Rental applications
Rental applications in 2026: what changed in Victoria and NSW
Rental applications have become a privacy and fairness issue as much as an admin one. Victoria now prescribes the application form, bans application and payment fees and sets rules for destroying renters' information. NSW has banned background-check fees, requires a free way to pay rent and has passed further rules on applications and AI-altered images. Your forms, tools and data retention all need to keep up.
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In Victoria, rental applications must use the prescribed form, can't require information beyond it, and agents and rent-tech platforms can't charge application or payment fees. Renters' information has to be protected and destroyed on set timelines. NSW bans background-check fees, requires a fee-free way to pay rent, and has passed application privacy and AI-image disclosure rules not yet in force.
General information about systems and processes, current as at November 2026. It isn't legal or compliance advice: check how the rules apply to your business with your regulator, professional body or adviser.
- What is a prescribed rental application form?
- A standard application form set by regulation that limits the information a rental provider or agent can ask a prospective renter for. Victoria's applies from 31 March 2026. NSW has legislated a standard form too, expected to start in 2027.
What actually works
Victoria: the form decides what you can ask
Since 31 March 2026, Victorian applications must use the prescribed form, and agents can't ask for information it doesn't include. If your application tool collects extra fields, or a third-party platform does on your behalf, that needs fixing.
Victoria: no fees, anywhere in the chain
Rent-tech platforms have been barred from charging renters fees since 31 March 2026, and from 13 October 2026 agents and rental providers can't charge application or payment fees either. Check every tool a renter touches, including payment providers.
Victoria: destroy renter data on schedule
Changes from 25 November 2025 require renters' information to be protected and destroyed within set periods, depending on whether the applicant was successful. Your platform, inbox and shared drives all hold application data, so retention has to be designed, not remembered.
NSW: fees, payment and photos
NSW has banned fees for background checks and lease preparation since 31 October 2024, required a free way to pay rent since 19 May 2025, and since 21 September 2026 needs a tenant's written consent before publishing photos or video showing their belongings.
NSW: application privacy and AI images are coming
A bill passed in September 2026 introduces a standard application form, collecting ID only from the preferred applicant, storage and destruction rules, and disclosure when rental-ad images are digitally altered or AI-generated in a misleading way. It was expected to start in early 2027.
Privacy policies are being checked
The OAIC's first privacy-policy compliance sweep, from January 2026, included rental and property businesses collecting information at inspections. Make sure your privacy policy says what you collect, why and for how long.
A rental applications systems check
Walk through it with whoever runs your application tool.
- Our forms collect only what the prescribed form allows (Vic)
- No renter pays an application, check or payment fee, through any tool
- Unsuccessful applicants' data is destroyed on schedule, including in email
- ID is collected only when the law allows, and stored securely
- Altered or AI-enhanced listing images are disclosed where required
- Our privacy policy matches what we actually collect
Where we'd tell you otherwise
Most agencies use their property management platform or a dedicated application tool, and the vendor should be updating it for these rules. Ask them first. We help where an agency runs its own forms or website, holds application data outside the platform, or needs retention and destruction automated across systems.
Tell us how your files move
Describe the software you run and where work gets typed twice, chased by phone or held up waiting on a client. We'll tell you what we'd do first, including when the answer is a setting in software you already pay for.
Common questions
No. Rent-tech platforms have been barred from charging renters fees since 31 March 2026, and from 13 October 2026 agents and rental providers can't charge application or payment fees.
Victoria's rules from 25 November 2025 set destruction timelines depending on the outcome of the application. Check Consumer Affairs Victoria's current guidance for the exact periods, and set your systems to delete automatically rather than relying on someone remembering.
For rental advertising, NSW passed rules in September 2026 requiring disclosure when images are digitally altered or AI-generated in a way likely to mislead; they were expected to start in early 2027. For sales, existing NSW Fair Trading guidelines and the Australian Consumer Law already prohibit misleading images.
No. Since 19 May 2025, NSW landlords and agents must offer a fee-free way to pay rent, such as bank transfer, and can't force tenants to use a particular app or platform.
See it working
Software we'd build, running with a fictional business and sample data. Use it, then decide.
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Last reviewed . General information, not legal advice. Prices are indicative Australian ranges, not quotes.