Mr ANOULACK CHANTHIVONG (Macquarie Fields—Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building, and Minister for Corrections) (22:54): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Domestic Violence Reform) Bill 2025. The Minns Labor Government has already implemented the most significant reforms to rental laws in more than a decade by ending no-grounds evictions and making it easier for renters to have pets. The Government has also introduced further reforms to improve protection of tenants' personal information and privacy, which, as of this evening, has passed this House and is now before the Legislative Council. The bill represents a further milestone in the Government's ongoing reforms to make renting fairer in New South Wales and to help ensure that renters can make a house their home. Every person in New South Wales deserves a safe home but for too many home can be the most dangerous place of all. This bill will increase protections for renters experiencing domestic and family violence. It is a positive demonstration of the Government's commitment to tackling the serious issue of domestic and family violence in our community and improving the lives of vulnerable people in New South Wales.

Domestic and family violence is more common than many of us realise, and encompasses physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse. Tragically, 34 people in New South Wales lost their lives due to domestic violence in the 12 months ending March 2025. That is one every 11 days. That is unacceptable. Domestic and family violence is also the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia, as victims are often forced to flee their homes, jobs and support networks to escape the perpetrator. It is critical that the more than 2.3 million residents who rent their homes have a clear legal pathway to secure their own safety and the safety of their dependents. Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act in 2019 allowed victim-survivors to end their tenancy immediately without paying a break fee, as long as they provided specified evidence of domestic violence. The reforms also sought to prevent liability for property damage caused during a domestic violence offence. Victim-survivors were also protected from being listed on a tenancy database if a lease was ended using the domestic violence provisions.

The Government has completed a statutory review of the 2019 reforms. The report from the review was tabled in this House in August this year. NSW Fair Trading completed extensive public and targeted consultation to inform the review. During the public consultation in late 2022, 20 submissions, 220 survey responses and 163 quick poll responses were received. The Government initiated the next stage of the review in 2024 with targeted roundtables co-hosted by the NSW Rental Commissioner, Ms Trina Jones, and the Women's Safety Commissioner, Dr Hannah Tonkin. Overall, more than 400 individuals and 40 organisations contributed feedback. During consultation we heard that the current protections can be life-saving for those who need to rely on them. Unsurprisingly, there was overwhelming support for maintaining and further expanding those protections, particularly among domestic violence, legal and tenancy advocates. We heard that some renters, particularly those who are marginalised or in regional areas, continue to face barriers in escaping violence and in establishing and maintaining a safe home, and that there is a lack of awareness about the domestic violence protections.

The review found that the domestic violence provisions in the Residential Tenancies Act have improved outcomes for renters experiencing domestic violence and remain valid and appropriate. However, feedback from stakeholders identified opportunities to strengthen protections and improve their clarity and usability. The final review report made 37 recommendations, of which 21 require legislative amendment. The reforms in this bill have been developed to implement those recommendations. Finalisation of the bill involved further detailed consultation with key stakeholders to ensure the proposed reforms are practical and effective.

I now turn to the details of the bill. In circumstances of domestic violence, a tenant can currently end their lease immediately, 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 cotenants 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 a renter is in circumstances of domestic violence. The Act currently contains a list of competent persons who can make a declaration.

The review recommended clarification of the existing categories of competent persons and expansion of the list to improve access for vulnerable groups who may not have access to mainstream services. The bill will implement these recommendations by replacing references to social workers who are registered with the Australian Association of Social Workers with social workers who are members of the association or eligible for membership; providing that government employees in child welfare who provide a competent person declaration will need to be involved in the direct provision of services; and including government employees who provide domestic violence, sexual assault, refuge and emergency accommodation services.

The review also heard that it is important to ensure that employees making a declaration have an appropriate understanding of what constitutes domestic violence. That is why the bill introduces the concept of a prescribed employee and provides for the regulations to prescribe further detail on what this will mean in practice. The regulations will expand the category of competent persons in order to improve access for vulnerable groups, including tenants with a disability; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenants; tenants who are migrants, refugees or have limited English; and tenants who are living in remote or regional areas. Further consultation will be undertaken on the best way to expand access for these groups.

Importantly, the bill will shift the obligation to notify a cotenant of a domestic violence termination from the victim-survivor to their landlord or agent. This change will address significant concerns raised in consultation that requiring a victim-survivor to give notice can lead to fears about contact with the alleged perpetrator, causing them to delay leaving a tenancy and risking further violence. To assist landlords and agents, the secretary will approve a standard form that will be used to notify each remaining cotenant of a termination due to domestic violence. The notice will be required to be served after the termination date to ensure the victim has the opportunity to safely leave, but within seven days of that date. The notice will usually be served by email or post, without face-to-face contact with an alleged perpetrator, to ensure the notice can be issued safely. If a landlord fails to give the written notice to a cotenant, it will not invalidate the termination notice.

The bill also updates terminology, such as replacing references to "domestic violence offender" with references to "alleged perpetrator", to make it clear that the person has not been found guilty of a domestic violence offence. The bill introduces the term "domestic abuse", which has a clearly understandable definition in the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007. The bill also includes a new order that, under that Act, a serious domestic violence prevention order can be included as another form of evidence that can be used to terminate a tenancy. Non-perpetrator cotenants will retain an existing two-week grace period where they are only liable for their share of the rent, and this will now start from the termination date. Existing safeguards, including confidentiality obligations, will continue to apply, with new and increased penalties of $11,000 for individuals or $49,500 for breach of confidentiality and a power for the tribunal to order compensation for losses caused by such a breach.

One of the most common issues raised during the review was the financial liability that is often faced by victim‑survivors for property damage caused by an alleged perpetrator. The impact of this financial liability can be long lasting and prevent victim-survivors from securing safe housing in the future. Property damage can include broken doors, smashed windows or other damage inflicted during violent incidents. Feedback through the review was clear: The current limitation on liability for property damage is not working as intended. Victim‑survivors and other cotenants should not be liable for damage caused by a perpetrator's violence. However, the current law sets the evidentiary bar too high, making it almost impossible to access the existing protection in practice.

The current protection applies to damage that occurs in the commission of a domestic violence offence. The review heard that, as a result, victims appearing before the tribunal may be required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the damage is a result of such an offence, or show evidence of a perpetrator's conviction. The bill will amend the existing protections at sections 54 and 54A of the Act to provide that a victim or a non‑perpetrator tenant is not liable for property damage that occurs in conjunction with conduct that would reasonably be considered to be domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse has the same meaning as in section 6A of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007. It includes any behaviour directed against a person with whom the alleged perpetrator has a domestic relationship that is violent or threatening, that coerces or controls, or that causes them fear for their own or another person's safety. Using "domestic abuse" instead of "a domestic violence offence" will improve access to the protection from liability for damage while also ensuring that the protection is limited to situations that are recognised in law as constituting domestic abuse.

The bill will further add new section 54B to clarify that, where liability is disputed, the tribunal will only need to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the damage occurred in conjunction with conduct that would reasonably be considered domestic abuse. The tribunal will be required to give weight to the existence of any of the forms of evidence that could support a termination for domestic violence. For those victim-survivors who have left an abusive situation or are able to stay in their home, the bill will support them to protect their privacy and security and prevent them from being located by the alleged perpetrator. It does that by improving protections relating to the publication of marketing photos and videos and changing of locks. A landlord can currently access the premises once in the 28 days before marketing a property to take promotional photos and videos, provided the tenant has been given reasonable notice and an opportunity to move their belongings.

Under existing laws, a landlord needs a renter's consent to publish interior photos or videos that show their belongings. A renter cannot unreasonably withhold consent, but the Act contains an express provision that it is not unreasonable for a renter to withhold consent if they have the forms of evidence that would enable them to terminate a tenancy for domestic violence. Feedback to the review was that a victim-survivor's safety can also be compromised by exterior photos of a property. Belongings may be clearly visible, including in driveways, backyards and through windows. The bill will extend the existing protections to include any photographs or videos of the exterior of the premises that show a renter's belongings. The bill will also clarify that informed consent for publication of photos or videos is required before each advertising campaign and require a renter to be given seven days notice of the intent to take photos for advertising, and an opportunity to move their belongings so that they are not visible. Currently, the renter only has to be provided with reasonable notice.

Importantly, landlords and agents will need to provide copies of the photographs or recordings to the tenant when seeking their consent. A landlord who believes a renter has unreasonably withheld consent will be able to apply to the tribunal to resolve the dispute. The review also found that there is a lack of certainty about whether a victim-survivor of domestic violence can refuse consent for publication of photos or videos where they have already fled violence but remain in danger. The bill aims to put beyond doubt that a tenant can reasonably withhold consent if they can provide evidence that they or their dependent child experienced domestic abuse in a previous tenancy or if they have a reasonable fear that publication may expose them or their dependent child to domestic abuse. The bill will also improve security by amending the current provisions relating to changing locks and other security devices.

Currently, changing the locks is permitted without consent if the tenant has a reasonable excuse, such as where an apprehended violence order excludes a tenant or other occupant from the premises. The bill will expand the list of reasonable excuses for changing locks without consent, in direct response to stakeholder feedback. It will do this by adding two new reasonable excuses. The first will expand the list of orders that can be used as the basis for changing locks to include a local, interstate or foreign domestic violence order; an injunction granted under the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975; or bail or parole conditions where those orders or conditions prohibit the alleged perpetrator from having access to the premises.

The second will apply where the alleged perpetrator is not a tenant. It will explicitly allow a tenant to change a lock or security device if the tenant reasonably believes this is necessary to prevent a domestic violence offence or domestic abuse being committed against them, a dependent child or another occupant of the premises. This will enable the changing of locks to protect other occupants, such as extended family members, living in the premises if they have been the target of domestic abuse. To ensure the lock change is carried out properly and to minimise the risk of damage to the premises, the bill requires a tenant to use a locksmith or other qualified person unless the lock is changed in an emergency, in accordance with a tribunal order, or where it is not practicable in all the circumstances. A victim-survivor is required to give a copy of a new key to any non-perpetrator co-tenants and the landlord.

Not only is it necessary to assist victim-survivors of domestic violence to leave an unsafe situation, but it is also necessary to remove barriers to them finding a new, safe home. One such barrier is recovery of their share of a bond. Victim‑survivors often struggle to recover their share of the bond when they leave a tenancy, particularly if the alleged perpetrator is a co-tenant. This can impact on their ability to find new accommodation. While victim‑survivors are not liable for property damage caused by domestic violence, in reality the bond is generally viewed as indivisible and for the whole of the tenancy, which means that, in many cases, the victim‑survivor will still end up paying for the damage.

That is why the bill will give the tribunal power to notionally divide the bond into shares and order the repayment of the appropriate amount for each co-tenant, ensuring that a victim-survivor does not have the cost of repairing excluded property damage deducted from their share. Administratively, to support the reforms in the bill, in future each tenant's bond contribution will be recorded up-front in the standard form tenancy agreement. This will provide a record of how much each co-tenant contributed towards a bond. If there is no evidence of the original bond contribution, the tribunal will be able to presume that co-tenants contributed equally to the bond for the purpose of an order for payment of bond monies.

Tenancy databases are another significant barrier to victim-survivors finding new accommodation. Tenancy databases are a form of blacklisting, and agents use databases to try to assess the risk of renting a property to a person. Being listed on a database will often prevent someone from being able to secure a rental property. If a tenant ends their tenancy using a domestic violence termination notice, the Act already bans a landlord from blacklisting them on a database. However, feedback to the review was that the current ban is too narrow and needs to go further to ensure that tenants who are experiencing, or have experienced, domestic violence are not listed, even if they ended their tenancy in another way. Victims may not always end their tenancy using the domestic violence provisions under the Act, and may not even be aware of their right to do that.

The bill will expand the current ban on database listing to include a victim-survivor who can provide the evidence of domestic abuse that could be used to end a tenancy, even if they did not actually use that evidence to end their tenancy. The intent is to ensure that a tenant who is experiencing domestic abuse is not unfairly listed on a database and prevented from escaping to a safe home simply because they did not end their tenancy using the domestic violence provisions.

The bill will also make the process of ensuring removal of a prohibited tenancy database listing easier and faster by providing a new role for NSW Fair Trading. Currently, if a landlord, agent or database operator refuses to take steps to have a listing removed, the victim-survivor needs to apply to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal to obtain an order requiring them to do so. The bill will replace this process with a new dispute resolution pathway for victim-survivors who have evidence of domestic abuse. A victim-survivor who has been listed on a database will need to object firstly to the landlord or agent and provide the evidence of domestic abuse. If that does not result in the listing being removed, the victim-survivor will be able to apply directly to Fair Trading for an order requiring the database operator to remove the listing. If a database operator does not comply with the order, substantial penalties of $49,500 can apply. It is intended that this new pathway for removal of listings will result in a simpler, faster process for victim-survivors. For a victim-survivor who needs a safe place to live and faces the barrier of a database listing, a speedy process to ensure removal of the listing is crucial and could be lifesaving.

The changes in the bill will better protect renters who are impacted by domestic violence. The bill will improve the operation of the existing laws and introduce important new protections. It will help to reduce disputes and provide clarity and certainty, not only for victim-survivors of domestic violence but also for all other parties involved. I commend NSW Fair Trading and my office for delivering a bill that will make a clear difference for victim-survivors in the rental market. I thank all individuals and groups who have taken the time to have their say during the course of the review and the development of the bill, including Domestic Violence NSW, the Tenants' Union of NSW, the Real Estate Institute of NSW, Legal Aid NSW, our critical community legal centres and many others. The bill is another example of the Minns Labor Government's commitment to making renting fairer and protecting victim-survivors of domestic and family violence. I commend the bill to the House.