Short-term rental rules
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Queensland, QLD
Can I short-term rent in Queensland?
Restricted
Queensland has no state-wide STR register, levy, or night cap, the government reviewed the sector (UQ-authored report, released 2023) and left regulation to individual councils, though the report itself recommended a centralised registration system that has not been legislated. Whether hosted or non-hosted short-stay letting is permitted, capped, or fee-bearing depends entirely on which council area the property is in (Noosa and, until May 2026, Brisbane were the most active regulators); a state-wide interconnected smoke alarm requirement applies to all dwellings regardless of use from 1 January 2027. Body corporate by-laws banning short-term letting are, on the weight of QCAT appeal authority, unlawful in the ~99% of schemes governed by the BCCM Act, this is the opposite of what an earlier draft of this record stated and was corrected during verification.
Last verified 2026-07-24 against official sources. Every fact below links to where it comes from.
The rules, fact by fact
| Rule | What applies | Applies to | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration |
No state STR register exists in Queensland; the government's own 2023 review recommended one but it has not been legislated, and registration (if any) is set by individual councils.
Queensland has not legislated a state-wide short-term rental accommodation register. The government's 'Short-term rental accommodation review' page confirms it released a UQ-authored report finding STR has a limited overall impact on rental affordability (dwelling stock was found to be the bigger driver), and that 'statewide restrictions would fail to account for the diverse nature of STRA dynamics across Queensland.' The report's own headline recommendation was in fact to implement a centralised registration system and code of conduct, but as of July 2026 (confirmed by multiple current secondary sources, e.g. Houst's 2026 QLD host guide: 'Registration: No state registration scheme') that recommendation has not been enacted. Some councils run their own registration schemes (e.g. Noosa Shire), check the specific council/LGA record. Note: the claim in an earlier draft that implementation was specifically referred to a 'Short Term Residential Accommodation Industry Reference Group' and the LGAQ could not be verified on the cited planning.qld.gov.au page and has been removed pending a better source. Exceptions: Council-specific registers exist in some LGAs (e.g. Noosa), see council-level records. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | State Gov |
| Night cap |
No state-imposed night cap for hosted or non-hosted stays in Queensland.
There is no equivalent of NSW's 180-day Greater Sydney cap or Byron Shire's 60-day cap at state level in Queensland. Night caps, if any, are set individually by councils. Brisbane City Council's own page confirms: 'Council is not proceeding with the proposed Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2025 at this time', this 2025 proposal (a permit scheme, not itself a blanket night cap) was withdrawn; multiple current (2026) secondary sources corroborate the withdrawal date of 12 May 2026 and Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner's announcement, citing federal tax uncertainty, interest-rate pressure and a maturing sector as reasons. No permit or cap currently applies in Brisbane. Exceptions: Check individual council/LGA records, some (e.g. Noosa) restrict new approvals in certain residential density zones. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | Council |
| Planning approval |
STR planning treatment is set by the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) framework but administered through individual council planning schemes, not a single state code.
The Queensland Government's role is limited to establishing the enabling planning framework; whether short-term letting requires development approval, and under what use definition, is determined by each council's own planning scheme. The state-commissioned UQ review found STR impacts vary by locality and recommended council-led responses rather than a uniform state planning code. Exceptions: Check the specific council's planning scheme for the applicable use definition and approval triggers. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | State Gov |
| Levies & taxes |
Queensland has no state short-stay levy, unlike VIC (7.5%) or ACT (5%).
Queensland has not legislated any state-wide short-term rental levy or STR-specific tax. Confirmed both by the state review page (no levy proposed or enacted) and current 2026 secondary reporting (e.g. a July 2026 industry article titled 'Airbnb Rules Brisbane Queensland 2026: No Cap, No Levy'). The main financial lever used against STR in Queensland is council differential general rates categorisation (see 'rates_category' rule), not a percentage-of-turnover levy. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | State Gov |
| Fire safety |
All Queensland dwellings, including STR properties, must have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom, connecting hallway and storey by 1 January 2027.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services' own smoke alarms page confirms: 'All existing private homes, townhouses, units and manufactured homes require interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms by 1 January 2027,' installed in every bedroom, connecting hallway, and on every storey. The page also confirms the sale-trigger date: where a contract of sale is signed after 31 December 2021, the seller must upgrade to interconnected alarms before transfer. This is a general residential dwelling requirement, not STR-specific, but applies fully to any dwelling used for short-term letting. Note: the earlier draft's specific claim that the requirement 'has applied to... any property leased... since 1 January 2022' matches the well-documented QFES phased timeline but was not explicitly re-confirmed in the text extracted from this fetch pass, recommend a follow-up pull of the full page to re-confirm the lease-trigger wording verbatim before quoting it. |
Hosted & non-hosted | 2027-01-01 | Regulator |
| Strata / owners corporation |
CORRECTED: the weight of QCAT appeal authority holds that body corporate by-laws banning or restricting short-term/holiday letting under one month are UNLAWFUL in BCCM Act schemes (the opposite of the original draft claim), because s180(3) BCCM Act prevents by-laws from restricting the 'type of residential use' and short-term letting has been held by QCAT's appeal tribunal to be residential use.
An earlier draft of this record stated that Queensland bodies corporate can lawfully ban short-term letting under the BCCM Act 1997 because stays under one month are treated as non-residential use. Verification found this is incorrect for the ~99% of Queensland schemes governed by the BCCM Act. Detailed legal analysis (Mahoneys, 'By-laws cannot prevent holiday letting', 2 Sept 2021) concludes s180(3), 'If a lot may be lawfully used for residential purposes, the by-laws cannot restrict the type of residential use', is best read as including short-term/holiday letting as a form of residential use, consistent with the BCCMA's stated secondary object (s4(c)) of encouraging tourism in community titles schemes. This is corroborated by industry legal commentary citing the QCAT appeal authority Body Corporate for Hilton Park CTS 27490 v Robertson [2018] QCATA 168, described by a named strata lawyer as settling that 'short term stay bans are unlawful' in BCCMA schemes. The one case sometimes cited for the opposite conclusion (Fairway Island / Redman v The Proprietors, Fairway Island GTP 107328 [2020] QDC 68) was decided under the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 (BUGTA), a different and much smaller Act with no equivalent of s180(3), legal commentators are explicit that this precedent does NOT transfer to BCCMA schemes. This remains a genuinely debated area (see the 7+ years of practitioner disagreement in the Smart Strata comment thread), so it should be presented as 'by-law bans are legally vulnerable/likely unlawful under BCCMA, confirm with a strata lawyer' rather than as a settled power to ban. Exceptions: A minority of Queensland schemes are still governed by BUGTA rather than BCCMA (e.g. some Gold Coast schemes like Fairway Island) and may be able to validly ban short-term letting via by-law, confirm which Act governs the specific scheme. Enforceability of any given by-law can still be tested at QCAT and the Queensland Court of Appeal has not directly ruled on the point. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | Council |
| Council rates |
Queensland councils have power under the Local Government Act 2009 to levy higher differential general rates on short-term/itinerant-use accommodation than on permanent residential use.
This power is a long-established, largely uncontroversial feature of Queensland local government rating law (differential general rate categorisation under the Local Government Act 2009), and the underlying Gold Coast/South Stradbroke Island Court of Appeal decision is referenced consistently across multiple legal-industry sources. However, this session could not independently pull the operative sections of the Local Government Act 2009 from legislation.qld.gov.au (the site blocked automated fetches with a 403/JS-challenge and returned only navigation chrome, not the substantive text) or confirm the exact case name and citation. Treat this rule as plausible but NOT independently source-verified in this pass, a human should pull the case citation and the specific Act sections before this is presented as settled fact. Exceptions: Confirm the differential rating category, multiplier, and the exact case citation with a primary legal source, this varies by council and changes with each annual budget/rates resolution. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | Legislation |
| Other rules |
Queensland Government formally reviewed STR impacts on housing and chose not to legislate state-wide restrictions, leaving the field to councils.
The government's planning.qld.gov.au page confirms a UQ-led review found STR has a 'limited impact' on rental affordability statewide (dwelling stock was the larger driver) and that 'statewide restrictions would fail to account for the diverse nature of STRA dynamics across Queensland.' The review's key recommendation was a centralised registration system and code of conduct, which as of July 2026 remains unenacted. This is the key structural fact for QLD: coverage is genuinely council-by-council, not a state scheme with local carve-outs. |
Hosted & non-hosted | n/a | State Gov |
What's changed in Queensland
- 2027-01-01 Final deadline for all existing Queensland dwellings (including those used for short-term letting) to have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, connecting hallway, and storey. source
- 2026-05-12 Brisbane City Council formally withdrew ('not proceeding at this time') its Proposed Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2025, which would have introduced a permit requirement from 1 July 2026. No permit is currently required to operate a short-term rental in Brisbane. Date corroborated by multiple independent 2026 secondary sources (Hometime, Lane Property) though not visible in the text extracted directly from the Brisbane City Council page itself in this session. source
Host checklist for Queensland
- No state STR register exists in Queensland; the government's own 2023 review recommended one but it has not been legislated, and registration (if any) is set by individual councils. official page
- STR planning treatment is set by the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) framework but administered through individual council planning schemes, not a single state code. official page
- Queensland has no state short-stay levy, unlike VIC (7.5%) or ACT (5%). official page
- All Queensland dwellings, including STR properties, must have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom, connecting hallway and storey by 1 January 2027. official page
- Confirm anything marked below high confidence directly with your council.
Common questions
Do I need to register my short-term rental in Queensland?
No state STR register exists in Queensland; the government's own 2023 review recommended one but it has not been legislated, and registration (if any) is set by individual councils. Exceptions: Council-specific registers exist in some LGAs (e.g. Noosa), see council-level records.
How many nights a year can I short-term rent in Queensland?
No state-imposed night cap for hosted or non-hosted stays in Queensland. Exceptions: Check individual council/LGA records, some (e.g. Noosa) restrict new approvals in certain residential density zones.
Do I need council or planning approval to short-term rent in Queensland?
STR planning treatment is set by the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) framework but administered through individual council planning schemes, not a single state code. Exceptions: Check the specific council's planning scheme for the applicable use definition and approval triggers.
Is there a levy or tax on short-stay bookings in Queensland?
Queensland has no state short-stay levy, unlike VIC (7.5%) or ACT (5%).
What fire safety requirements apply to short-term rentals in Queensland?
All Queensland dwellings, including STR properties, must have interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in every bedroom, connecting hallway and storey by 1 January 2027.
Related
Spotted something out of date? Rules change fast. That is the whole reason this site exists. Report an error and we will re-verify against the official source.