Renting in Queensland from overseas: applications, bonds and the short-stay-first plan

In Queensland, the bond for a general tenancy can’t be more than four weeks’ rent, whatever the rent, and the owner or property manager must lodge it with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) within 10 days. Since 1 May 2025 every application has to use the RTA’s approved form (Form 22), with no more than two documents in each category, and the agent can’t ask for your rental bond history or bank statements, which removes two requests that are hard to meet with no Australian rental history.

That doesn’t make renting from overseas easy: you’re competing with applicants who can inspect on the day, and you’ll want to see the property before you commit. So the plan I’d suggest to any OT, speech pathologist or physio moving to Queensland is short-stay accommodation first, then a lease once you’re here. The rules below are what make that plan work.

What a landlord or agent can ask for

Since 1 May 2025, rental applications in Queensland follow these rules (RTA):

• One form. Applications use the RTA’s approved form: Form 22 for general tenancies (R22 for rooming accommodation). The agent can’t ask for information beyond what the form covers.
• Two documents per category, at most. There are three categories: identity, your financial ability to pay the rent, and your suitability as a tenant. The agent can ask for up to two documents in each.
• What they can’t ask for: your rental bond history or past bond claims, transaction statements from bank or credit accounts, past legal action or QCAT (tribunal) matters, or breach notices.
• A free way to apply. The agent must offer at least one way to apply that’s free and doesn’t force you onto a third-party online platform. No application or background-check fees.
• Your information afterwards. If you’re unsuccessful, your information must be destroyed within three months.

You can choose to give more than the minimum. That’s the useful part when you’re new.

Applying with no Australian rental history

You can’t show an Australian rental record, so build each category from what you do have. These are my suggestions for what to put forward, not a legal checklist:

Two more things that help:

• Open an Australian bank account early. Home Affairs says that within six weeks of arriving, your passport is the only ID you need; after six weeks you need at least two items. It’s one less thing to sort out when you’re paying a bond and rent in advance.
• If you’re bringing a pet, any pet bond counts towards the same four-week cap.

I run a multi-site paediatric allied health practice in South East Queensland, and several of our clinicians came to us from overseas. From the employer’s side, a letter confirming your role, salary and start date costs almost nothing to write, so ask your new employer for one when you sign your contract.

Rent bidding is banned

All forms of rent bidding have been banned in Queensland since 6 June 2024:

• Rentals must be advertised at a fixed price, with no price ranges or auctions.
• The owner or agent can’t ask for or accept an offer above the advertised rent. The maximum penalty is 50 penalty units.
• Rent in advance at the start of a tenancy is capped at two weeks (periodic agreements) or one month (fixed-term).
• Rent can be increased only once every 12 months (since 1 July 2023).

In a tight market, the temptation is to offer more to win a place. In Queensland, you can’t, and an agent can’t ask you to.

Bonds: the cap, lodgement and what doesn’t move with you

Portable bonds aren’t here yet. Queensland law allows for a portable bond scheme, but in answer to a 2026 question in Parliament, the Government said it was “closely monitoring” other jurisdictions and gave no start date. What you can do now: transfer a bond to a new address through the RTA if the property manager or owner agrees, or apply for a Bridging Bond Loan. This matters for the short-stay-first plan, because if you sign a first lease in a hurry and want to move later, you may need to find a second bond before the first one is refunded.

The short-stay-first plan

1. Book your first few weeks of short-term accommodation near your workplace before you fly. It gives you an address, time to open a bank account, and time to inspect.
2. Price suburbs by commute, not distance. In South East Queensland, every Translink journey costs a flat 50c (not Airtrain), so a place on a train line further out can work. The cost of living in Brisbane guide shows how rent fits into a budget on an OT, speech or physio salary, and where to look up current rents.
3. Have your documents ready to send (two per category, as above) so you can apply on the day you inspect.
4. Inspect before you sign. Don’t pay a bond or rent for a place you haven’t seen, or had someone you trust see for you.
5. Check the bond receipt and the RTA lodgement once you’ve signed.

How long to book is a judgement call: it depends on the area you’re moving to and your start date.

Your next step

Renting only becomes urgent once you know which job and when, and that depends on your profession’s route:

• OTs: check which Ahpra route your qualification uses, because it decides when you can start work: direct general registration (A$250 application plus A$138 registration) or a portfolio assessment first (A$688). The OT jobs guide sets out the order.
• Speech pathologists: check whether you can use the SPA MRA (A$825; Canadian S-LPs can’t currently use it) or need the OSQCA (A$2,000). Speech Pathology Australia assesses you, not Ahpra. Start with the UK, Ireland, NZ or US guide.
• Physios: check which Australian Physiotherapy Council route you’re on (Express FLYR A$1,742, FLYR A$3,490, APEP A$8,321, or Trans-Tasman for NZ), since the routes differ in steps and cost before you apply to Ahpra (A$452 application plus A$220 registration).
• Pay, for all three: the award minimum for a first-year health professional (AQF 7) is A$1,308.80 a week, and Queensland Health’s HP3 grade starts at A$83,824. The cost of living guide turns that into take-home pay.

The pathway check asks those questions and tells you the right next step, including whether an info session is the best place to start.