Tasmania's Residential Parks Act 2026 is in force: the notice periods

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Kooky

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Tasmania's Residential Parks Act 2026 is now in force, the Tasmanian Government announced in a media release dated 9 October 2026. The release, issued by Guy Barnett, the Minister for Small Business, Trade and Consumer Affairs, says the law gives long-term residents of the state's caravan and residential parks clearer rights and sets clearer rules for the people who run those parks.

The Act covers a form of housing that sits between owning and renting: the resident owns the dwelling and leases the ground it stands on from the park owner. The government's release puts the number of Tasmanians who live in or operate residential parks in the hundreds, and says the Act sets out rights and obligations, processes for ending agreements, safety and amenity requirements and a framework for resolving disputes.

The release gives no commencement date beyond the words "now in force". The Bill as introduced to Parliament said the Act would commence on a day to be proclaimed, and the guides that Consumer Affairs Tasmania, the state's consumer regulator, published for residents and for park owners were last updated on 7 October 2026. Those guides hold the detail: the time limits, the fees that may no longer be charged and the six months owners have to bring older agreements into line.

Source: Consumer Affairs Tasmania guides for residents and park owners, updated 7 October 2026.

Who and what the Act covers

According to the regulator's guide for park owners, the Act applies where the resident owns the dwelling and leases the site, the site is or will be the resident's principal place of residence, and the right to occupy runs for 90 days or more. Where a person rents both the dwelling and the land from the owner, the arrangement is generally outside the Act and may fall under the residential tenancy framework instead.

The second reading speech on the Bill, given in Parliament on 19 March 2026 by Mr Barnett, drew the line in more detail. Holiday stays, sites that are not a principal residence, ordinary tenancies under the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, hotels, motels, retirement villages and boarding arrangements were listed as excluded, as was the rental of park-owned vans or cabins. The speech also said that shorter agreements adding up to more than 90 days are caught, and that a resident who has occupied a site for 90 days or more is taken to be covered unless the contrary is shown.

The residents' guide says a short fixed-term agreement of 90 days or less needs a signed warning and acknowledgement form. The Act also applies to agreements made before it started, the owners' guide says.

A written agreement and a disclosure pack

A residential park agreement must now be in writing and must identify the site, according to the residents' guide. The owner must hand over the proposed agreement before the resident signs, and a copy of the signed agreement within 14 days of signing.

Before the agreement is entered, the owners' guide says, the owner also has to give the approved disclosure pack. It sets out all charges payable, including fee-for-service charges; the owner's contact details, address for service and emergency repair contacts; information on payments the resident may receive on leaving; the rights to sell or relocate a dwelling; and a condition report on the site at move-in. Any park rules go with it.

Consumer Affairs Tasmania has published a model residential park agreement and model park rules, which owners may adopt as drafted or adapt.

The second reading speech described three terms that every agreement carries: the resident's right of access, the right to quiet enjoyment, and a ban on causing a nuisance to other residents. The residents' guide adds that access means 24 hours a day, to the site, the park and the common bathroom and toilet facilities, and that visitors arriving at reasonable hours cannot be refused without a lawful reason.

Rent, fees and the security deposit

Rent can rise only when three conditions are met, the owners' guide says: the agreement allows the increase, at least 12 months have passed since the agreement started or since the last increase, and the resident has had at least 60 days' written notice. During a fixed term there is no increase unless the agreement specifically allows one. A resident who thinks an increase is excessive can apply to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, known as TASCAT, within 60 days of the notice, according to the residents' guide.

A receipt for rent paid directly to the owner shows the amount, the date received and the period covered; the residents' guide notes an exception for bank-account payments that leave a compliant record.

A list of charges is ruled out. Entry, exit, management, holding and amenities or communal contribution fees are generally prohibited, whatever name they are given, the residents' guide says. Service charges such as water or gas are allowed only where the Act and the agreement permit them, and the second reading speech said residents can be billed for water or electricity only where separate metering identifies their own use.

The security deposit is capped at four weeks' rent, with one deposit per agreement, and it is paid to the Rental Deposit Authority and not held by the owner. The second reading speech said a deposit may be kept only for unpaid rent, the reasonable cost of replacing lost keys or security devices, or the reasonable cost of removing rubbish or abandoned goods.

Selling a home on site, transfers and park rules

Because the resident owns the dwelling, the rules on selling it are central to what the home is worth. The owners' guide says a resident may sell the dwelling while it stays on site, and the owner cannot prevent, hinder or obstruct the sale, block inspections by buyers or prohibit a for-sale sign. Hindering a sale is an offence carrying a fine of up to 100 penalty units.

The park owner does get a first option. The resident must give written notice before offering the dwelling to the market, and the owner then has 14 days to reach agreement to buy at market value, set by an independent valuation, the last sale price or a prescribed calculation. If there is no agreement the option lapses. Where the sale follows a resident's death, the period is 28 days.

A request to transfer the site agreement to a buyer must be answered within 14 days and cannot be unreasonably refused; TASCAT may order a transfer that was refused without reasonable grounds. No payment may be demanded from the resident or the buyer as the price of approving a transfer, and the owners' guide says a term requiring one is void.

Park rules must be in writing, reasonable and consistent with the Act, and must generally apply to all residents. They may include an over-50 age requirement, the residents' guide says. Residents do not have to agree to a rule change, but a residents committee must be consulted where one exists, and a rule thought unreasonable can be taken to TASCAT. The regulator's guide says at least five residents are needed to form a committee; the second reading speech put it as residents elected from at least five different occupied sites.

A change of park ownership alone is not a ground to end an agreement, the residents' guide says.

How an agreement can end

An agreement ends only in the ways the Act allows, the owners' guide says: by agreement between the parties, by a notice of termination, by a TASCAT order or in other circumstances the Act specifies. A notice of termination must be in the approved form and state the reason, where one applies, and the date the resident must leave.

On fixed terms, the guide says an agreement may generally end at expiry with at least 60 days' notice, subject to special protections, and that some agreements may continue or be reissued. The second reading speech said the power to end an agreement without grounds had been removed from the Bill after consultation, in line with existing residential tenancy protections.

The regulator's guides do not print the other notice periods. The Bill as introduced did. It gave a party in breach at least 21 days to remedy it, made a notice for unpaid rent void where the rent had been unpaid for less than 7 days, and required at least 180 days' notice where the owner ends an agreement for a change of use or redevelopment, after first offering an alternative site, a purchase or relocation. Those figures are from the Bill as introduced, not from the Act as passed. The Bill may have been amended before it passed, and none of the three is confirmed by the regulator's guides or by the release.

One notice works differently. A notice to leave for an alleged serious act of violence takes effect immediately, the residents' guide says, and it has its own approved form. In every other case an owner cannot remove a resident or take possession personally: if a resident stays on after an agreement has ended, the owner applies to TASCAT for a possession order.

What changes for people already living in a park

The transitional rules give park owners a deadline and leave residents where they are.

Where an existing term conflicts with the Act, the Act prevails and the term may be unenforceable, the owners' guide says. Residents who had been on a site for five years or more at commencement cannot be asked for a security deposit, unless an exception applies.

A separate transitional power deals with the parks themselves. The government's release says a limited power allows regulations, for up to five years, to address specific legacy planning or building issues, and the second reading speech said such regulations can be made only on the advice of the Director of Building Control or the planning administration department. "These regulations are intended to provide time and flexibility for identified legacy issues to be addressed where necessary," Mr Barnett said in the release.

How the Bill became law

The second reading speech recorded 58 written submissions on the consultation draft, from residents, park owners, industry groups, legal and advocacy groups, councils and government bodies, and thanked current and former residents of a park at Beauty Point for their feedback on the draft Bill.

In the 9 October release, Mr Barnett said the government had listened and acted to deliver clear rights and stronger protections for long-term residents, along with fair and transparent rules for park operators.

Two bodies now carry the Act. Consumer Affairs Tasmania, the name the former Consumer, Building and Occupational Services has used since 1 October 2026 alongside Building Standards Tasmania, can explain the Act and investigate some breaches. Park owners must register and notify its Director, and the regulator publishes the approved forms. TASCAT makes the binding decisions, on agreements, rent increases, deposits, repairs, notices and dwelling sales.

The second reading speech said the tribunal can declare a rent increase excessive or a park rule unreasonable, rescind harsh or unconscionable terms, and refuse an owner's application where a termination notice was issued in retaliation for a complaint, reinstating the agreement.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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