In NSW, tenants can take direct and immediate action to end their tenancy to escape violence. They can do this without penalty if they or their children are experiencing domestic violence.

The NSW Government introduced changes to the NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2010 in 2019 to allow tenants to end their tenancy this way. Around 33 per cent of people are renting in NSW; we would like to know how much people know about the domestic violence rental laws and how they are being used.

Your feedback will help make sure the laws are still appropriate, or if they need to be changed to make them work better for those who use or are affected by them.

* Please note: the content in this consultation may raise issues for you. If this is the case you can seek further advice and support from the links on the Domestic violence in a rental property page.

Tell us what you think

We want to hear from tenants, property managers, landlords and people who provide advocacy, support or legal services for victims of domestic violence.

To have your say, complete our survey. You can also upload or send a written submission.

Have your say by 5 pm Friday, 2 December 2022.

The issues paper includes information and questions that may help you with drafting your submission.

Thank you for your feedback

This engagement is now closed. Thank you to participants for providing your input which we are currently reviewing.

Complete a survey

This survey has now concluded.

Upload a submission

Upload a submission

Submissions for this consultation are now closed.

Submissions close 5 pm Friday, 2 December 2022

We invite public submissions from anyone interested, including:

  • residential tenancy advocacy organisations
  • the NSW real estate and property services industry
  • industry associations and organisations
  • domestic violence support and advocacy groups
  • refuge or emergency accommodation organisations
  • health practitioners and other professionals known as ‘competent persons’ under the law. This includes registered social workers, approved counsellors and government child welfare officers
  • legal practitioners.

If you wish to participate, we will value submissions from victim-survivors of domestic violence who may have used or considered using the domestic violence rental laws. You can request to remain anonymous and you do not have to provide any personal details with your submission.

Submissions will be made publicly available, unless otherwise stated

Please note that submissions will be made publicly available. If you do not want your personal details or any part of your submission published, please indicate this clearly. However, there may be times where the Government is required to release the information in your responses, such as under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

If you have concerns about your submission being published or being connected back to you, or if it raises concerns for your safety, anonymous submissions will also be accepted and will be referred to as such in the final report.

Form of submissions

Submissions may be a short letter outlining your views on a particular question, issue or point of law. They can also be a more detailed document covering a range of issues or specifically targeting the questions identified in the issues paper.

Where possible, it will be helpful if you provide examples or case studies to support your submission, de-identified if necessary.

Privacy collection notice

Privacy collection notice

This consultation is for NSW Fair Trading, Department of Customer Service.

Have your say consultations are run by the NSW Department of Customer Service (McKell Building, 2-4 Rawson Place, Haymarket NSW 2000).

We are interested in hearing from the community and will use the information we collect from you to help develop the programs and services that NSW Government provides.

We are collecting only minimal personal information from you. We may collect basic information like your name and contact details, if you choose to provide them. You may provide some personal information in response to questions that we ask you. For example, we may ask you about your experiences or opinions about a particular topic.

Having your say is voluntary and you are not legally required to provide any personal information to us. For some consultations, though, you will not be able to have your say unless you agree to include your personal information.

If you do provide personal information to us, you have a right to access it, and can ask us to correct it if it is wrong.

We may share personal information you provide with other parts of the Department of Customer Service (for example, with our Data Analytics Centre) so that we can conduct analysis across all consultations and refine our engagement methodology.

Where we conduct a consultation on behalf of a partner agency, we would usually share the information that we collect with that agency. Partner agencies for each consultation are listed on the webpage for that consultation.

For privacy information about your use of the NSW Government website generally, please see the NSW Government’s website privacy statement.

You can contact our Privacy Coordinator by calling 13 77 88 or by emailing Privacy@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.

Other ways to have your say

Posting or emailing a submission

You can also email your ideas, suggestions or a written submission to:

dvreview@customerservice.nsw.gov.au

Mail your submission to:

Residential Tenancies - Domestic Violence Provisions Statutory Review
Policy & Strategy, Better Regulation Division
Department of Customer Service
4 Parramatta Square
12 Darcy Street
Parramatta NSW 2150