Act No. 66 of 2026 commencement table confirmed, specified provisions live from 27 August, and Melbourne listings run below the five year average

Listings are the cleanest new signal this week and they point to a slower spring. Cotality reported on 27 August 2026 that Melbourne new listings ran more than 9 per cent below the five year average in the four weeks to 23 August 2026, while national total advertised stock sat 1.7 per cent above that average, having been almost 26 per cent below average in mid January 2026. Nationally there were just over 33,000 new listings, 8.2 per cent below the five year average, with total advertised stock above 137,000. For a conversion feasibility the practical reading is longer vendor decision times through September and October.3

Auction outcomes diverge by provider and method, so we publish them separately. Domain reported a preliminary Melbourne clearance rate of 60 per cent for the weekend of 23 to 29 August 2026, from 456 of 637 scheduled auctions reported with 274 sold, 120 passed in and 62 withdrawn, and a median reported auction sale price of $980,000, which is a median of auction sales rather than a market median, against 70 per cent a year earlier. REIV reported 69 per cent for the week ending 29 August 2026 from 366 reported results with 250 not reported, up from 66 per cent the prior week but below 87 per cent from 796 reported a year earlier, with a house median of $1.2 million from 265 house auctions at 71 per cent and a unit median of $830,000 from 99 unit auctions. The two series use a different geography and reporting base and should not be blended. The steadier signal in both is volume, and thinner volume is consistent with buyer leverage on conversion stock.910

Rent and value signals continue to move in opposite directions, and we keep the series apart. Advertised asking rents across all Melbourne dwellings were $695.64 per week for the week ending 28 August 2026, with houses at $821.16 and units at $604.45, up 0.2 per cent over the rolling month, 0.6 per cent over the rolling quarter and 6.1 per cent over 12 months. PropTrack recorded Melbourne dwelling values down 2.7 per cent over the year to July 2026. A falling value denominator with a rising rent numerator lifts gross yield arithmetically, but we publish no Melbourne gross yield figure because none was verified. Rate risk sits behind all of it, with trimmed mean inflation reported at 3.6 per cent year on year.51213

Melbourne vacancy is two separate series for the same month, and the gap between them is a method difference rather than a movement. SQM puts Melbourne vacancy at 1.75 per cent for July 2026, counting unique online listings advertised three weeks or more. REIV puts metropolitan Melbourne vacancy at 2.6 per cent for July 2026, using member and view.com.au lease data. Both readings are the latest available at the cutoff.611

No new ATO ruling relevant to residential property issued inside the window, but two index pages moved. The latest news page carries publication metadata of 27 August 2026 and lists the negative gearing and capital gains tax reform package with a proposed start date of 1 July 2027, enabled by two Tax Reform No. 1 Acts of 2026 assented to 26 June 2026. The open consultation page carries metadata of 28 August 2026 and lists Law Companion Ruling LCR 2026/D5 on the standard deduction for work-related expenses, released 26 August 2026 with comments due 9 October 2026. The two other in-window draft items are crypto asset matters and are not property relevant.1415

The operative federal settings are unchanged. From 1 July 2027 negative gearing for residential property investments is limited to new builds and the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount is replaced by cost base indexation with a 30 per cent minimum tax rate on capital gains, with properties held at 7:30pm AEST 12 May 2026 exempt from the negative gearing change. No follow-up guidance was published after the 10 August 2026 limited recourse borrowing restriction, which limits new arrangements to acquiring business real property regardless of lender type. Treasury's closed second tranche consultation asked whether NDIS housing and build to rent developments should be exempted from the negative gearing limitation.161718

No new Consumer Affairs Victoria rental, rooming house licensing, minimum standards or bond publication was verified inside the window, and no new guidance was issued ahead of the 13 October 2026 tranche. The CAV latest news index shows 26 August 2026 on a Ballan tradie convicted and fined, then 20 August 2026 on used car purchases, with the most recent rental items dated 31 July 2026 and 25 July 2026. Only the 26 August item falls inside the window and it is not rental related. The 13 October 2026 tranche date is unchanged and now sits about six weeks ahead. We do not restate an itemised list for that tranche, because the upcoming changes table did not render in the material available at the cutoff.1920

The compliance load already in force is what operators must evidence now. From 25 November 2025: minimum standards must be met at the time of advertising, with advertising a non compliant property an offence; annual smoke alarm safety checks are mandatory; all rental bidding is banned; 90 days notice applies to rent increases and certain notices to vacate; no fault evictions are banned with fixed terms rolling to periodic; and renter personal information carries destruction and de-identification duties. From 1 December 2025 every rooming house resident's room must have a fixed secured heater, and from 31 March 2026 a prescribed standard application form must be used.20

This is the material development of the week and it is now sourced from the authorised Act text rather than from pre-passage explanatory material. Act No. 66 of 2026 was assented to on 20 August 2026 and the authorised version C2026A00066 was registered on 21 August 2026. The section 2 commencement table specifies 27 August 2026, the seventh day after Royal Assent, for Schedule 1 Parts 1 to 3, Schedule 2 Parts 1 to 4, Schedule 2 Part 7, Schedule 2 Part 9, Schedule 3 Parts 1 to 3, and Schedule 4. The authorised Act provides the final commencement timetable, refining the provisional schedule reported last week.1

The parts that commenced on 27 August 2026 bear on operator conduct rather than on housing payments. Schedule 2 Parts 1 to 4 cover provider registration, civil penalties and regulatory powers, information gathering powers and retention of records, and Schedule 4 covers new framework planning. Schedule 5, transitional rules, commenced on assent on 20 August 2026, and schedule titles are as recorded on the register.12

Later dates are distinct and are all future at this edition date. Schedule 1 Parts 4 and 7, support determinations and plan suspension, commence 1 October 2026. Schedule 2 Part 8, prohibition on inducements, commences 20 November 2026. Schedule 2 Part 5, reducing claim times, commences 1 December 2026. Schedule 1 Parts 5 and 6, plan renewal and reasonable and necessary supports, commence 1 February 2027. Schedule 3 Part 5, debt recovery, commences 20 February 2027. Schedule 3 Part 4, whistleblower protections, commences 1 July 2027. Schedule 1 Parts 8 and 9 commence 1 January 2028. Schedule 2 Part 6 commences on a day fixed by Proclamation with a 24 month backstop.1

No SDA pricing or SDA payment change was published inside the window. The NDIS SDA pricing and payments page still presents the NDIS Pricing Arrangements for Specialist Disability Accommodation 2025-26 and the matching price calculator as current, and the pricing updates page shows the most recent SDA pricing announcement as 30 June 2025, effective 1 July 2025. We publish no 2026-27 SDA base price, location factor or calculator version, because none was verified. The Department explainer confirms passage on 19 August 2026 and Royal Assent on 20 August 2026 and directs readers to the reform timeline rather than publishing a new guidance product.212223

On enforcement, twelve NDIS Commission actions took effect inside the window, nine of them revocations of registration and three banning orders, on 24, 25 and 28 August 2026. Two were Victorian, both revocations effective 5pm 25 August 2026: Fiona Sorensen of Newborough VIC 3825, registration group 120 household tasks, and Carly Erin Hughes of Forest Hill VIC 3131, registration group 128 therapeutic supports. Neither names registration group 0131 Specialist Disability Accommodation, and no in-window action does.7

No new public ruling followed DA-070 and no implementation guidance was published after its 17 August 2026 date of effect. The public rulings register still lists DA-070 and DA-020v2, both issued 20 July 2026, as the newest rulings. The SRO news index shows a single August 2026 item, dated 25 August 2026 on Auscontact awards recognition, with no tax content.2425

DA-070 itself is confirmed current, titled Land transfer duty: Assumed tax amounts, issued 20 July 2026 with a date of effect of 17 August 2026. It explains when an assumed tax liability amount forms part of the consideration for a transfer of land under section 20(1) of the Duties Act 2000, covering land tax, windfall gains tax and congestion levy liabilities, and states that the terminology used in transaction documents is not determinative. For a larger multi dwelling, co-living or SDA site acquisition where the contract requires the purchaser to pay an apportioned vendor land tax amount, that amount can be dutiable consideration. The practical response is contract drafting review rather than a rate change response. We publish no current land tax or concession threshold values in this edition, because none was re-verified.26

Housing Australia: no material verified update this week within the scope this publication tracks, being build to rent incentives and private rental investor policy. The news and media index shows two in-window items dated 27 August 2026 and 25 August 2026, both concerning government funding programs outside this publication's editorial scope. No build to rent tax or incentive item appears in that index. The only live federal build to rent thread relevant here sits with Treasury and the ATO instead.2718

The strongest independent evidence on where room by room product sits in the Victorian private rental market remains the Anglicare Victoria snapshot for the weekend of 14 and 15 March 2026. Across Victoria 15,244 private rental properties were advertised, of which 4,706, being 30.9 per cent, were affordable and appropriate for at least one household earning the minimum wage, and the median weekly rent was $570, unchanged from 2025. Of the 23 properties affordable for a single person receiving the Age Pension, 22 were rooms in shared accommodation rather than self-contained homes. That is a five month old baseline and a single weekend snapshot, and we read it as an observation about market structure.28

New in-window research quantifies the churn mechanic underneath room by room demand. AHURI published on 27 August 2026 that by age 14 a child in a private rental had moved an average of six times compared with a little over twice for children in households that owned their home, that roughly 18 per cent of households with children in private rentals were late on a housing payment against about 7 per cent of mortgaged households, and that around 10 per cent of children in private rentals experienced overcrowding against 3 to 4 per cent in owner occupied homes. The accompanying report carries the same date in the research library. For an operator, high tenure churn is both the demand mechanic and the re-letting cost.2930

Three Melbourne rent figures are in circulation and they measure three different things. SQM Research reports advertised asking rents of $695.64 per week combined, $821.16 for houses and $604.45 for units, for the week ending 28 August 2026, with two bedroom units at $617.88. REIV reports an achieved metropolitan median weekly house rent of $600 for July 2026, described as a new high, with regional Victoria at $530. The Homes Victoria Rental Report last reported a metropolitan Melbourne median of $580 per week for the September quarter 2025, up $10 over the quarter. Advertised asking rents, achieved lease medians and new letting bond medians are not comparable and no trend should be derived across them.51134

The official series also excludes this build type by construction. It uses rental bond data as a proxy to count private rental dwellings and expressly excludes student housing, rooming houses, caravans, multiple bonds for share houses, and rooms in dwellings. It is a comparator for surrounding private rental conditions, never a measure of rooming house or co-living income.34

Vacancy is likewise two separate series for the same month. SQM puts Melbourne vacancy at 1.75 per cent for July 2026 using unique online listings advertised three weeks or more, against 1.62 per cent in June 2026. REIV puts metropolitan Melbourne vacancy at 2.6 per cent for July 2026 using member and view.com.au lease data. Neither measures room level vacancy, and the gap is a method difference rather than a movement. Within the advertised series the picture is firm rather than accelerating, with combined dwellings up only 0.2 per cent over the rolling month, so income assumptions for room by room product read as held flat.6115

No centralised Victorian rooming house premises count exists and no current state supply program is publishing. The CAV operator register records licensees rather than premises and directs premises questions to council registers, so no premises or operator count is published. The Victorian Urban Development Program is suspended with all reports under review, so no lot supply figure is available. The in-window supply signal is instead Cotality's finding that Melbourne new listings ran more than 9 per cent below the five year average in the four weeks to 23 August 2026 while national total advertised stock sat 1.7 per cent above average. Cotality's insights index displays that article with a different date to the article page, and we use the article date.313234

The planning route to an additional self contained tenancy on an existing Melbourne lot is unchanged. A small second home of 60 square metres or less does not require a planning permit in most cases absent flooding, environmental or other special controls, though a building permit is always required and the dwelling cannot be subdivided or separately sold. It must have a kitchen, bathroom and toilet, must not be connected to reticulated natural gas, and does not require a car parking space. Anyone may live in or rent one out, including unrelated persons, with residential tenancy requirements applying.33

Operating, acquisition and funding settings are all pre-existing. The rooming house minimum standard in force since 1 December 2025 requires a fixed heater secured to a wall, floor or ceiling for each resident's room, and no new guidance was published inside the window. SRO ruling DA-070 has been in effect since 17 August 2026 with no guidance following. New limited recourse borrowing arrangements from 10 August 2026 can only acquire business real property, which closes that route for residential rooming house stock. We publish no Melbourne gross rental yield and no room level rent, because neither was verified.20192617

The commencement position is now taken from the authorised Act text. Act No. 66 of 2026 was assented to on 20 August 2026, the authorised version C2026A00066 was registered on 21 August 2026, and the section 2 commencement table gives 27 August 2026, described as the seventh day after Royal Assent, for Schedule 1 Parts 1 to 3, Schedule 2 Parts 1 to 4, Schedule 2 Part 7, Schedule 2 Part 9, Schedule 3 Parts 1 to 3, and Schedule 4. The authorised Act provides the final commencement timetable, refining the provisional schedule reported last week. Schedule 5, transitional rules, commenced on assent on 20 August 2026.1

For an SDA owner the 27 August 2026 tranche sits on the operator and regulator side. Schedule 2 Parts 1 to 4 cover provider registration, civil penalties and regulatory powers, information gathering powers and retention of records, and Schedule 4 covers new framework planning. We do not assert a substantive effect beyond what the Act text and its register entry support. The later dates are distinct and all are future at this edition date, and the two that carry the clearest commercial weight are 27 August 2026, for records retention and regulatory powers, and 1 December 2026, when the provider claim window contracts under Schedule 2 Part 5.12

No SDA pricing or payment change was published inside the window. The current instrument is the NDIS Pricing Arrangements for Specialist Disability Accommodation 2025-26 with a matching price calculator, and SDA funding in plans is used for housing, not services or supports. The most recent SDA pricing announcement is 30 June 2025, effective 1 July 2025. We publish no 2026-27 base price, location factor or calculator version. No new implementation guidance was published either: the Department explainer directs readers to the reform timeline. We state that absence rather than restating any earlier characterisation of SDA as unaffected, because no such statement was verified.212223

Supplement P for quarter 4 of 2025-26 is baseline data as at 30 June 2026 and is not weekly news. It records 5,576 Victorian participants with SDA in use and 1,791 SDA eligible and not yet using SDA, a total of 7,367 with an identified need, alongside 7,935 Supported Independent Living participants and 210,846 active participants in Victoria, against 16,644 in use and 9,014 eligible nationally. The supplement remains on a quarterly release cycle.3536

By statistical area, identified Victorian need concentrates in Melbourne South East at 940, being 682 in use and 258 eligible not yet using, then Melbourne West at 811, Melbourne North East at 778, Melbourne Outer East at 650 and Melbourne Inner South at 484, with Geelong at 446 the largest regional total. These are counts of people, not of unlet dwellings.35

On supply, Victoria had 4,190 enrolled SDA dwellings, comprising 1,132 Existing, 72 Legacy, 2,883 New Build and 103 New Build refurbished, against a national total of 14,235, concentrated in Melbourne West at 775, Melbourne South East at 585, Melbourne North East at 409 and Melbourne Inner at 307. The most useful Victorian ratio in this edition is 4,190 enrolled dwellings against 7,367 participants with an identified SDA need.35

The pipeline is the figure we would flag most carefully. Victoria had 2,249 unfinished and unenrolled New Build SDA dwellings, of which 1,436 are High Physical Support and 486 Robust, concentrated in Melbourne West at 496 and Melbourne South East at 371, against a national pipeline of 6,549. That sits against 1,791 Victorian participants eligible but not yet using SDA. The two counts are not directly commensurable, since a dwelling may house more than one resident, pipeline dwellings may not complete and the eligible cohort turns over. It does suggest that design category and location discipline matters more now than a statewide shortfall framing would imply.35

197 providers received payment for providing SDA supports to agency managed participants in Victoria in quarter 4 of 2025-26, against 585 nationally, and providers can be registered in more than one jurisdiction. Annualised supports committed to SDA in current Victorian plans were $193,208,886, being 1.16 per cent of $16,587,713,947 in total committed supports, while Supported Independent Living accounted for $3,936,312,403, being 23.73 per cent.35

No new dataset was released from the portal inside the window, no values were retrievable from the demand data tool, and we publish no SDA vacancy rate, since the Housing Hub count is undated. No in-window Summer Foundation item was verified.37383940

Twelve NDIS Commission actions took effect inside the window, nine of them revocations of registration and three banning orders. One revocation took effect from 5pm 24 August 2026, against Ario Care Group Pty Ltd of Ripley QLD 4306 with registration groups 104, 107, 108, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120 and 125. Ten took effect from 5pm 25 August 2026, being one banning order against Adam Christopher Murch of Ottoway SA 5013 made on 11 August 2026, and nine revocations. A further banning order against Ansu Dolley of Araluen NT 0870 took effect from 5pm 28 August 2026.7

Two of the 25 August 2026 revocations were Victorian: Fiona Sorensen of Newborough VIC 3825, registration group 120 household tasks, and Carly Erin Hughes of Forest Hill VIC 3131, registration group 128 therapeutic supports. Neither names registration group 0131 Specialist Disability Accommodation, and no action taking effect inside the window does. The SDA payment stream was not directly disrupted. Where exposure exists it runs through Supported Independent Living and daily living groups alongside SDA, and two interstate revocations included groups 115 and 138.7

The method note matters as much as the count. The register records the date an action takes effect, which is often days or weeks after the decision date, and several 25 August 2026 revocations were decided by notice issued on 17 August 2026 under sections 73P(1)(a) and 73P(1)(d) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. Where a revocation was audit driven the register states that a delegate was satisfied the provider was no longer suitable having regard to audit outcomes identifying major non-conformities with applicable NDIS Practice Standards. The register covers banning orders, compliance notices, enforceable undertakings, and suspension or revocation of registration. Nine revocations in a seven day window, mostly of small single group providers, is a reason to read the register by ABN before signing or renewing an operator agreement.78

On operator labour cost, no final determination has issued. The Fair Work Commission case page records that on 1 June 2026 the Expert Panel issued Decision 2026 FWCFB 137 finalising matter AM2024/21 pending comment on the provisional view expressed in relation to Schedule E employees and the draft determinations, with submissions due 29 June 2026, and the timetable lists no later event and no Schedule E determination number. The Schedule E classifications relate to Home Care Employees, Disability Care. We publish no percentage and no operative date, and the provisional view remains pending.4142

Staggered commencement dates after 27 August 2026. With specified provisions live from 27 August 2026, the commencement table sets further fixed dates at 1 October 2026, 20 November 2026, 1 December 2026, 1 February 2027, 20 February 2027, 1 July 2027 and 1 January 2028, with Schedule 2 Part 6 awaiting Proclamation. We are watching for agency implementation material in September, since the Department directs readers to the reform timeline.123

31 August and 4 September 2026: five further Commission actions fall due. Four actions are scheduled from 5pm 31 August 2026: banning orders against Ahmed Rezkhar Jalal and Innovative Disability Services and Solutions Pty Ltd, both of Chipping Norton NSW 2170, and revocations of Boiz Holdings Pty Ltd trading as Mama's Heart, Esperance WA 6450, and The Better Day Community Care Pty Ltd, Newtown QLD 4350. A revocation of Compassion Community Care (NT) Pty Ltd, Darwin NT 0800, is scheduled from 5pm 4 September 2026. None is Victorian and none names group 0131.7

13 October 2026: the next Victorian rental law tranche, with no new guidance issued. The tranche date is unchanged and now sits about six weeks ahead, and no new Consumer Affairs Victoria guidance was published inside the window. We are not restating an itemised list of tranche contents, because the upcoming changes table did not render at the cutoff. The absence of guidance is itself the point for operators who need documentary evidence of minimum standards at advertising.1920

Fair Work SCHADS Schedule E: a final determination is still pending. Submissions on the provisional view and the draft determinations closed on 29 June 2026 and the case page timetable lists no later event and no determination number. Schedule E classifications relate to Home Care Employees, Disability Care. We publish no percentage and no operative date, and are watching for a determination number.4142

Spring listings and auction method divergence. Cotality expects a cooler spring, with Melbourne new listings more than 9 per cent below the five year average in the four weeks to 23 August 2026. We are watching whether the Domain preliminary and REIV series keep diverging, at 60 and 69 per cent for the same weekend, and we keep rent and vacancy series apart. Next: SQM rents to 4 September, the next PropTrack index, and the August REIV rental snapshot.391051211