Family violence and personal violence

There are protections for people affected by family violence or personal violence in Victoria’s rental laws.

Family violence is committed by a relative, partner or former partner, or someone who is like family. Personal violence is committed by someone who is not family. Violence may also include financial, emotional and other types of coercive control.

This page summarises the protections in the rental laws for people affected by family or personal violence, including protecting bonds and making safety modifications to rented homes. The term ‘landlord’ (officially called the rental provider) also includes rooming house operators, caravan owners and caravan park owners.

There is more detailed information about family and personal violence in our Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit, also on this page.

The information on this page and in our Tenants Victoria Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit aims to help people in rental housing to know their rights, have a secure home and limit any financial losses.

Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit

Tenants Victoria’s informative Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit has detailed information about protections in renting laws for people affected by family violence or personal violence.

Topics include:

• Changing the locks and other safety modifications
• Getting an intervention order
• Staying in the rental property, or leaving it
• Privacy restrictions for inspections and other entries into your home
• Information for public housing renters
• Preventing tenant database listings
• Hearings at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)

An intervention order is a court order to protect a person, their children and their property from another person’s behaviour.

Family violence and personal safety intervention orders

If you experience violence from a relative, partner or former partner, or someone who is like family, you can apply for a family violence intervention order.

If you experience violence from someone who is not family, you can apply for a personal safety intervention order.

Other types of orders and notices

On this page, a reference to an intervention order may also include any of the following:

• Family violence safety notice: A notice issued by police if they think that someone needs immediate protection. This can be issued at the family violence incident
• Interim order: An order made by the court for immediate protection until a final order is made
• Final order: An order made by the court confirming the conditions of an FVIO or PSIO
• Undertaking: A written promise by the person using family or personal violence to the person who needs protecting and to the court that they will follow certain conditions
• Recognised non-local Domestic Violence Order (DVO): An order made in another state or country that is a recognised domestic violence order under the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme Act 2016 (Vic). This means that an order made in another state or country may be recognised in Victoria

If you are affected by family violence or personal violence, whether you are on a lease (officially called a rental agreement) or not, you can apply to VCAT to either remove the person using violence from the lease or to remove yourself, if you wish.

If you are affected by family violence, an intervention order is not required to do this. However, you should still consider applying for one for safety reasons.

If you are affected by personal violence, an intervention order is required to do this, and it may be preferable that the order excludes the person using violence from the property.

You can apply to VCAT without the consent of the landlord.

VCAT must hear the application urgently, within 3 days of it being made. It can order the end of the lease entirely, or require the landlord to enter a new lease with you.

In making its decision, VCAT must consider the hardship you and any dependent children might suffer, and whether this hardship would be greater than the landlord’s hardship, as well as considering if you can fulfil your duties under the lease.

You do not need the consent of the rental provider to change any external door or window lock if the lock is not part of a master key system.

If you have an intervention order against someone who is a renter at your address, you can get the locks changed even if your name is not on the rental agreement.

If your name is not on the rental agreement and you want to stay at that address, you can apply to VCAT to have a rental agreement created in your name.

You can make some modifications to a rented home without needing consent from the landlord. These include installing security lights, alarm systems and CCTV systems that are not hardwired.

The law also provides that the landlord cannot unreasonably withhold consent for other modifications that will increase safety and security – such as hardwired security lights, alarm systems and other safety devices.

If you are a ‘protected person’ under an intervention order, you can request that any inspection held at the property be ‘by appointment only’, and not ‘open for inspection’. By law, the landlord or their agent must follow your request.

You can object to photos or videos being taken for advertising purposes, if they might identify someone living at the property who is at risk of family or personal violence.

No intervention order is required to make the objection, but it must be in writing and given to the landlord or their agent.

Once you have given written notice, the landlord or agent must not take any photos or videos that you object to. If any photos or videos are taken, you can ask to review them before they are used to advertise the property.

If you have asked to review any photos or videos, the landlord or agent must not use them before they have been reviewed. They need your written consent to use them.

If it has been more than 12 months since photos or videos were taken for advertising purposes, the landlord or agent must get your written consent before they can be used.

If the landlord or agent gives you a notice to vacate for an act or breach that was caused by someone who subjected you to family or personal violence, you can apply to VCAT to challenge it.

Challenges on the grounds of family or personal violence can be made for notices to vacate given for the following reasons:

• Damage
• Danger
• Threats and intimidation
• Failure to follow a VCAT order
• Breaching a duty after having received 2 previous breach-of-duty notices for the same breach
• Using the property for an illegal purpose
• Drug-related conduct in public housing

If the landlord applies to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) for any of your bond, you should tell RDRV about the family or personal violence as soon as possible. RDRV should then refer the application directly to VCAT for a formal hearing. Generally, the RDRV process of discussion or mediation is not considered appropriate in circumstances of family or personal violence. For more information, see our page about going to RDRV (Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria).

VCAT can make orders that protect your bond if the loss or damage the landlord is claiming for was caused by the person using family or personal violence.

If the person using violence is on the lease, VCAT can order that costs for unpaid rent, bills or damage come out of their share of the bond, not your share.

You do not need an intervention order for VCAT to make these orders.

If the person using violence is not on the lease, VCAT can order that you are not responsible for any damage or other losses suffered by the landlord if these were caused by the actions of the person using violence.

An intervention order is required for VCAT to make these orders.

If you do not have a copy of the bond receipt, you can call the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) on 1300 137 164 and ask for the bond number. The bond number can be used on the RTBA website to get written confirmation of the bond details.

Tenant databases, sometimes referred to as ‘blacklists’, are run by private companies that collect information about renters and make it available to landlords, real estate agents and renters, usually for a fee.

If you have been affected by family or personal violence, landlords and database operators must not list information about you on a tenant database in these circumstances:

• If a lease was breached due to an act or circumstance of family or personal violence
• If VCAT has made an order terminating a lease or creating a new lease for you, where there is family or personal violence
• If the landlord has given you a notice to vacate and VCAT has found the notice to be invalid
• If you have given the landlord a written statement objecting to a listing on a database because the information relates to an act or circumstance of family or personal violence, and evidence of this. Evidence can be:
  • A copy or extract of an intervention order, or
  • A letter, report, written statement or other documentary materials from a support worker, health professional, religious entity, crisis accommodation provider, government child protection service, Victoria Police, Australian Federal Police, police service from another state or territory, school or educational institution, family and friends, your employer or a lawyer

Find out more on our page about tenant databases or ‘blacklists’.

Specialist services are available for people experiencing family and personal violence.