NSW Tenants Can End Leases Early Due to Domestic Abuse, Landlords Cannot Blacklist Them, and Fines for False Abuse Claims

Residential Tenancies Amendment (Domestic Violence Reform) Bill 2025

11 Nov 2025: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Council

Legislative Assembly

Assent

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Topics

data privacy domestic abuse domestic violence housing privacy rental market residential tenancies tenancy

Introduced by: The Hon Anoulack Chanthivong MP (ALP); The Hon Rose Jackson (ALP); Rose Jackson MLC (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Tenants can end their rental agreement early without penalty if they have evidence of domestic abuse against them or their child and need to leave to avoid further abuse, and they won't have to tell the abuser they're leaving the shared rental.
More trusted professionals--like counselors or advocates--will be allowed to confirm someone is experiencing domestic violence so they can break their lease safely
Survivors can change locks without asking the landlord if there's a court order or bail condition keeping the abuser out.
Landlords and their agents cannot publish photos or videos of a rental property that show a tenant's belongings unless the tenant gives written consent.
Victims won't have to pay for damage caused by the abuser--NSW's tenancy tribunal (NCAT) can sort that out
NCAT can split and return rental bonds so survivors can recover their share--even if the bond was joint.
Landlords and their agents cannot list a tenant in a tenancy database if that tenant ended their lease due to domestic abuse.
Tenants can refuse to let photos or recordings of their belongings be published if they have evidence of domestic abuse or fear that publication will expose them or their child to abuse.
Landlords and tenants cannot change the locks on a rental property without the other person's agreement, unless there is an emergency, a court order, or a need to prevent domestic abuse.
Anyone who handles termination notices or evidence of domestic abuse must store and destroy those documents securely. Using or sharing this information without legal permission is banned.
Giving false or misleading information about domestic abuse declarations carries a fine.

News articles and press releases

Residential Tenancies Amendment (Domestic Violence Reform) Bill 2025

The Hon. ROSE JACKSON, Minister for Water — 2025-09-09

In circumstances of domestic violence, a tenant can currently end their lease immediately and without paying a break fee by serving a domestic violence termination notice on the landlord with required evidence attached. The victim-survivor also needs to notify any co-tenants, but does not need to give them the evidence. One of the most used forms of evidence that can be attached to a domestic violence termination notice is a declaration from a so-called competent person that the renter is, indeed, in circumstances of domestic violence. The Act currently contains a list of competent persons who can make that declaration.