Rental applications have come under serious regulatory scrutiny in 2026, with new standard forms rolling out across several states and a landmark privacy ruling against a major rental application platform. Here's what's actually changed, and what landlords and agents are and aren't allowed to ask for.
A Landmark Privacy Ruling Against a Rental Platform
In April 2026, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) found that RentTech platform 2Apply, operated by IRE Pty Ltd, breached the Privacy Act by collecting personal information from renters that was unfair and excessive. This is a significant decision because it confirms, through an actual regulatory finding rather than general guidance, that rental platforms and landlords are not entitled to collect whatever information they like just because an applicant is desperate to secure housing.
New Standard Application Forms Are Rolling Out
Several states have introduced, or are introducing, mandatory standard forms that limit what a rental application can ask for.
In Victoria, from 31 March 2026, landlords and agents must use a new prescribed standard rental application form, and third-party platforms are banned from charging renters application or rent payment fees — only the rental provider, agent, or a bank can charge for these.consumer.
In South Australia, a new standardised rental application form has applied since 1 January 2026, building on what the state describes as its biggest tenancy reforms in 30 years.
What Landlords Genuinely Need to Assess an Application
According to guidance from the NT Commissioner of Tenancies, landlords are only entitled to ask for information that helps them answer three core questions: can this person be identified, can they pay the rent, and will they look after the property. Anything outside those three purposes is, by definition, information a landlord doesn't need.
South Australia's government guidance sets out concrete limits: prospective tenants cannot be asked to provide more than two documents relating to each of identity verification, ability to pay rent, or suitability to enter the tenancy.
What Landlords and Agents Cannot Ask For
Multiple state authorities have published explicit lists of information that is off-limits in a rental application. According to South Australian guidance, landlords and agents cannot request:
Marital status, race, nationality, religious or political beliefs
Medical records or health status
Information relating to the applicant on social media
Bank statements without the account number and transaction details redacted
Vehicle registration numbers or pet microchip numbers
Level of education
Past legal action, or past tenancy disputes
Information about whether the applicant has sought help with a bond payment
The Northern Territory's guidance is equally direct, listing marital status, age, gender, sexuality, intention to start a family, race, health status, and criminal history as examples of information that is "not relevant to a tenancy application and may be discriminatory". It also confirms this can be a strict liability offence — meaning a landlord or agent can be found to have breached the rule regardless of whether they intended to.
Financial Documents: What's Actually Reasonable
When it comes to proving you can pay rent, the approved categories are narrower than many applicants assume. NT guidance lists current payslips, an income statement, or a letter from an employer as the primary acceptable documents — bank statements are only meant to be used if none of these are available, and even then, they should be redacted to remove information not relevant to verifying income. South Australia's rules go further, requiring that any bank or financial statement provided has account numbers and outgoing transactions redacted or removed entirely.
If You're Asked for Something That Feels Off
If a landlord, agent, or rental platform asks for something that isn't on the approved list for your state — a social media handle, unredacted bank statements, or details about your health, relationship status, or past disputes — you're entitled to question it. The 2Apply case shows that this isn't just a theoretical protection; regulators have already taken formal action against a real platform for exactly this kind of overreach.
Where EzyFlats Fits In
EzyFlats' tenant verification process is built around three specific, purpose-driven checks: government-issued ID via Stripe Identity (biometric face match to the ID document), documented income verification through payslips or an employment letter, and a structured seven-question reference survey sent to prior landlords or referees. For corporate-paid placements, an employer letter is accepted in place of personal income documents.
That's a deliberately narrow list. It doesn't extend into the kind of information regulators have flagged as unnecessary or intrusive — there's no request for marital status, health information, social media activity, or unredacted financial history. Each piece of information collected maps directly to one of the three legitimate purposes tenancy authorities point to: confirming identity, confirming ability to pay, and confirming a reliable rental history.
Listings themselves also go through a pre-screening step before they go live — no self-serve listings, and only real photographs, with stock or AI-generated images explicitly disallowed. That same structured approach applies to how tenant information is collected: verify once, and that verification is reused across the application, rather than renters repeatedly handing over documents to different parties with different standards.
This doesn't replace your state's specific rules on what a landlord can and can't ask for — those still apply regardless of which platform is used — but a verification process built around clearly defined, limited purposes is a meaningfully different starting point than the kind of overreach regulators have already taken action on.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Application rules differ by state and continue to change — always check the current requirements with your state's tenancy authority or consumer affairs office.