Lease Renewal Agreement | Residential Tenancies Acts

A residential lease renewal and extension agreement is a short written instrument that continues an existing tenancy on agreed terms. It names the same landlord and tenant, identifies the same rented premises, and sets a new expiry date. Where the parties want to change the rent, adjust who is responsible for a utility, or add a clause about pets or a garden, those variations are recorded in the same document. Everything left unaddressed rolls over unchanged from the original lease.

It helps to separate three things that often get confused. A renewal creates a brand new fixed-term agreement, which means the parties effectively sign a fresh contract for a further six or twelve months. An extension keeps the existing agreement alive and only alters the termination date. A periodic tenancy is what you fall into by default if nobody signs anything before the fixed term ends, continuing week to week or month to month until one side gives notice. If you do nothing, the law in every Australian jurisdiction converts an expiring fixed term into a periodic tenancy on the same terms, which is rarely what a landlord wants when the plan is a defined new period. A written renewal removes that ambiguity and locks both parties into a clear commitment, which is exactly why our template is drafted to record the new term and the rent in the same breath.

Residential tenancies in Australia are not regulated federally. Each state and territory runs its own statute, and a renewal or extension is valid only if it complies with the Act that applies where the property sits. In New South Wales the governing law is the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), in Victoria the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), in Queensland the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld), in Western Australia the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), in South Australia the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA), and in the ACT the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT). Tasmania and the Northern Territory each have their own equivalent. These statutes set the boundaries a renewal cannot cross, whatever the parties agree between themselves.

The single most important boundary at renewal is rent. Every Australian jurisdiction now caps increases at once every 12 months for both fixed-term and periodic tenancies, and the clock does not reset simply because a new fixed term is signed. A landlord who renews a six-month lease cannot bolt on a second increase inside the same year. The reforms that produced this uniform rule rolled out across 2023 and 2024, and Queensland went further by attaching the 12-month limit to the property rather than the tenant, so a fresh tenant inherits the previous increase date. Notice periods for any increase also differ by state, and a renewal that quietly raises the rent without the required written notice is exposed to challenge at the state tribunal, whether that is NCAT, VCAT, QCAT or SACAT. For the authoritative national picture of how these reforms fit together, the national cabinet's A Better Deal for Renters reform package is the primary source landlords should read before setting a new rent.

Beyond rent, the form requirements are light but real. A renewal or extension must be in writing to be reliably enforceable, must be signed by every party to the original lease, and should reference the original agreement by date so the two documents read together. Some states have moved to prescribed forms for related steps such as rental applications, so a renewal should never contradict the standard terms mandated by the local Act.

The most common trigger is a fixed term approaching its end date where both sides are happy to continue. Rather than let the tenancy slide into a periodic arrangement, the landlord offers a new fixed term and the tenant accepts, often with a modest rent adjustment reflecting the market. This is the bread-and-butter use, and it is precisely the moment when a written renewal earns its keep. You can explore the wider set of Australian residential tenancy and property templates that surround this document when a full new lease is the better fit.

The second scenario is a short extension for practical reasons. A tenant needs another eight weeks while their new home settles, or a landlord wants to hold a reliable tenant over a slow leasing period before listing the property for sale. Here an extension of the existing agreement is cleaner than a full renewal, because nothing changes except the end date. A third situation involves varying a term at the same time as continuing the tenancy, adding a pet clause after a policy change, or shifting responsibility for a garden or a utility account.

Two edge cases deserve flagging. Where a tenancy began before a state's recent reforms took effect, a pre-reform rent increase clause written into the original lease may still apply until that agreement ends, which changes what you can lawfully do at renewal. And where the property is being marketed for sale, several states now recognise a sale-related ground for ending a tenancy, so a landlord who signs a fresh twelve-month renewal may lock themselves out of vacant possession. Think about the exit before you commit to the new term.

• The identification of the parties and premises repeats the exact names and address from the original lease, so the renewal reads as a continuation rather than a separate contract. A renewal that misnames a co-tenant or omits one who remains in possession creates a gap the tribunal will not fill for you.
• The reference to the original agreement cites the date and, where relevant, the registration or lodgement details of the tenancy being continued. This is what ties the two documents together and confirms that every unamended clause survives.
• The new term states whether this is a renewal creating a fresh fixed term or an extension of the existing end date, and sets the precise start and finish dates. Ambiguity here is what pushes disputes into a tribunal, so the clause is written to leave no doubt about which mechanism applies.
• The rent and any adjustment records the continuing amount or the new figure, along with the effective date, drafted to sit inside the statutory 12-month frequency limit. Where an increase applies, the clause is framed to work alongside the separate written notice the relevant Act requires.
• The variations to other terms capture anything the parties are changing, from a pet clause to a utility responsibility, while confirming that all remaining terms of the original lease stay in force unchanged.
• The signatures and dating block requires every original party to sign, because a renewal signed by only one of two co-tenants binds nobody cleanly.

New South Wales governs renewals under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), and recent reforms across 2024 to 2026 reshaped the landscape. Rent can rise only once in any 12-month period, and renewing or switching from fixed term to periodic does not restart that clock. A landlord must give at least 60 days written notice of an increase, and a tenant who thinks the new figure is excessive can apply to NCAT within 30 days. NSW has also moved to remove no-grounds terminations, so the way a landlord frames the end of a renewed term now matters more than it once did. Landlords weighing a sale during the tenancy should read the Australian real estate and notice templates alongside the renewal.

Victoria operates under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), one of the more tightly drafted regimes in the country. Rent may increase only once every 12 months whether the lease is fixed or periodic, and the notice period for an increase rose to 90 days from November 2025, up from the previous 60. Consumer Affairs Victoria assesses whether an increase is excessive by reference to the Melbourne CPI and comparable local rents, and a tenant can escalate to VCAT. A Victorian renewal that adjusts rent must respect both the 12-month gap and the longer notice window, or the increase is vulnerable.

Queensland applies the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld), with the distinctive feature that the 12-month rent increase limit attaches to the property, not the tenancy. A landlord renewing with a new tenant inherits the previous increase date, so the clock cannot be reset by turning over occupants. At least two months written notice is required for any increase, and disputes go to QCAT. The 2025 regulation refreshed the standard tenancy forms, so a Queensland renewal should align with the current versions.

Western Australia sits under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), reformed in 2024 to introduce the once-every-12-months limit that WA previously lacked. The 12-month period runs continuously across a renewed short fixed term, so renewing a six-month lease does not open the door to a second increase. A landlord must give 60 days written notice using the prescribed form, and Consumer Protection WA oversees compliance. Employers and business owners managing staff housing may also find the Australian employment agreement templates useful when a tenancy is tied to a role.

You start by selecting the state or territory where the property is located, because that choice drives the statutory references and the rent notice rules the document applies. From there you enter the details of the original tenancy, the parties' names exactly as they appear on the existing lease, the property address, and the date the current agreement was signed. The form then asks whether you are renewing into a new fixed term or extending the current end date, and it adjusts the operative wording to match your answer.

Next you set the new term dates and decide whether the rent is staying the same or changing. If you are adjusting the rent, the template prompts you to confirm the effective date and reminds you that a separate written notice is required under most state Acts, so the renewal and the notice work together rather than at cross purposes. You then record any other variations, a pet clause or a utility change for instance, before both parties sign and date. Once complete you download the finished agreement in Word and PDF, ready to sign. If your circumstances have shifted more substantially, our Australian personal and household legal documents cover the adjacent paperwork a move sometimes brings.

The error we see most often is treating a renewal as a chance to raise rent whenever the landlord likes. It is not. The 12-month frequency cap applies across the whole tenancy relationship, and signing a fresh fixed term does not restart the clock, so a landlord who increased rent eight months ago cannot lawfully increase it again at renewal no matter what the new document says. A close second is skipping the separate written notice of increase, on the assumption that recording the higher figure in the renewal is enough. In most states it is not, and an increase served without the prescribed notice and notice period is open to challenge at the tribunal.

Another frequent slip is letting the fixed term lapse entirely before anyone signs, which drops the tenancy into a periodic arrangement and hands the tenant the shorter exit rights that come with it. Sign the renewal before the current term expires, not after. Landlords also forget to name every original party, so a renewal signed by one of two co-tenants leaves the agreement half-formed. Finally, some parties draft a renewal that quietly contradicts a mandatory term of the local Act, a shortened notice period for example, which the tribunal will simply strike out. When a full new contract is genuinely needed, the Australian business and commercial agreement templates show how a standalone document is structured.