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All rental providers must have a registered account to transact with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA).
As of December 2025, the RTBA has transitioned to an online platform which supports all transactions with the RTBA and allows rental providers to manage their account quickly and efficiently. Paper forms are no longer available and cheques and money orders are not accepted.
Private rental providers (landlords) and licenced estate agencies must be registered online. You can register as an individual landlord, company landlord, or licenced estate agency.
Through the online system you can:
- Initiate and manage all transaction types, including lodgements, claims, and transfers
- Manage online users, if you have more than one user registered to your account
- Update your account details
- Generate reports to track and manage your bonds
If you have existing bonds with the RTBA, you can link them to your new registered account so that you can manage all your bonds online.
What do you need to register with the RTBA?
For a private rental provider (landlord):
- Bank account details for bond payments/repayments
- Contact details
- Email address(es) for notifications
- ABN (if you are a company)
For a licenced estate agency:
- Agency licence number and trading name
- Bank account details for bond payments/repayments
- Agency’s contact details
- Email address(es) for notifications
- Officer in Effective Control details
Service Victoria authentication
The RTBA is partnering with Service Victoria for improved security and privacy protection. Rental providers registering with the RTBA will need to pass Service Victoria’s identity authentication to register their account.
The identity authentication requires a valid email address and a mobile number.
How to register with the RTBA
To register your account with the RTBA:
- Visit the RTBA website and select ‘Register’.
- Select your type of account (Landlord – Individual, Landlord – Company, or Licenced Estate Agency).
- Authenticate your identity with Service Victoria.
- Follow the prompts to complete your account details.
- Set up your password and finalise the completion of your account.
The first (or only) user on an account will automatically be given Administrator (Level 4) access, meaning they can access all functions available on an RTBA account.
You will be given an RTBA registration number which you will use for all transactions.
Any details you enter can be updated later if they change. Read more about managing your online account.
How to add an online user to an RTBA account
An online user is an individual associated with an RTBA account. If you are a private rental provider, you may be the only online user on your account. Licenced estate agencies may have many online users.
Level 3 and Level 4 users of an existing account can add online users to their account.
- Sign in on the RTBA website and select the ‘Administration’ tile.
- Select ‘Manage online users’ and then ‘Add new’.
- Complete the details of the new user, including their access level which will determine what functions the user can access with their account.
The new user will receive an email with a link they can follow to set up a new password and complete the creation of the user on the RTBA account.
Read more about managing online users.
How to add existing bonds to a new RTBA account (bond merge)
If you are a rental provider with active bonds which were lodged before you created your RTBA account, you can link your bonds to your account so that you can transact with these bonds online. This is known as a bond merge.
This means you can manage all your bonds in one location and won’t be prevented from transferring or claiming your bonds in the future if you lodged them by post.
This process only applies when you are adding bonds you already manage to your account. If you are taking over management of another rental provider’s bond(s), complete a rental provider transfer.
To merge your bonds:
- Sign in on the RTBA website and select the ‘Bond merge’ tile.
- Enter the bond number of the bond you want to merge. You can only merge one bond at a time.
- Submit.
The RTBA system will check the details of your RTBA account against the details of the rental provider on the bond being merged. If the details match, the bond merge is successful.
If the details do not match, you will be asked to provide:
- Proof of identity, and
- A managing authority matching the property listed on the selected bond, or
- A copy of a certificate of title matching the property listed on the selected bond, or
- A recent council rates notice matching the property listed on the selected bond.
The RTBA will review the documentation and complete the merge if satisfied.
Contact the RTBA
You can contact the RTBA on 1300 137 164 or through the RTBA enquiries form.