Regulatory priorities 2026-27

The Problem

Fuel is an essential expense for many Victorians to get to work, home and other important commitments and the cost of fuel contributes to increased cost of living pressures.

Fuel retailers in Victoria are now required to report their fuel prices on Servo Saver, which is helping Victorian households manage cost-of-living pressures and save hundreds of dollars a year at the bowser. Fuel retailers are also required to set a daily fuel price cap, so you can find the best deal tonight and know the price won’t jump tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands of Victorians have used Servo Saver on the Service Victoria app since its launch, helping them find the cheapest price on fuel.

What we’ll do

We’ve established a fair pricing taskforce to monitor fuel retailers’ compliance with the new laws and take action where fuel retailers fail to comply or engage in misleading or manipulative fuel pricing. We will work closely with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to build awareness and support fuel retailers to report fuel prices in line with requirements. We’ll take swift compliance action where needed to ensure fuel prices are displayed fairly and transparently, including direct engagement, public warnings or enforcement action in more serious cases.

The Problem

Many of us rely on our cars to get us to work, care for loved ones and attend important events, especially if we live away from areas with good public transport. We also expect that cars offered for sale are safe and reliable. When this is not the case the impact can be significant. Cars are a significant budget item for many Victorian households, and especially so for consumers on a fixed or low income. Research indicates that some motor car traders do not honour consumer guarantees, make false or misleading representations or engage in other unfair practices.

What we’ll do

We will continue to act on complaints and intelligence about traders selling poor quality cars, particularly to people experiencing financial vulnerability. We will also work with other regulators to identify and take action against motor car traders facilitating inappropriate finance to buyers to assist in the purchase of poor quality cars.

By removing rogue traders and supporting a robust licensing scheme, we ensure Victorians can make purchases more safely and have access to statutory protections if problems do arise.

The Problem

Research shows that unlicensed motor car traders are taking advantage of Victorians buying used cars online and deceiving buyers through false and misleading advertisements and odometer tampering.

Unlicensed motor car traders use online marketplaces and social media platforms to sell bulk-purchased or tampered vehicles while posing as private sellers. This allows them to evade licensing fees and—more importantly—avoid providing statutory warranties, cooling-off periods, and guaranteed vehicle histories required by law.

What we’ll do

We will take targeted compliance action as part of a statewide crackdown on unlicensed motor car trading and educate consumers about the risks associated with purchasing a vehicle from an unlicensed trader, so that motor car consumers can make more informed choices that protect their rights.

The Problem

From time-to-time, everyone will experience a situation where they require urgent assistance – when your toilet clogs, you lock yourself out of your home, there’s a hole in the roof, or your car unexpectedly breaks down. These circumstances can make consumers particularly vulnerable to predatory practices, such as high pressure sales tactics, excessive prices and hidden fees, and unnecessary services, which exploit consumers when they are most in need of support.

Exploitative and predatory business practice are designed to manipulate, confuse and trap consumers, and can be particularly harmful when cost of living pressures are high and when targeted at consumers who are vulnerable to these risks.

What we’ll do

We will take swift compliance action against traders who engage in unfair, high-pressure practices that exploit consumers experiencing circumstantial vulnerability and who are particularly at risk of harm. We will also educate consumers about the warning signs so that they can better protect themselves from predatory tactics that aim to distort consumer decision making. We will closely monitor complaints about unfair and high-pressure predatory practices and work closely with our counterparts and stakeholders across other jurisdictions to take swift and coordinated action when traders don’t act appropriately.

The Problem

A tight rental market does not excuse rental providers from their obligations to offer secure accommodation that meets minimum health and safety standards. Failing to meet these and other renter protections puts renters at serious risk of harm. These include renting out a property that doesn’t meet the minimum standards, false advertising, non-lodgement of and excessive bonds, illegal notices to vacate, failure to provide a condition report, and rental bidding.

What we’ll do

The expanded and empowered renting taskforce will continue to crack down on rental law offences.

We’ll educate and support rental providers and estate agents to understand and comply with their obligations, including new and upcoming obligations such as new rental applications, record keeping requirements, and minimum energy efficiency standards.

However, we won’t tolerate unlawful practices. Using intelligence and market analysis, we will monitor rental campaigns and target inspections to stop poor conduct and offences affecting the safety, security and tenure of renters. We will take disciplinary proceedings and enforcement action where we detect breaches, including court actions for the most serious breaches.

The new Victorian Renter Rights Program will provide over $99 million across 5 years to help over 25,000 renters by funding services that help individual renters and residents experiencing disadvantage get the advice and support they need.

The Problem

As the Victorian housing market evolves, more people with complex needs are relying on renting, such as older people (particularly, older women), international students, temporary visa holders and renters with limited understanding of their rights. Some of these people are particularly at risk of harm where rental properties don’t meet minimum standards or if rental providers engage in unlawful rental practices that expose renters to financial, health and safety risks.

CAVs renting taskforce has taken action in serious instances where rental providers have failed to provide safe and compliant housing to vulnerable renters and continues to identify breaches relating to rental minimum standards, safety obligations, improper bond handling and unlawful occupancy arrangements.

What we’ll do

We will take targeted, intelligence-led action against serious, repeated and systemic non-compliance in the rental sector, particularly where this conduct risks harm to vulnerable renters. This action will include proactive enforcement by the renting taskforce to address non-compliance to stop the risk of harm, and where necessary, remove rental providers who engage in the most egregious instances of non-compliance and risk serious harm to vulnerable renters.

We will continue to work with industry to improve compliance and awareness of legal obligations, while using a range of regulatory tools — including inspections, infringement notices, public warnings and litigation — to address harmful conduct and deter future breaches.

The Problem

Residential parks often attract older renters who may be financially vulnerable and seeking an alternative to a retirement village. New laws are enhancing protections for residential parks residents. Reforms to standardise site agreements and ensure clarity on rent increases have already come into force, and further reforms will introduce significant changes including regulation of deferred management charges and rent increases, removal of “no reason” notices to vacate and a new statewide registration scheme for residential parks.

What we’ll do

We will support park operators to understand and meet their new obligations, and will monitor compliance with key protections so that park residents get the benefits of the reforms.

We will take enforcement action against systemic or serious non-compliance by park operators.

The Problem

Rooming houses are often an option of last resort for the most vulnerable members of our community. Rooming house operators are required to satisfy mandatory minimum standards of safety and amenity. When these standards are not met, residents are placed at risk of serious harms.

Legislated minimum standards balance the needs of residents while allowing operators to manage their properties sustainably. Minimum standards, which first came into operation for Victorian rooming houses in 2012, are now complemented by minimum energy efficiency standards for rooming houses to ensure residents are provided with comfortable energy efficient living arrangements.

What we’ll do

Working closely with key stakeholders, our compliance monitoring programs will continue to focus on improving the standards of rooming houses by educating residents about their rights and rooming house operators about their obligations.

We will increase the number of inspections we conduct, with a particular focus on minimum standards, including targeted intervention for high-risk operators and rooming houses who fail to meet requirements.

If we identify serious or systemic breaches, we will take compliance and enforcement action, which may include seeking to cancel operators’ licences. We will use the full range of enforcement options against any unlicensed operators detected. A key aspect of meeting these aims will be our efforts in strengthening partnerships and improving coordination of regulatory interventions with co-regulators.

The Problem

Consumers should be able to trust that the products they buy are safe and fit for purpose. Around 20 Australian children each week present to emergency departments with suspected button battery ingestion. Up to two dozen children each year suffer serious, lifelong injuries. Since 2013, three children have died. We do not want to lose another life. There is ongoing risk to consumer safety, particularly for children, arising from button battery ingestion, the supply of non-compliant goods that do not meet mandatory safety and information requirements, and the continued presence of banned and unsafe products in the market.

What we’ll do

To help keep consumers safe, we will continue to focus on product safety with an emphasis on products presenting risks to young children, including products powered by coin and button batteries.

Where we find dangerous or banned items, we will remove them and take appropriate enforcement action. High risk and non-compliant traders will be a particular focus.

We will also continue our important work to educate product safety suppliers, to drive awareness and compliance with safety standards, and we will strengthen partnerships with Victorian, interstate and national co-regulators to maximise regulatory impact.

The Problem

Purchasing a property is one of the biggest financial decisions people make. Underquoting is when a property is advertised at a price below the estimated selling price, the seller's asking price, or a price that has been rejected as too low by the seller. When underquoting occurs, potential buyers can waste significant time and money inspecting properties that were never in their price range. It may also distort the market and create an artificial purchasing environment while enriching those who break the law.

New laws aim to improve property price transparency further, so property buyers can clearly see how the property was valued and what the reserve price for the property will be at an auction.

What we’ll do

Our underquoting taskforce will continue to crack down on unlawful underquoting and other unfair selling practices in the property market. Building on the activity we have already undertaken, we will widen our public profile by increasing compliance support to real estate agents and education to the public, carrying out market analysis and sales campaign monitoring, and continue to attend auctions and targeted inspections.

We will also ensure real estate agents understand their obligations under the new rules and are supported to comply. We will monitor the new laws and take action where agents are not transparent or mislead consumers about the price of a property or fail to disclose the vendor’s reserve in accordance with the new disclosure requirements.

We will pursue a zero-tolerance approach to underquoting, responding to all detected non-compliance, to stamp out this practice and ensure homebuyers have fair and easier access to purchasing a property.

The Problem

Retirement villages are an important provider of accommodation for older Victorians. With one in four Victorians estimated to be aged 60 years and over by 2046, the demand for these villages is likely to continue to grow higher than over 400 villages currently registered with us. While many Victorians will continue to enjoy active and engaged living in retirement villages, there can be a higher potential for risk of financial and emotional harm given the complexity of the contractual arrangements and the vulnerability many residents face as they age.

Significant changes to retirement village laws have enhanced resident protections and aim to ensure greater transparency and fairness in the sector. The laws deliver stronger consumer protections, standardised contracts, and a new free dispute resolution service. The changes also include stronger registration requirements and greater regulatory oversight.

What we’ll do

We will support retirement village operators to understand and meet their obligations under the reforms. We will monitor compliance with key protections so that Victorians living in a retirement village benefit from the stronger protections and can retire in comfort and with peace of mind.

The Problem

Given their role, estate agents and conveyancers often hold significant monies on trust for consumers. Their trust account obligations, including to follow regulated account keeping practices and annual audit obligations, are critical consumer protection measures, ensuring client money is safe when entrusted as part of a sale or rental transaction.

What we’ll do

We will intervene when agents or conveyancers fail to meet their trust account obligations or misuse trust monies. We will continue to monitor annual trust account audits and take action, including seeking significant penalties or suspension or loss of licence, where agents or conveyancers do not meet their obligations.

The Problem

Mandatory registration obligations commenced for professional engineers in 2021. The state-wide mandatory registration scheme was introduced to ensure that professional engineers in 5 key areas have the qualifications and experience needed to practise. It helps Victorians make informed decisions when engaging an engineer and strengthens public confidence in local engineering services by ensuring registered practitioners meet established industry standards.

What we’ll do

We will continue to work with the engineering profession, industry and co-regulators to increase awareness of the scheme and communicate obligations. We will seek feedback from the profession and work to continually improve the quality of information available to the public about the registration scheme. Where non-compliance is identified, we will take targeted compliance action including disciplinary action to maintain the integrity of the scheme and safeguard the Victorian community.