Most hosts prepare the apartment first and check the rules last. In Australia it should be the other way round, because the rules decide whether you can list at all, how many nights you can host, what you must show on the listing and what you owe the tax office. The furniture is the easy part.
This guide goes in the order you’d actually do things: check you’re allowed, register, sort insurance and tax, then prepare the place. The state section has what we could confirm from official and news sources as of October 2026, and says plainly where we couldn’t.
A note on how this was put together: we haven’t run a listing in every state. Everything below comes from government, council and tax office pages, news reports and Airbnb’s own help material, read in October 2026. Several state pages are older than we’d like, and we flag that where it matters. Rules change often, so treat this as a map and confirm with your council before you list.
Step 1: Are you allowed to host this property?
Three questions come before any registration form.
Do you own it or rent it? If you rent, you generally can’t list the whole place without the landlord’s written consent, and subletting without it can breach your lease. Even with consent, check the rules for your state below. Our letter templates for renters include a request you can adapt.
Is it in a building with an owners corporation (strata, body corporate)? Some schemes restrict or ban short stays through by-laws. NSW’s code of conduct expects hosts to tell the owners corporation they’re hosting. Read your by-laws before spending anything.
What does your council’s planning scheme say? This is where most surprises are. Some councils treat short stays as an ordinary home use, others need a development approval or a change of use.
Step 2: Register and meet the local conditions
The table summarises what we could confirm. “Hosted” means you stay on the property during the booking.
| State / Territory | What we could confirm | Official starting point |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Every short-term rental must be registered on the state register and show its STRA Property ID on listings. Hosts must meet the STRA Fire Safety Standard and agree to the Code of Conduct. Renewal is annual ($25 per property per the Planning Portal; Airbnb’s NSW page says $65 for the first 12 months). Airbnb’s NSW page says non-hosted stays are capped at 180 days a year in Greater Sydney and nominated regional councils (stays over 21 consecutive days don’t count), and Byron Shire has a 60-day limit for non-hosted stays. | NSW Planning Portal: STRA |
| Victoria | A 7.5% short stay levy applies to bookings made from 1 January 2025 for stays under 28 continuous days. For platform bookings (Airbnb, Stayz) the platform is liable; for direct bookings the owner or renter is, and owners or renters taking bookings from 1 July 2025 must register with the State Revenue Office (SRO). Owner-occupied principal residences are excluded. Returns are quarterly at $75,000 or more of short stay fees in the prior calendar year, otherwise annual. This detail comes from a November 2024 professional summary, because the SRO pages only returned menus when we opened them, so check the SRO before relying on it. Planning rules are set by your council. | SRO: Understanding the short stay levy |
| Queensland | No state-wide register or night cap that we could confirm from a government source. A state review has reportedly been completed and a register is being considered, but we only found this in a secondary source, so check the Queensland Government. Rules come from councils: Logan requires approval for non-resident short-term accommodation in all residential zones, with a lighter test for hosted stays. Brisbane City Council has said it is not proceeding with its proposed 2025 short-stay permit law for now. | Logan City Council · Brisbane City Council |
| WA | A state-wide register applies to all short-term rentals, hosted or not, and registration lasts one year. In the Perth area (30 listed councils), un-hosted stays of 90 nights or fewer in 12 months don’t need development approval; the register sends notices at 80 and 90 nights. Beyond that, get approval first. Regional councils set their own rules. | WA Planning: STRA reforms |
| South Australia | No register yet, but one is proposed. Following a 2025 parliamentary inquiry, the state government has put out a discussion paper on a state-wide register, with public consultation closing 30 October 2026. No bill, start date or requirements had been announced in the reports we found. Councils currently apply their own planning rules. | ABC News, 5 Oct 2026 |
| Tasmania | Check with your local council whether you need a planning permit, and complete its self-assessment form. Larger buildings (over 200 m²) may need a building surveyor’s advice on use. Relevant law includes the Short Stay Accommodation Act 2019. | ABLIS: Short stay accommodation (Tas) |
| ACT | A 5% levy applies to bookings made from 1 July 2025, rising to 7.5% from 1 July 2027. The booking service (for example Airbnb) is liable, not you. Hosted stays and stays of 28 days or more are exempt. Direct bookings aren’t subject to the levy. | ACT Revenue Office: levy |
| Northern Territory | No home-sharing register that we could find. The NT’s accommodation registration applies to businesses providing accommodation for 7 or more visitors (fee $372, valid 5 years), and the page doesn’t mention Airbnb, so a small home may fall outside it. A larger property might not. Ask NT Environmental Health and your council before listing. | NT Government: register accommodation |
What changes as you plan for 2027:
- ACT levy rises to 7.5% on 1 July 2027.
- South Australia may introduce a register. Consultation closes 30 October 2026, so watch for a bill.
- Queensland may move toward a state register. Treat this as unconfirmed until the government publishes it.
- WA and NSW registrations expire. Put renewal dates in your calendar; in NSW a lapsed registration blocks bookings.
- Night counts are your job. The NSW cap and the WA 90-night rule count nights across all platforms and direct bookings, not just Airbnb.
NSW Code of Conduct: what hosts commit to
Per Airbnb’s NSW summary of the Fair Trading code: represent the property accurately, hold third-party liability insurance, be reachable between 8 am and 5 pm and for emergencies, give guests emergency contacts, and tell neighbours (and the owners corporation, if there is one). Serious breaches can lead to fines, suspension or removal from the register, with a hosting ban of up to five years for repeat serious breaches. Read the code itself on the NSW Fair Trading site before you rely on this summary.
Step 3: Insurance
Standard home and contents policies often exclude or limit paid short stays. Ask your insurer in writing whether short-term hosting is covered and under what conditions. Don’t assume Airbnb’s host protection replaces your own policy: Airbnb’s NSW help page says its host insurance meets the NSW code’s minimum liability requirement, which is a narrower claim than “everything is covered”.
Step 4: Tax before the first guest
Hosting income is taxable, and short stays have a few traps. What follows is from ATO pages (read October 2026) and the 2026 ATO rental properties guide, plus Airbnb’s tax guide where marked. It’s general information, not tax advice; a registered tax agent is worth paying for in your first year.
1. Declare all the income. The ATO says to include all income from renting out your home in your tax return and to keep records of income, expenses and the purchase, sale and holding costs of the property.
2. Your deductions depend on whether the place is “mainly” a rental. Ownership and use costs (loan interest, council and water rates, land tax, body corporate fees, repairs) are deductible only if the property is used, or held for use, mainly to produce rent. The ATO reads “mainly” as “chiefly, principally or for the most part”, and looks at how the property is actually used, how much time is dedicated to rental, how much is private or family use, and how often it’s available during peak periods. Your intentions don’t count. Costs that exist only to earn rent, such as booking and platform fees, advertising, and cleaning after a guest leaves, are deductible to the extent they relate to producing rent even when the property isn’t mainly rental. The ATO’s 2026 guide gives an example of a beach house rented for about 10 weeks a year where the owner prioritised personal use: ownership costs weren’t deductible, but rental-only costs were.
3. Apportion for private use. If you use the property yourself, or let friends and family stay free or cheaply, or rent only part of it, you must apportion. Costs for periods of private use aren’t deductible. If you rent a room in your own home, you can only claim expenses for the part the guest uses.
4. Days it’s not available don’t help you. Interest and similar costs are generally deductible only while the property is rented or genuinely available for rent on commercial terms. A holiday house never rented in the year gets no deductions, though you should still keep records for capital gains tax.
5. State levies and charges. The ATO’s 2026 guide says state short-stay levies can be deductible. It also notes it has added new state short-term letting charges to its land tax section.
6. GST. The ATO says you don’t pay GST on residential rent you earn from renting out your home. GST becomes relevant if you carry on an enterprise renting out commercial residential premises, and under the ATO’s leasing rules, stays under 28 continuous days in such premises attract GST. Whether an ordinary house or unit rented to holiday guests counts is a question of facts, and Airbnb’s tax guide mentions a general A$75,000 turnover registration threshold for premises of that kind. Ask a tax agent before assuming either way.
7. Capital gains tax. If the property is or was your main residence, renting it out can affect the main residence exemption when you sell. The ATO has a separate page on this, and Airbnb’s tax guide says the ATO scrutinises the area. Keep your purchase and holding records.
8. The ATO may already know. Airbnb’s tax guide says it may report Australian hosts’ income to the ATO under the sharing economy reporting regime, so what you declare should match what the platform reports.
9. New ATO guidance for 2026. The ATO lists a ruling on short-term rental and holiday home deductions (TR 2026/1) and practical guidelines on apportionment and holiday homes (PCG 2026/2 and PCG 2026/3). Your tax agent will know them; if you do your own return, read the ATO holiday homes page first.
Records. Keep platform income statements, receipts, bookings with personal-use dates, and proof of advertising. Airbnb’s guide suggests keeping them for at least five years after lodging.
Step 5: Prepare the property
Once you know you can list, preparation is about safety first, then comfort, then photos.
Safety and compliance
- Working smoke alarms, and check the fire safety standard in your state (NSW publishes one specifically for short-term rentals).
- A clear emergency sheet: your contact, local emergency numbers, where the fuse box and water shut-off are.
- Reliable locks, and a keysafe or smart lock you can change the code on between guests.
- Check balcony railings, stairs and pool fencing against local rules if they apply.
Comfort that drives reviews
- A comfortable bed with quality linen, which is the single biggest part of the stay.
- Blockout curtains, since holiday guests sleep in. See our guide to blockout curtains that need no drilling.
- Heating and cooling that actually work, and clear instructions for them.
- A starter kit of essentials. Our Airbnb starter kit checklist lists what’s worth buying in three tiers, so we won’t repeat it here.
Photos and listing
- Shoot in daylight with the place tidy. Show every bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen and any outdoor area.
- Describe the property honestly. In NSW the code requires accurate representation, and a mismatch between listing and reality is also a common source of bad reviews.
- Put your registration number in the listing if your state requires one.
- Set house rules you can enforce: quiet hours, maximum guests, no parties.
Step 6: Set up the listing and test it
- Create the listing, add the registration number where required, and set your night limits.
- Block dates yourself if you’re near a cap (NSW non-hosted, WA 90 nights).
- Do a test stay, or at least a walk-through as if you were a guest, before the first booking.
- Plan cleaning and linen turnover before you accept bookings, not after.
- Start a simple spreadsheet from day one: each booking, personal-use nights, and every expense.
A short checklist before you publish
- Landlord consent in writing (if you rent) and owners corporation by-laws checked
- Council planning rules confirmed for your address
- State registration done where required, with the number on the listing
- Victorian levy and SRO registration checked if you take direct bookings
- Insurer has confirmed short-term hosting cover in writing
- Tax treatment checked with the ATO pages or a registered tax agent
- Smoke alarms working, emergency sheet and lock plan ready
- Night limits tracked across all platforms
This article summarises government, council, ATO, news and platform pages read in October 2026. The NSW Planning Portal page was last updated in October 2024, the Victorian levy detail comes from a November 2024 professional summary and an April 2026 news report, and Queensland state-level and Northern Territory home-sharing rules could not be confirmed from a government source. Rules change, so check your state regulator, council and the ATO before listing. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.