Former federal tourism minister Martin Ferguson wants premises used by Airbnb to be regulated. Jesse Marlow

Martin Ferguson, the former federal tourism minister, who now chairs Tourism Accommodation Australia, said a national system of registration was urgently needed so that premises used for commercial short-stay accommodation met a range of health, safety, tax and regulatory requirements.

"We are not against the 'sharing' economy, but we are opposed to the 'taking' economy, where unregulated commercial short-term accommodation providers take lots of money without meeting their obligations to guests, the community and the wider economy," he said.

Tourism Accommodation Australia, the subsidiary of the Australian Hotels Association which represents the big hotels, serviced apartment and motel providers, has launched a new campaign against the online short-term accommodation providers with a submission that will go to federal, state and local governments as well as to the federal opposition's inquiry into the sharing economy.

Airbnb, now capitalised at about $US25 billion ($33.8 billion), has grown strongly in Australia, as it has around the world, appealing to travellers and owners on flexibility and price.

In Australia the group now advertises about 40,000 rooms, with Sydney and Melbourne among its strongest markets. By comparison the largest traditional hotel operator in Australia, the international giant Accor, manages about 26,000 rooms.

One Sydney owner who has provided short-stay accommodation through Airbnb, Wally Salinger, said his guests were attracted by the flexibility of a home, with kitchen and bedrooms, and in a community where local traders welcomed his guests.

The growth in Airbnb has challenged not only the accommodation industry but local planning, existing residents, and taxation authorities around the world as well. The Spanish region of Catalonia has brought in rules in an attempt to tax such services as well as limiting their use to two rooms a  property and four months a year.

In Australia, controls on the industry are equivocal. Most recently the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that an owners' corporation in Docklands could not prohibit short-term letting. Which raises further issues, like the validity of the body corporate's insurance policies.

Airbnb's country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Sam McDonagh, said the regulatory framework in NSW was "confusing" whereas Queensland and Victoria had "clear rules".

Mr Salinger, who has struggled to gain a clear ruling from his local council, said, "It would make sense to have clear consistent policies across NSW."

Tourism Accommodation Australia recommends the introduction of model legislation, agreed by all governments, that would require the registration of accommodation that is let on a commercial short-term basis.

"Distribution companies listing share accommodation on their sites will be required to ensure that all rooms listed are registered, indicating that they are compliant with Australian laws and have in place consumer protections," the organisation wrote.

Mr Ferguson said the accommodation industry was "seeking to provide certainty for those who invest in legitimate accommodation in Australia, protect jobs and ensure a high-level traveller experience".

Source: Australian Financial Review, Robert Harley, July 18^th 2015
Originally published as: Tourism Accommodation Australia takes another shot at Airbnb