1. Is Airbnb legal in Sydney?

Yes. Short-term rental accommodation (STRA) is legal in Sydney under a state-wide framework managed by NSW Planning. The system has been in place since November 2021 and applies to all paid stays of up to three months in residential premises (the NSW Government STRA guidance page sets out the full scope).

The key distinction is between two types of hosting:

• Hosted STRA means you live on the property while guests stay (a spare room, a granny flat while you are in the main house). No day cap. You can operate 365 days a year.
• Non-hosted STRA means the entire property is available to guests and you are not on-site. In Greater Sydney, this is capped at 180 days per registration year.

Most Sydney owners listing a whole apartment or house on Airbnb fall into the non-hosted category.

2. STRA registration: how it works, what it costs, and what happens if you don't

2.1 Who must register

Every host offering STRA in NSW must register on the NSW Planning Portal before advertising or accepting a single booking. This applies whether you list on Airbnb, Booking.com, Stayz, or your own website.

2.2 Fees and renewal

• Initial registration: $65 for 12 months, per property.
• Annual renewal: $25 per property.
• The portal sends reminders at 45, 30, and 7 days before expiry.
• If you miss the renewal window, your listing is blocked for three months, after which the registration is cancelled automatically.

That $65 is per property, not per platform. One registration covers all the sites you list on.

2.3 Your STRA Property ID

Once registered, you receive a unique STRA Property ID. You must display this on every online listing. Platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com are required to show it, and they share your booking data with the Register automatically. If you take direct bookings (your own website, word of mouth), you need to log those yourself on the portal.

2.4 What happens if you don't register

Councils can investigate unregistered STRA. Platforms are required to remove listings that don't have a valid Property ID. In practice, the biggest immediate risk is having your listing pulled by Airbnb or Booking.com when they cross-check against the Register. There is no published fine schedule for individual hosts, but operating without registration puts you outside the framework entirely, which creates exposure if a neighbour complains or a council officer checks.

3. The 180-day cap in Greater Sydney (and the 21-day exception that makes it workable)

3.1 How the cap works

Non-hosted STRA in Greater Sydney is limited to 180 days per 12-month registration period (as set out in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, Chapter 3). Greater Sydney covers the Eastern Harbour City, Central River City, and Western Parkland City districts.

Hosted STRA has no cap: 365 days, year-round.

The 180-day count resets with each registration period, not the calendar year. So if you registered on 15 March, your year runs to 14 March.

3.2 The 21-day exception

Here is the detail that changes the maths for many hosts: bookings of 21 or more consecutive days do not count toward the 180-day limit. This is written into the regulation and means corporate relocations, insurance placements, and medium-term stays effectively sit outside the cap.

If you are running a Sydney property primarily for short weekend and week-long stays, you will hit 180 days in roughly six months of solid bookings. But if a portion of your calendar is 21+ day stays (common in suburbs near hospitals, universities, or CBD offices), those nights are free.

3.3 What about outside Greater Sydney?

Regional NSW has no day cap for non-hosted STRA (365 days). The exception is Byron Shire, which has a 60-day cap for non-hosted STRA outside two mapped 365-day precincts, effective 23 September 2024. Ballina, Clarence Valley, and Muswellbrook also have restricted areas with varying caps.

For a broader view of how the framework applies beyond Sydney, including regional areas with no day cap, see the guide to NSW-wide Airbnb rules.

4. Fire safety: what you actually need to install

NSW requires every STRA property to meet the STRA Fire Safety Standard. You attest to compliance when you register (no inspection, but you are legally declaring the property meets the standard).

4.1 Smoke alarms (all STRA properties)

• Installed on or near the ceiling in every corridor or hallway leading to bedrooms and on each storey.
• Must comply with AS 3786.
• If you have more than one alarm, they must be interconnected (one triggers, all sound).
• Power source: mains-powered or sealed 10-year lithium battery. Replaceable 9V battery alarms do not meet the standard.

4.2 Heat alarm (houses with an attached private garage)

If your property is a Class 1a dwelling (a house, essentially) with an attached private garage, you need a Class A1 or A2 heat alarm in the garage, interlinked to the smoke alarms, with a posted notice explaining the alarm.

4.3 Apartments (Class 2 or Class 4 buildings)

In addition to smoke alarms, apartments need:

• A 2.5 kg ABE fire extinguisher in the kitchen.
• A fire blanket in the kitchen.
• Both positioned per AS 2444 (essentially, accessible and not blocked by furniture).

4.4 Evacuation diagrams (all STRA properties)

Every STRA property needs A4-sized evacuation diagrams:

• One at the dwelling entrance.
• One inside each bedroom.
• Mounted between 1,200 mm and 1,600 mm from the floor.
• Must show: exit routes (green lines), fire equipment locations (red markers), assembly point, emergency number (000), and a recommendation to download the Emergency+ app.

This sounds onerous, but once set up it is a one-off job. Print the diagrams, mount them, check the alarms quarterly, and you are covered. The NSW Planning Portal fire safety guidance has templates and examples.

Many of the costs of meeting STRA requirements (fire safety equipment, registration fees, management fees) may be deductible. See the guide to tax deductions available to Australian investment property owners.

5. Strata by-laws: can your building ban short-stays?

If your property is in a strata scheme (most Sydney apartments), the owners corporation has specific powers under section 137A of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015.

What strata can do:

• Pass a special resolution by-law banning non-hosted STRA where the lot is not the host's principal place of residence (PPR). This means if you own an investment apartment and want to run it as a full-time Airbnb, your building can vote to stop you.
• Set an occupancy limit of 2 adults per bedroom.

What strata cannot do:

• Ban hosted STRA in your principal place of residence. If you live in the apartment and rent a spare room, strata cannot prevent that.

Before listing, check your building's by-laws. If a by-law prohibiting non-hosted STRA is already in place, listing anyway puts you in breach of both the by-law and potentially the STRA Code of Conduct.

If your building's by-laws are unclear on STRA, your strata manager should be your first call. The guide to choosing a strata management company in Sydney covers what to look for.

6. The Code of Conduct and Exclusion Register

All STRA participants in NSW (hosts, guests, booking platforms, and letting agents) must follow the mandatory STRA Code of Conduct (administered by NSW Fair Trading).

For hosts, the key obligations are:

• Provide a 24/7 contact number for guests and neighbours.
• Manage noise, waste, and anti-social behaviour.
• Respond to complaints promptly.
• Maintain adequate insurance (third-party liability for injury or death on the property).

Serious or repeated breaches can result in a listing on the STRA Exclusion Register, which is effectively a ban. Guests who cause damage or serious disturbance can also be placed on the register, which means platforms must refuse their future bookings.

7. How to stay compliant: a practical checklist for 2026

1. Check your building. If you are in a strata scheme, confirm no by-law prohibits non-hosted STRA for your lot. If you are the owner-occupier hosting a room, you are protected.
2. Register on the NSW Planning Portal. Pay the $65 fee, attest to fire safety compliance, and receive your STRA Property ID. Budget 20 minutes.
3. Display your Property ID. Add it to every listing (Airbnb, Booking.com, Stayz, your own site). Platforms will prompt you, but check it is showing correctly.
4. Install fire safety equipment. Smoke alarms (AS 3786, interconnected, mains or sealed 10-year battery), heat alarm if applicable, extinguisher and blanket for apartments, and A4 evacuation diagrams at the entrance and in each bedroom.
5. Plan your calendar around the 180-day cap. Track non-hosted nights. Use the 21-day exception for longer stays. If you are close to the limit, consider switching to medium-term lets for the remainder of the year.
6. Log direct bookings manually. Platform bookings sync automatically. If you take bookings off-platform, enter them on the portal yourself.
7. Operate to the Code of Conduct. 24/7 contact, complaints process, insurance, responsible hosting.
8. Renew annually. Set a reminder. The $25 renewal is cheap; a three-month listing blackout from a missed renewal is not.

The 180-day cap is specific to Greater Sydney. If you also own property interstate, Melbourne's short-term rental rules work differently under Victoria's planning framework.

Understanding how rental income is taxed in Australia, including what you can and cannot deduct, is the other side of running a compliant STRA operation.

8. What to do with the other 185 days

The cap is narrower than it first looks, and three details decide how much of the year you can trade.

It applies to non-hosted stays only. If you are living on the premises while guests stay, hosted STRA carries no day limit in Greater Sydney.

The 12 months run from your registration date. Not the calendar year. Register in March and your allowance resets in March.

Bookings of 21 consecutive days or more are exempt. They do not count toward the 180 at all, so a single 28 night booking uses none of your allowance.

Past three months the stay is not STRA in the first place. The framework covers accommodation provided on a commercial basis for a temporary or short-term period, defined as three months or less, so anything longer sits outside it.

That leaves three bands to build a calendar from. Stays under 21 nights, which count against the 180. Stays of 21 days to three months, which do not. And anything beyond three months, which falls outside STRA entirely.

Run nightly bookings through the periods where rates are highest, then fill the quieter months with longer stays. Corporate placements, relocations, insurance housing and contractor accommodation all sit in that middle band. They book further ahead, turn over less often, and cost less to service per night.

One constraint to take seriously. A long enough arrangement can amount to a residential tenancy under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010, which brings its own obligations around agreements, bond and termination. Where that line falls depends on the arrangement rather than the night count alone, so take advice before structuring anything around it.

Queensland takes a different approach to NSW. If you are comparing markets, check how Gold Coast short-term rental rules compare before committing to a location.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Always check the relevant authority's website for your property and speak to a qualified adviser about your situation.