State Parliament tables report into Short-Stay Accommodation

Last week, the Economics and Industry Standing Committee tabled its long awaited report into short-stay rentals and accommodation, such as Airbnb and similar platforms, in WA. The report, which Committee Chair Jessica Shaw says attracted a record number of submissions, makes 45 findings and ten recommendations for various Ministers to consider across a wide-ranging number of issues. Consistent with the interstate and international experience, the Committee’s work found overall that the number of short-term accommodation options and products has increased exponentially over recent years, brining with it a range of measures to consider.

The key recommendations of the Committee’s report look at amendments to a number of regulatory instruments and guidance from government bodies including the WAPC and Landgate. Some of the regulatory changes recommended include amendments to the Local Planning Scheme regulations to define short-term accommodation and cater for varying forms of short-term accommodation.

A short-term accommodation registration scheme is contemplated, as well as compliance measures, to be primarily conducted by Local Governments. Additionally, the report also recommends that different State Government agencies and other stakeholder groups, including selected industries, establish forums to work through a range of issues arising in the short-term accommodation space.

The Property Council is looking at the report in detail to better understand the impact for members and is working with our Eastern States colleagues where this topic has been explored previously in some depth.

Our Advocacy Alert on Thursday included a link to the Report that some members found difficult to access. Click here to go to WA Parliament’s Committee webpage that displays the report.