New laws to protect renters privacy and improve advertising
30/06/2025
New laws in NSW to protect renters personal information and require disclosure of misleading AI photographs in rental advertisements
The Tenants’ Union of NSW welcomes the NSW Government's announcement of important changes to tenancy law in NSW which will provide better protections for renters personal information and help prevent renters applying for homes being misled when AI-generated photos are used in the advertisement.
The Residential Tenancies (Protection of Personal Information) Bill 2025 was introduced into NSW Parliament last week. The Tenants’ Union has been calling for regulation of the application process for private rental housing to ensure greater protection against discriminatory and/or intrusive requests for information at application, as well as greater transparency regarding the decision making process for applicants. We will look closely at the bill to ensure it is delivering on the good intentions.
This is an area where there have been almost no protections for renters in NSW, and it is a time when they are often the most vulnerable and under pressure to find a new home.
Renters are handing over significant amounts of information, much of it very personal and sensitive in nature, and to date there have been no clear and consistent protections in place to ensure their information is being safely stored and their privacy protected.
The Tenants’ Union conducted a survey in 2023 and heard from 124 renters on their experiences of applying for homes in NSW. Renters told us they didn't feel like they could say no to requests for information during the application process, even if they did not feel completely comfortable about the agent or landlord having this information. Renters explained that they felt too afraid to refuse to share requested information – that their application would be rejected or go to the bottom of the pile.
Over 40% of renters from our survey believed they’d missed out on a property because they had refused to share personal information. 91.7% of renters in our survey had felt pressured into sharing information they felt uncomfortable about the agent or landlord having. 41.3% of renters reported they have refused to share personal information requested when applying for a property and feel they have missed out on properties as a result.
| Reforms needed nationally
The National Cabinet’s Better Deal for renters also sought to address this and NSW is the first state to address the whole commitment. 7: Make rental applications easier and protect renters’ personal information:
It’s important that all states and territories act to implement the Better Deal. This requirement is one of the areas with little movement since the 2023 agreement. |
There has also been a growing frustration for many as the growth of AI or digital manipulation has raced ahead in advertising of rental homes. Being misled into visiting a property that is not suitable is frustrating for prospective tenants and may mean they miss out on other properties that were up for inspection at the same time. It also risks inflating the rent itself by inflating the number of people who appear interested in a place, and increasing pressure on someone to rush to put in an application or even offer above the advertised rent (which is still legal in NSW).
There are a number of further improvements we do recommend for this or other bills. The fundamental problem with the application process is that we have made access to an essential service of housing, required for a safe, healthy and dignified life, into a competitive process where people miss out. We don't do this for essentials like energy, water, healthcare or education because of the harm it can cause and we should look to fix it here as well.
With regards to disclosures about advertising – just as with AI or embedded networks, we should look at other important information that may either mislead or might significantly alter people's interest in the property if it was shared transparently. The advertising stage is the appropriate place for disclosures to occur because often people find out critical information when they are about to sign the contract and can feel unable to change plans at that stage.
Landlords could also be required to disclose at the advertising stage:
- the age of the photos being used,
- the repairs and other compliance history of the property,
- the energy efficiency performance of the property,
- if they have any genuine reasons to refuse pets and
- provide floor plans for the property
as well as currently required disclosures.
A significant area of concern expressed by renters is the imbalance between information gathered about potential renters compared to the information available about the owner of the property. Landlords are essentially the retailers of an essential service, and the responsible party for performance of the contract. Especially in times of tight markets, rental scams where people pretend to be the owner of a property in order to defraud people of bond, rent in advance and holding deposits are able to thrive. The Tenants’ Union has been calling for a registration scheme for landlords as it has many benefits, including better data for the sector, communication pathways between government and service providers, as well as accountability measures.
