the September quarter 2023. APN calculation based on state bond data; reform dates from the NSW, Queensland, South Australian and Western Australian governments.
Queensland had already limited rent increases to once in 12 months from 1 July 2023; the June 2024 change tied that limit to the property rather than the tenancy and banned rent bidding. Because the comparable series begins in the September quarter 2023, there is no full year before Queensland’s change to compare with.
South Australia and Western Australia, 2024
Rent measure for new bonds, year to September quarter 2024 and year to September quarter 2025
Change in the rent measure over the year to the September quarter 2024 and the year to the September quarter 2025. South Australia and Western Australia made their changes in that quarter. APN calculation based on state bond data.
South Australia’s and Western Australia’s changes both took effect in the September quarter 2024. In the year before, the rent measure rose 10.7% in South Australia and 13.9% in Western Australia; in the year after, 5.5% and 5.8%. Over the same two years it also slowed in New South Wales, from 7.6% to 3.6%, and in Queensland, from 7.6% to 6.8%. Tasmania was the one state where it quickened, from 3.6% to 4.8%.
New South Wales, 2025
| State | Year to June quarter 2025 | Year to June quarter 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 3.7% | 5.7% |
| Queensland | 6.2% | 5.8% |
| South Australia | 6.8% | 5.9% |
| Western Australia | 7.6% | 7.3% |
| Tasmania | 5.0% | 11.6% |
Change in the rent measure over each year. APN calculation based on state bond data.
New South Wales ended no-grounds evictions on 19 May 2025. The rent measure rose 3.7% in the year to the June quarter 2025 and 5.7% in the following year. Growth in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia eased slightly over the same two years, while Tasmania’s more than doubled. The number of new bonds lodged in New South Wales fell 4.1% between the two years, from 330,224 to 316,706. Over the same two years lodgements rose in Queensland (1.8%), South Australia (1.4%) and Tasmania (2.0%), and were little changed in Western Australia (−0.4%). Fewer new bonds can mean fewer tenants moving, fewer homes available to rent, or both; the data does not say which.
What this does not show
This is a comparison of timing. Rents on new tenancies move with vacancy rates, incomes, interest rates, migration and the supply of homes, and one year either side of a date cannot separate a change in the law from those forces. The series is 12 quarters long, too short to judge any quarter against a longer history. It covers new tenancies only, so it does not measure the rent increases that two of the four changes regulate. Each state reports bonds its own way, and the measure is an average of council-area medians rather than a median of all bonds. Other rules changed at other times, and not every change in every state is covered here. This article states no view on whether any law is warranted.
- Consumer and Business Services (South Australia) Overhaul of SA’s rental laws take effect 1 July 2024 (23 June 2024) [https://cbs.sa.gov.au/news/overhaul-of-sas-rental-laws-take-effect-1-july-2024], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Consumer and Business Services (South Australia) Private rent report [https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/private-rent-report], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Consumer Protection (Western Australia) Rental bonds data, 2023 to current [https://housing-data-exchange.ahdap.org/dataset/west-australia-rental-bonds-data-2023-current], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (Tasmania) Rental bond statistics [https://www.cbos.tas.gov.au/topics/housing/renting/bonds/rental-bond-statistics], accessed 30 September 2026.
- NSW Fair Trading Rental bond data: lodgements [https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rental-forms-surveys-and-data/rental-bond-data], accessed 30 September 2026.
- NSW Government Minns Labor Government delivers on rental reform by ending no grounds evictions on 19 May 2025 [https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/minns-labor-government-delivers-on-rental-reform-by-ending-no-grounds-evictions-on-19-may-2025], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Authority (Queensland) Median rents quarterly data [https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/forms-resources/rta-quarterly-data/median-rents-quarterly-data], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Authority (Queensland) Rental law changes [https://www.rta.qld.gov.au/forms-resources/rental-law-changes], accessed 30 September 2026.
- Western Australian Government New rental reforms move in this month (10 July 2024) [https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/Cook-Labor-Government/New-rental-reforms-move-in-this-month–20240710], accessed 30 September 2026.
Figures are calculated by APN from the state bond data named above and are not attributable to any publisher.
Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
