The Victorian government’s new short-stay levy will increase the price of short-stay accommodation for anyone wanting to stay in Victoria – including for Victorians. Allowing local councils to limit or ban short-stays will likely marginally reduce the supply of short-stay accommodation further driving up prices. However, neither of these measures comes with any certainty about achieving improved housing equity and the cost of collecting this levy will likely substantially eat into any potential revenue.
It would probably have been cheaper to spend the cost of collection and enforcement directly on actual state housing services, and be done with it. This levy is an election-year populist stunt with no policy substance.
References:
Mel Yuan for Brunswick 
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