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The amount of personal info Australian renters have to hand over is ‘staggering’
Many renters have little choice but to hand over excessive amounts of personal information when they apply for properties. While some states and territories are making moves to address this, others are lagging behind.
Published 28 August 2025
The New South Wales government has introduced a bill to better protect renters’ personal information when they apply for properties.
But other Australian states and territories are lagging behind, leaving many renters with little choice but to hand over excessive amounts of personal information when they apply for properties.
Too much information
As median rents continue to climb, and the national vacancy rate hovers around 1.2 per cent, renters report feeling pressured to use third-party rental apps when applying for a property.
Although these apps are presented as a convenient way to apply for properties, the amount of information they collect about renters is staggering.
People applying to rent a property have reported being asked to hand over marriage certificates and medical histories, provide excessive information about their lifestyle, and even take personality assessments.
Issues resulting from the widespread use of third-party rental apps are well-documented. These include high-profile data breaches, invasive questions sent to applicants’ employers and the unlawful collection of almost $AU50,000 in fees from NSW renters.
The protections in place to safeguard renters’ personal information are, by and large, inadequate.
A better deal
In August 2023, National Cabinet agreed on a ‘A Better Deal for Renters’ which committed all states and territories to introducing improved protections for renters’ privacy and standardising application processes.
This commitment is particularly important because progress appears to have stalled on both the Federal Government’s second tranche of privacy reforms, and the introduction of mandatory guardrails for safe and responsible AI.
State and territory governments have an important opportunity to plug key gaps in renter protection by limiting the amount of information that is collected about renters, restricting how this information can be used and placing stricter limits on how long it is stored.
Despite this commitment, state and territory responses have been inconsistent.
South Australia, Queensland and Victoria have introduced updated protections, which have gone some way to improving each jurisdictions’ legislation – but there remain loopholes that risk exploitation.
At the time of writing, the NSW bill remains in limbo.
The NSW legislation, if passed in its current form, would significantly improve existing protections for the state’s renters and offer a model for other jurisdictions to follow.
It would do this by severely restricting the amount of personal information, including documents, that renters are asked to provide when applying for a property, and requiring the use of prescribed application forms.
If the regulations are designed correctly, they would prevent renters from being asked inappropriate questions, or being asked to hand over unnecessary information – like details of their hobbies or social media accounts.
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The NSW bill also promises to increase penalties for breaches and empower the Civil and Administrative Tribunal to make orders for compensation in specific circumstance where tenants have suffered economic loss.
These changes are intended to deter bad behaviours and provide redress to tenants in a sector that’s previously been referred to as the ‘Wild West’.
Additionally, the bill would apply the Australian Privacy Principles to landlords, agents, and other people dealing with tenants’ personal information.
Currently, many real estate agencies and rental application platforms are not subject to the Privacy Act due to the small-business exemption.
Although there’s talk of removing this exemption, the Federal Government is yet to close this loophole, making it an opportune time for states and territories to plug the gap.
Don’t ignore AI
The proposed NSW reforms offer a significant improvement for renters, but they don’t fully address key issues when it comes to the use of AI in the rental sector.
Although the proposed legislation would require agents to disclose when AI-generated or digitally-modified images are used in rental listings, it does not address the use of AI in tenant assessments.
There has been growing concern about the way these platforms use ‘black box’ artificial intelligence systems to evaluate applicants.
Often, neither the applicants or real estate agents know exactly how these algorithms score, rate and rank applicants – making it impossible to know whether they are being used fairly.
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NSW must show the way
As it works its way through the parliament, there is a risk that the protections the NSW bill offers renters will be watered down before it passes into law, or that the regulations it delegates are poorly designed.
But for renters in NSW and around the country, it’s crucial that the bill passes in its current form, and the regulations it enables must be designed to effectively protect renters’ data.
Other states and territories should pay close attention to the NSW reforms but should also consider taking aim at AI-powered tenant assessments.
There is a long way to go before the collection, use and storage of renters’ information is regulated effectively – and action must be taken now.