New legislation, the Rooming House Operators Act 2016, was enacted on 10 May 2016.
The Act establishes a licensing scheme for rooming house operators.
When the Act starts, all Victorian rooming house operators (other than housing associations and housing providers registered under the Housing Act 1983) will need to be licensed in order to operate legally. Existing rooming house operators will have 120 days from the start date in which to apply for a licence.
We will directly advise all rooming house operators in Victoria of the start date of the Act, once it is determined.
To be eligible to obtain a licence, operators will be required to be a ‘fit and proper person’ within the meaning of the Act. Licence applications will be determined by the Business Licensing Authority.
Further information about the scheme is available in our Rooming house operators section.
To view the Act, visit the Rooming House Operators Act 2016 page on the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website
(This Act has been passed by the Parliament, but a commencement date has not yet been determined - it is expected to commence in early 2017.)