Draft Residential Tenancies Bill 2009

A draft Bill has been prepared to update and reform the NSW residential tenancy laws and was released by the Government for community consultation. The Bill is not law at this stage and changes may be made to it as a result of this consultation before it is introduced to Parliament in 2010. For more information about the scope of the consultation, refer to the Statement of intent, which is available in PDF at the bottom of this page.

Submissions on the draft Bill closed on 18 December 2009.

Contents of the draft Bill

An overview of each Part of the Bill is available on the pages listed below. Or if preferred, you can read the whole draft Residential Tenancies Bill 2009 which is available in PDF at the bottom of this page.

• Part 1: Preliminary defines the main terms used in the Bill and sets out who is and isn’t covered by the tenancy law
• Part 2: Residential tenancy agreements includes matters relating to the terms and conditions of a written lease
• Part 3: Rights and obligations of landlords and tenants sets out basic rights and obligations regarding things such as rent increases, access, repairs, alterations, security and more
• Part 4: Changes of tenant and landlord deals with a range of situations where the tenant or landlord changes, such as upon death, change of co-tenants or sale of the premises
• Part 5: Termination of residential tenancy agreements sets out the reasons for which tenancies can be ended and procedures to be followed by a tenant or landlord to end their agreement
• Part 6: Recovery of possession of premises includes provisions covering mortgagee repossessions and goods left behind when a tenant vacates
• Part 7: Social housing tenancy agreements consolidates into one Part all of the exemptions and provisions specific to social and public housing tenants and landlords
• Part 8: Rental bonds includes provisions about lodging and claiming rental bonds and other matters that are currently dealt with under the Landlord and Tenant (Rental Bonds) Act 1977
• Part 9: Powers of Tribunal contains the general order making powers and jurisdiction of the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal when dealing with tenancy disputes
• Part 10: Enforcement sets out the powers of Fair Trading investigators to investigate and enforce compliance with the legislation
• Part 11: Tenancy databases specifies the reasons a person may be listed on a tenancy database, how disputes about listings are to be handled and more
• Part 12: Miscellaneous includes a range of miscellaneous provisions on matters such as the service of notices and the functions of the Director-General.

What happens next?

The Government will consider all feedback and submissions received on the draft Bill. At this stage, it is intended that the Bill will be introduced into Parliament in early 2010. The final Bill may differ from the draft Bill as a result of comments made during consultation. 

If the Bill is passed by Parliament it will not come into effect immediately. The existing Regulations, including a revised standard lease and condition report, will need to be re-made and this will involve further public consultation.

Contact us

Should you need to contact us regarding the draft Bill, send your comments to Fair Trading by email, post or fax:

Email: policy@services.nsw.gov.au

Post:
Principal Policy Officer
Residential Tenancies Bill 2009
Fair Trading Policy Division
NSW Fair Trading
PO Box 972
Parramatta NSW 2142

Fax: 9338 8990