Can I short-term rent in South Australia?

Unclear

South Australia has no state-wide STR/STRA registration scheme, night cap, or levy currently in force, a 2021 private member's bill lapsed without passing, and a Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector (submissions opened March 2025) subsequently concluded its inquiry and, per convergent SA media reporting not yet independently confirmed against a primary parliamentary document, tabled a report on 16 September 2025 (13 findings, 7 recommendations) recommending a state-wide registration scheme, an associated fee/levy, a mandatory code of conduct and mandatory platform data-sharing. No legislation implementing any of these recommendations has been found introduced or enacted as of 24 July 2026, so SA's operative regulatory position is unchanged. Letting a dwelling short-term technically requires development approval as "tourist accommodation" under the statewide Planning and Design Code, but the trigger is ambiguously defined and, per the City of Adelaide, rarely enforced. The only concrete regulatory action found is local: City of Adelaide reclassifies dwellings let 90+ days/year to a higher "Commercial" council rate from FY2024-25, and has publicly asked the state government to legislate a uniform scheme.

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-wide STR registration or licensing scheme currently exists in South Australia; a Legislative Council committee has recommended one but it has not been legislated. Unlike NSW, WA, VIC and other states, SA has no state government STR/STRA register or registration fee in force. A private member's Short Term Holiday Rental Accommodation Bill 2021 (Hon Zoe Bettison MP) proposed host registration and a code of conduct but did not pass into law and now sits in the SA legislation site's bill archive. A Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector opened submissions in March 2025 and, per SA media reporting (not independently primary-source-confirmed this pass, see 'other' rule and unresolved_flags), tabled its final report on 16 September 2025 recommending a mandatory state-wide registration scheme among other measures. As of this verification (24 July 2026), no SA Government legislation implementing that recommendation has been found introduced or enacted, no scheme is currently in force.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Night cap	No state-wide night cap on short-term letting exists in SA for hosted or non-hosted stays. SA has no Byron-Shire-style or Greater-Sydney-style state or council-imposed maximum number of nights per year a dwelling may be let short-term. Confirmed via the City of Adelaide's Select Committee submission, which recommends introducing a NEW 90-day-per-year regulatory threshold statewide precisely because no such cap currently exists, proposal item 3 states regulations 'should apply to properties available to rent for over 90 days of a calendar year'. The City of Adelaide's own existing 90-day threshold (see rates_category rule) is a council-rates reclassification trigger only, not a legal cap, a property may still be let beyond 90 nights; it is simply charged the higher commercial differential rate above that threshold. The Select Committee's reported (secondary-sourced, see 'other' rule) recommendations do not appear to include a hard night cap either, the reported focus is registration, a levy, a code of conduct and data-sharing, not a cap on nights let. Exceptions: City of Adelaide's 90-night threshold affects rates category only, not legality of trading beyond that point.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Council
Planning approval	The statewide Planning and Design Code requires development approval to use a dwelling for 'tourist accommodation', but does not clearly define when short-stay letting triggers this. Under SA's single statewide Planning and Design Code (in effect since 19 March 2021), development approval is required to use an existing dwelling for 'tourist accommodation', regardless of guest numbers. Per the City of Adelaide's submission to the SA Legislative Council's Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector (verified verbatim by direct primary-source fetch): "the definition of 'tourist accommodation' in the Planning and Design Code does not clearly set out when a short stay rental property triggers this requirement. Further, there are limited tools available for councils to reject these applications, nor set conditions on permits." The City of Adelaide has formally recommended the Code's definition be amended to reference the number of nights let per year, plus added assessment policy (visitor management plans, noise, parking, waste). Exceptions: Trigger threshold is not clearly codified in the Code itself; practical enforcement varies by council and is described by the City of Adelaide as a live gap, not a settled rule.	Hosted & non-hosted	2021-03-19	Council
Levies & taxes	SA has no state-level short-stay accommodation levy or tourist/bed tax in force, unlike VIC's 7.5% levy or ACT's 5% levy; a Legislative Council committee has reportedly recommended one. No evidence was found of any SA state government short-stay levy, bed tax or STR-specific tax currently in force. 'Potential taxes or levies' applicable to short stay accommodation sat within the Legislative Council Select Committee's terms of reference (confirmed verbatim: term of reference (e), 'Potential taxes or levies that could be applied to short stay accommodation and long-term vacant residential property'), and the City of Adelaide's submission floated a possible state-wide registration fee or differential-rate levy modelled on Victoria's short stay levy. Per SA media reporting (not independently primary-source-confirmed this pass, see 'other' rule), the Committee's report tabled 16 September 2025 recommended an associated registration fee/levy as part of a state-wide scheme. No such levy has been legislated or formally announced by the SA Government as of 24 July 2026. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Strata / owners corporation	SA strata/community title bodies have no confirmed STR-specific statutory powers equivalent to Victoria's 75%-resolution ban. The City of Adelaide's submission states verbatim (confirmed by direct primary-source fetch): 'there is limited ability for strata and body corporates to impose and enforce rules about the use of properties for short term rentals' in SA, implying no clear statutory mechanism (unlike Victoria's Owners Corporations Act 75% special-resolution ban power) currently exists under SA's Community Titles Act 1996 / Strata Titles Act 1988 specifically targeting short-term letting. This characterisation comes from a council submission, not from a direct reading of the Community Titles Act / Strata Titles Act text, so it should still be treated as indicative rather than legally confirmed, but the quoted claim itself is verbatim-verified against its cited primary source (confidence medium accordingly). ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Council
Code of conduct	No state-mandated code of conduct for STR hosts or guests exists in SA; a Legislative Council committee has reportedly recommended one. The lapsed 2021 private member's bill would have introduced a mandatory code of conduct for SA short-term rental hosts and guests, similar to NSW's. As no such legislation was enacted, SA currently has no state code of conduct; any conduct standards in practice are set privately by booking platforms (Airbnb/Stayz) or individual strata/community corporations. Per SA media reporting (not independently primary-source-confirmed this pass, see 'other' rule), the Legislative Council Select Committee's report tabled 16 September 2025 recommended introducing a mandatory code of conduct as part of a state-wide scheme, but no such code has been legislated as of 24 July 2026. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Legislation
Council rates	City of Adelaide reclassifies dwellings let short-term for 90+ days/year as 'Commercial, Other' for council rates, 22.5% higher than the residential rate in the dollar. Effective from the 2024-25 rating year, the City of Adelaide rates residential properties available for short-stay accommodation for 90 or more days per year in the 'Commercial, Other' differential rating category, applying a rate in the dollar 22.5% higher than the standard residential category (verbatim-confirmed by direct primary-source fetch: 'These properties are now rated as commercial-other, which is 22.5% higher than residential'). CoA identified an estimated 900 short-stay properties within its LGA (of an estimated 4,500 across Greater Adelaide, i.e. roughly 6% of CoA's total dwelling stock) and applied the higher rate to 205 of them based on purchased location data, all figures confirmed verbatim against the primary source. This is a City of Adelaide council rating decision under its own Business Plan and Budget / the Local Government Act, not a state-wide policy, though CoA has publicly urged the SA Government to legislate a standardised state-wide rating approach for STR aligned with hotel/serviced-apartment rates, and notes its own 22.5% uplift is conservative next to Brisbane's 65% and Hobart's 100% increases. Exceptions: Confirmed to apply only within the City of Adelaide LGA; other SA councils were not confirmed to apply an equivalent differential rate within this research's scope.	Hosted & non-hosted	2024-07-01	Council
Other rules	The 2021 Short Term Holiday Rental Accommodation Bill (which would have created registration, a code of conduct and penalties) was not enacted; its exact procedural fate remains unconfirmed from primary text. Introduced in the House of Assembly by Hon Zoe Bettison MP in 2021, the bill proposed mandatory host registration, a code of conduct and fines for non-compliance. It appears only in the SA legislation website's 'archive' of bills (i.e. it lapsed rather than being passed as an Act). No SA short-term rental Act exists as a result. Both legislation.sa.gov.au and classic.austlii.edu.au again returned HTTP 403 Forbidden to automated fetch during this verification pass (third consecutive failure across research passes), so the exact procedural status (lapsed vs withdrawn vs failed vote) still could not be independently confirmed from primary page/Hansard text. A web search surfaced a Hansard index entry titled 'Wednesday, 9 June 2021, HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, Page 6173', consistent with the bill's second-reading debate being adjourned on that date and never resumed, a plausible lead pointing to lapse-by-non-revival rather than formal withdrawal or a lost vote, but this is a search-snippet title, not a verified primary-text read, so it does not change the rule's confidence. Flagged in unresolved_flags for a human to verify directly on legislation.sa.gov.au or SA Parliament Hansard (both currently block automated tools). ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Legislation
Other rules	The Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector concluded its inquiry and, per media reporting, tabled a report on 16 September 2025 recommending state-wide regulation, not yet independently confirmed against a primary parliamentary document, and no resulting legislation has been found enacted. The SA Legislative Council's Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector was established on a motion moved by Hon Robert Simms MLC on 27 November 2024 (confirmed via Simms' own official parliamentary page, robertsimms.org.au, his personal/parliamentary site, not a .gov.au domain) and opened public submissions on 5 March 2025 (closing 2 May 2025). Its confirmed terms of reference, verified directly against parliament.sa.gov.au and the City of Adelaide's submission cover page, are eight broad points: (a) the sector's role in the rental affordability crisis; (b) social/economic impacts on SA communities; (c) the potential to regulate the sector; (d) the effectiveness of regulatory models in other jurisdictions; (e) potential taxes or levies on short stay and long-term-vacant residential property; (f) incentives to transition properties to long-term rental; (g) strategies to activate long-term-vacant residential property; and (h) any other related matters. UPDATE (this pass, 24 July 2026): SA media reporting (InDaily, directly fetched) and multiple independent search results converge on the following: the committee, chaired by Simms, heard from around 40 witnesses over roughly six months and tabled its final report in the Legislative Council on 16 September 2025, containing 13 findings and 7 recommendations. Reported recommendations include a mandatory state-wide short-stay accommodation registration scheme, an associated registration fee/levy, a mandatory code of conduct, mandatory data-sharing between platforms and state/local government (to inform planning and rating decisions), minimum safety/compliance standards, and incentives (tax relief or grants) for owners to convert properties to long-term rental. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: despite repeated dedicated attempts (guessed SA Parliament committee-detail page IDs, a guessed parliament.sa.gov.au news URL for the tabling date, and hansardsearch.parliament.sa.gov.au), this verification pass could NOT independently fetch or verbatim-confirm the report itself from a primary government document, committee-detail pages returned no committee-specific content (likely JS-rendered and not exposed to fetch), the guessed news URL 404'd, and the Hansard search domain was blocked as an unverified host. The report's existence, date and headline recommendations are therefore corroborated by convergent independent secondary reporting but NOT primary-source-verified this pass, so confidence is capped at medium rather than high. No evidence, primary or secondary, was found that the SA Government has introduced or passed legislation implementing any of these recommendations, as of 24 July 2026 SA's operative regulatory status is unchanged (no enacted state-wide scheme). A human should still confirm the report directly at parliament.sa.gov.au (Tabled Papers / Committees section) or Hansard for 16 September 2025 when convenient. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-03-05	State Gov

Fees

City of Adelaide differential rate uplift for short-stay accommodation (90+ nights let per year): +22.5% on the rate in the dollar vs the standard residential category (property moved to 'Commercial, Other' category), from FY2024-25 source

What's changed in South Australia

2025-03-05 SA Legislative Council Select Committee on the Short Stay Accommodation Sector (established on a motion moved by Hon Robert Simms MLC, 27 November 2024) opens submissions, examining potential state-wide registration, night thresholds, levies and planning-code changes. The committee subsequently concluded its inquiry and, per SA media reporting not yet independently primary-source-confirmed, tabled its final report on 16 September 2025 (13 findings, 7 recommendations including a registration scheme, levy, code of conduct and mandatory data-sharing). No resulting legislation has been found introduced or enacted as of 24 July 2026, see 'other' rule and unresolved_flags. source
2024-07-01 City of Adelaide begins rating dwellings let for short-stay accommodation 90+ days/year as 'Commercial, Other', a rate in the dollar 22.5% higher than the residential category. source

Host checklist for South Australia

No state-wide STR registration or licensing scheme currently exists in South Australia; a Legislative Council committee has recommended one but it has not been legislated. official page
The statewide Planning and Design Code requires development approval to use a dwelling for 'tourist accommodation', but does not clearly define when short-stay letting triggers this. official page
SA has no state-level short-stay accommodation levy or tourist/bed tax in force, unlike VIC's 7.5% levy or ACT's 5% levy; a Legislative Council committee has reportedly recommended one. official page
Confirm anything marked below high confidence directly with your council.

Common questions

Do I need to register my short-term rental in South Australia?

No state-wide STR registration or licensing scheme currently exists in South Australia; a Legislative Council committee has recommended one but it has not been legislated.

Do I need council or planning approval to short-term rent in South Australia?

The statewide Planning and Design Code requires development approval to use a dwelling for 'tourist accommodation', but does not clearly define when short-stay letting triggers this. Exceptions: Trigger threshold is not clearly codified in the Code itself; practical enforcement varies by council and is described by the City of Adelaide as a live gap, not a settled rule.

How many nights a year can I short-term rent in South Australia?

No state-wide night cap on short-term letting exists in SA for hosted or non-hosted stays. Exceptions: City of Adelaide's 90-night threshold affects rates category only, not legality of trading beyond that point.

Is there a levy or tax on short-stay bookings in South Australia?

SA has no state-level short-stay accommodation levy or tourist/bed tax in force, unlike VIC's 7.5% levy or ACT's 5% levy; a Legislative Council committee has reportedly recommended one.

Can my strata or owners corporation stop me short-term renting in South Australia?

SA strata/community title bodies have no confirmed STR-specific statutory powers equivalent to Victoria's 75%-resolution ban.

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