Making a competent person declaration for tenancies affected by domestic abuse

What is a competent person declaration?  

A competent person declaration can be used by a tenant as evidence of domestic abuse to support a Domestic Violence Termination Notice, enabling them to end their tenancy early without penalty.

There are other types of evidence that can be used to support a Domestic Violence Termination Notice. For more information on evidence of domestic abuse, please visit Understanding domestic abuse in rental situations.

A competent person declaration is recognised by law as evidence of domestic abuse for tenancy purposes. It remains valid after the tenancy has ended and can be used to support other tenancy matters related to domestic abuse, including helping a tenant to:

• avoid financial liability for property damage caused by domestic abuse
• request that adverse information is not listed on a tenancy database, or that existing adverse information is removed.

This declaration allows tenants to show they are experiencing domestic abuse, without going to police, applying to a court, or engaging with the justice system.  

Making a competent person declaration is voluntary. You are not obliged to provide a declaration.

The contents of a competent person declaration are not reviewable by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which means you won’t be questioned on the declaration.

Who can make a competent person declaration

The law sets out who can act as a competent person and make a declaration that a tenant, or their dependent child, is affected by domestic abuse.

Competent persons include the following.

Registered health practitioners

• A registered health practitioner who holds either a general or specialist registration under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) 2009, in one of the following health professions:
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice
  • Chinese medicine
  • chiropractic
  • dental -  including the profession of dentist, dental therapist, dental hygienist, dental prosthetist and oral health therapist
  • medical
  • medical radiation practice
  • midwifery
  • nursing
  • occupational therapy
  • optometry
  • osteopathy
  • paramedicine
  • pharmacy
  • physiotherapy
  • podiatry
  • psychology

Social workers

A person who is, or is eligible to be, a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers, other than a student member.

Approved counsellors

A person approved by the Scheme Executive under the Victims Act 2013 to provide approved counselling services.

Financial counsellors

A person registered as a financial counsellor with the Financial Counsellors’ Association of NSW.

Australian legal practitioners  

A lawyer who holds a current Australian practising certificate under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW).

Prescribed employees of eligible agencies

Prescribed employees must be the head of the agency or authorised by the head of the agency to make declarations. The eligible agencies are:

• a NSW government agency that provides child protection services. 
• a NSW government agency or a non-government agency that receives government funding that provides services that relate to domestic abuse, sexual assault or emergency accommodation. 
• a NSW government agency or a non-government agency that receives government funding that provides direct services that are:
  • homelessness or housing services
  • safety and welfare services for older people or people with a disability 
  • legal, health, housing or welfare services for:
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
    • migrants
    • refugees
• Note: a direct service is a service where the worker has personal contact with the renter. This can include contact in person or remotely, such as by phone or online. 
• member organisations for Domestic Violence NSW
• corporations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth). For more information, visit The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations website.

For more information on prescribed employees, including the role of eligible agencies, please visit Prescribed employees - What agencies need to do.

Role of a competent person

Competent persons are trusted professionals that can help a victim-survivor tenant end a tenancy affected by domestic abuse by completing a declaration that the tenant can use as evidence.

As a competent person, you may already support people experiencing the physical, emotional, financial or social impacts of domestic and family violence as part of your professional role.

Personally consulting with the tenant or dependent child 

Before completing a declaration, you must personally consult with the person the declaration relates to. This will be either:

• the tenant who is seeking to end their tenancy, or
• the tenant’s dependent child.

The consultation can happen in person, by telephone or by video link.

You should only consult with a dependent child if it is appropriate. When deciding this, consider:

• the child’s age and maturity
• whether contact with the child is trauma-informed and safe.

Forming a professional opinion

After the consultation, your role is to form a reasonable professional opinion about whether the tenant, or their dependent child, is a victim of domestic abuse.

You do this based on:

• your personal interaction with the tenant or dependent child
• your professional judgement and expertise on domestic abuse
• your observations
• the information provided to you by the tenant or dependent child during the consultation
• For more information about what constitutes domestic abuse, please visit Understanding domestic abuse in rental situations.

Acting in your professional capacity

You must make your assessment in your professional capacity. This means you are acting as part of your professional role, not as a friend, family member or informal support person.

By signing the declaration, you are providing evidence that, based on your professional assessment, you reasonably believe the tenant or their dependent child is a victim of domestic abuse.

This does not mean you are proving that domestic abuse occurred.

If you are not satisfied that the tenant or dependent child is a victim of domestic abuse, you should not make a declaration.

What you are not required to do

You are not required to prove that domestic abuse has occurred.

Your role is limited to deciding whether, based on your professional assessment, you reasonably believe the tenant or dependent child is a victim of domestic abuse.

You are not a decision-maker about the tenant’s broader legal rights, the outcome of any tenancy dispute, or whether another person has committed an offence.

You are not required to:

• investigate the matter
• verify the tenant’s account with other people
• assess the credibility of the tenant or alleged perpetrator
• contact or seek information from the alleged perpetrator
• collect extra evidence
• decide whether domestic abuse can be proven in court or the Tribunal
• provide additional information beyond what is included in the declaration 
• give evidence in any later Tribunal proceedings.

Collecting, using or disclosing personal information

The declaration contains sensitive personal information. You must keep the information in the declaration, and any copy of the declaration you hold, confidential and secure.

You may collect, hold, use or disclose personal information about the alleged perpetrator only where it is needed for the purpose of making the declaration.

You must not contact or seek information from the alleged perpetrator. This could put the tenant, dependent child or other people at risk.

False or misleading information

It is an offence to knowingly provide false or misleading information in connection with a declaration. It is also an offence to sign the declaration knowing that it is false or misleading.

It is not an offence to make a declaration based on information you believed was true at the time.

For example, if the information you relied on is later found to be false or misleading, but you did not know this when you made the declaration, this does not mean you committed an offence.

Completing the declaration form

After you have consulted with the tenant or, where appropriate, the tenant’s dependent child, and made your professional assessment, you can complete the declaration form:

Declaration by competent person

The same declaration form is used whether the declaration relates to the tenant or the tenant's dependent child.

A separate declaration must be completed for each tenant who is seeking to rely on a declaration as evidence of domestic abuse.

It is important to read the form carefully and complete all relevant sections. Based on the information provided to you, you will be asked to provide:

• the tenant's details
• the rental property address
• the period the tenant lived at the property
• details of the tenant's dependent child, if the declaration relates to a dependent child
• details of the alleged perpetrator
• the relationship between the tenant (or dependent child) and the alleged perpetrator
• your professional details
• the competent person category that applies to you
• your professional assessment and declaration

If you are a prescribed employee, you must also confirm that you are either:

• the head of the agency, or
• authorised by the head of your agency to make the declaration.

If the declaration relates to a dependent child, complete the dependent child section of the form. If more than one dependent child has experienced domestic abuse, only one declaration is required to support a Domestic Violence Termination Notice.

You are not required to provide additional information beyond what is included in the declaration form.

Completing the declaration does not require you to give evidence in the Tribunal. 

After making a declaration

Give the completed declaration to the tenant. The tenant must attach the signed declaration to their Domestic Violence Termination Notice and give both documents to their landlord or agent.

You are not required to take any further action after completing the declaration.

You may keep a copy of the declaration and any relevant notes for your own records. Any copy you keep must be stored securely and kept confidential.