TAA weighs in on Tasmania’s landmark Airbnb reforms

TAA weighs in on Tasmania’s landmark Airbnb reforms

Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) has given its stamp of approval to Tasmania’s new legislation reforms to tackle short-stay accommodation.

The Short Stay Accommodation Act 2019 (SAA), which came into effect on 4 June, puts the power back into the hands of local councils by establishing a data-sharing model with the booking platforms, empowering councils to enforce existing planning requirements for short stay accommodation.

See also: Industry heavyweight urges stronger regulations for commercial Airbnb operators 

The data sharing is also set to allow for a better understanding of the impacts on the broader housing market.

“Tasmania has first-hand experience of how unregulated short-stay accommodation negatively impacts housing affordability, community amenity and undermines the licensed accommodation sector, so their reforms have been crafted with this experience in mind,” TAA national CEO Michael Johnson said.

“The new Tasmanian legislation is arguably the strongest reform we have seen in Australia to date.”

According to Johnson, the legislation will implement a mandatory registration system which requires planning approval and for Airbnb to only market and sell permitted, registered and approved short-stay accommodation.

“In recent years, jurisdictions around the world have moved to strengthen regulations for short-stay accommodation providers and platforms such as Airbnb – finally we are seeing effective measures being adopted here in Australia,” he said.

“This result shows the strength of the TAA family right across Australia – it shows what we can achieve. The State Government has realised hotels, motels and other licensed accommodation businesses in Tasmania support thousands of jobs, however, the proliferation of unregulated short-stay accommodation properties has put these employment opportunities at risk.

“The State Government has listened to our concerns and gone back to the drawing board to strengthen the compliance measures in relation to data sharing, planning permits and reporting requirements – we will be watching closely to see if platforms adhere to their legal requirements.”

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