Key Takeaway: From 31 March 2026, Victorian landlords and agents MUST use the prescribed Form 3A for all rental applications—or face fines up to $61,053.
Applies to: All residential rental providers and their agents in Victoria
Effective Date: 31 March 2026
Victoria is standardising rental applications. Starting 31 March 2026, every landlord and property manager must use Form 3A—a government-prescribed application form—for all residential rental applications. Custom forms, agency-branded applications, and third-party platforms that don't comply will become illegal.
The penalties are steep: $12,210.60 for individuals and $61,053 for corporations per offence. With Consumer Affairs Victoria's Rental Taskforce already issuing over $750,000 in fines since launching in March 2024, this isn't a suggestion—it's an enforceable requirement.
Research consistently shows Victoria's rental application process has been problematic. The VCOSS Renting in Victoria 2025 report documented:
As housing policy expert Dr Chris Martin from UNSW noted in ABC News: "Agents and landlords can sometimes just go with vibes, and sometimes those vibes can be discriminatory."
The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Act 2025 introduced Section 30AC to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997:
30AC Application to enter residential rental agreement to be in prescribed form
A residential rental provider or the provider's agent must not prepare or authorise the preparation of an application form used to apply to enter into a residential rental agreement in a form that is not in the prescribed form.
Penalty: 60 penalty units in the case of a natural person; 300 penalty units in the case of a body corporate.