Your tattoos, your social media, and your kids’ school are about to become off-limits on rental applications, and landlords will have to come clean when listing photos have been doctored with AI.
New laws passed by NSW Parliament on Thursday will strengthen protections for more than 2.3 million renters across the state.
All agents and landlords will have to use a standard rental application form, which will make clear what information can and can’t be requested.
Renters will no longer be asked for unnecessary details such as personal photos, social media accounts, details about their children, or their tattoos. There will also be clear rules about how personal data must be stored and destroyed.
“Whether you have a tattoo, or what school your kids go to, is not relevant to whether you’ll be a good tenant,” said Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong.
ID documents such as driver licences and passports will only be collected from the preferred applicant before the lease is signed. That will significantly reduce the estimated 187,000 pieces of ID collected from rental applicants every year.
Landlords and agents will also have to disclose when advertising photos have been digitally altered or generated with AI to hide faults, such as fake furniture that covers structural damage or misrepresents room proportions.
Agents will have to tell renters if a property is connected to an embedded utility network, such as a private electricity or gas system, so tenants know upfront if they are locked into a single energy provider.
Privacy breaches carry penalties of up to $11,000 for individuals and $49,500 for corporations. Businesses that fail to disclose altered photos face fines of up to $22,000.
Consultation has started on the standard application form, and the new laws are expected to take effect in early 2027.
The changes came as the Government released a halfway report card for its $6.6 billion Building Homes for NSW program, which aims to deliver 8,400 new homes and more than 33,000 upgrades.
Half of the new homes will be dedicated to women and children fleeing domestic violence.
The Government said 5,175 social, affordable, and key worker homes had been delivered or brought back into use since it was elected, including a record 1,757 homes in 2025-26.
Homes NSW completed 25,752 public housing upgrades between July 2024 and June 2026, more than three-quarters of its target. The Aboriginal Housing Office completed 2,129 upgrades, more than 60 per cent of its target.
The Government said the former Liberal-National government sold off more than 7,600 homes and assets worth almost $3.6 billion.
More than 1,000 new social homes are under construction and more than 1,000 more have been approved.
“Today is a great day to reflect on how far we’ve come already, but it’s certainly not job done,” said Minister for Housing Rose Jackson.
“I want everyone who is currently on the waitlist to know that we have literally thousands more homes in the pipeline.”
More information for tenants, landlords, and agents is available at https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/renting.
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