The Victorian Greens are joining calls to regulate the short-stay accommodation industry, as poor housing supply fuels staff shortages across the nation.
The sector is almost entirely unregulated, the partyâs rentersâ rights spokeswoman Gabrielle de Vietri said.
âInvestment properties are being turned into mini hotels at the cost of a family or worker having access to secure rental properties,â Ms de Vietri said in a statement.
âWe need to introduce strong short-stay regulations to ensure affordable housing is available to families and workers experiencing housing stress.â
The Greens have proposed second properties are limited to 90 nights of short-stay rental per year and be subject to mandatory short-stay accommodation registration.
Ownersâ corporations should be able to regulate short-stay properties that arenât the hostâs principal residence, they say.
Tourism Accommodation Association Australia chief executive Michael Johnson said the lack of regulation was adding to staffing pressures in tourism hotpots.
âWhat weâre getting is this imbalance of too much short-term rental accommodation, not enough long-term rental accommodation. So thereâs not enough accommodation for employees in these locations,â Mr Johnson told AAP.
Staff turnover in tourist towns was particularly high, he said.
âBecause if they do find something, itâs too expensive ⌠or they canât find anything, and they have to move on.â
Mr Johnson said the association successfully lobbied the NSW government for a short-stay registration system and implementation of a code of conduct, but it hadnât solved the problem.
âIt just means that thereâs a few more hoops for people to go through,â he said.
The tourism body also met with federal housing minister Julie Collins, but Mr Johnson said most of the relevant regulations were up to state and territory governments, which all have different positions.
âThe new federal government came in, they were quick to have discussions with housing ministers ⌠but again, itâs just one of those things that just doesnât seem to move the dial.â
Earlier in February, Warrnambool City Council on Victoriaâs southwest coast introduced a registration fee to short-stay operators in an attempt to level the playing field between them and traditional accommodation providers.
Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said the Andrews government would wait for more detail on the Greens proposal before declaring its position.
âThe Andrews Labor government has already taken action in terms of the disruptive behaviour that some people can engage in ⌠in these sorts of short-stay arrangements,â she told reporters.
âA big focus is increasing the overall housing stock. Thatâs why we have our Big Housing Build, in funding of $5.3 billion to see the addition of 12,000 social and affordable homes being constructed across the state.â
Ms Allan said the Greens often blocked public housing developments put forward by the government.
âTheyâve used their numbers in the upper house or on local councils to not support these sort of initiatives.â
Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Suresh Manickam said the sector required more policy discussion.
âWe obviously canât have a situation whereby weâre trying to have a holiday destination and try to accommodate for those people that are coming to that destination, and not having the hospitality industry there,â Mr Manickam told AAP.
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Adrian Black
(Australian Associated Press)