Privacy while renting
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This information is a guide and should not be used as a substitute for professional legal advice.
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Summary
In rooming houses many people live together, so it is important that residents feel safe and are protected from nuisance. Victoria’s rental laws state that the rooming house operator has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to make sure you can enjoy your room and communal facilities without serious disturbance and that you have peace, comfort and privacy. This is called your right to ‘quiet enjoyment’.
The rooming house operator may make house rules about the use of the rooming house. If they do make rules, they must make sure that the rules are reasonable and are followed and interpreted fairly. They must also give you a copy of the rules and put a copy up in your room. If there is an onsite manager in your rooming house, they must assist with ensuring the rules are followed and that the communal areas are safe.
The rooming house operator does not need permission to enter the communal areas of your rooming house. However, if the rooming house operator or their authorised agent (such as a repair person) does enter the communal areas, they should only do so for a genuine reason, and they should not interfere with your quiet enjoyment or stay longer than necessary.
If the rooming house operator or their agent wants to enter your room, there are rules they must follow about when and how they enter, and how much notice they need to give you and any other residents in the room. If the rooming house operator or their authorised agent do not follow the rules, there are steps you can take. If they have failed to follow any of these rules, you can send them a ‘notice of breach of duty’ or make an application to VCAT, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The rooming house operator or their agent must not harass you, and there are other laws to protect your privacy and security, both in your room and communal areas. There are steps you can take if these laws are not followed.
What is a rooming house?
A rooming house is a building with rooms for rent where 4 or more people can live. The rooming house operator decides who lives at the property and usually has individual agreements with each resident for paying rent. Find out more on our page about rooming houses.
Steps required for a rooming house operator to enter
Victorian rental laws, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, set out the limited reasons when the rooming house operator, their agent or other authorised people can enter your room. The law also sets out what they must tell you before they enter, when they can enter and how much advanced warning they must give you. If they do not follow all the rules, they may be committing an offence, and you do not have to let them in.
If the rooming house operator or their agent follows the rules, you have a legal duty to permit the entry to your room.
Even when people are allowed to enter, there are still rules about how they do so, how long they can stay and what they can do while they are there. If those entering do the wrong thing, you can send a notice of breach of duty to the rooming house operator and ask them to follow the rules. You can also apply to VCAT for a restraining order and other types of orders. You can also report the rooming house operator to Consumer Affairs Victoria. What to do depends on your circumstances. See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
There must be a legally valid reason for entry
Your rooming house operator can request to enter your room, but only for specific permitted reasons. The reasons that a rooming house operator or their agent can use to enter your room are listed in Victoria’s rental laws.
If they want to enter for any other reason, they must get your consent at the time they want to enter. If your room is a shared room, they must also get the consent of the other residents in your room. You can also suggest a date and time for the entry to happen.
Entry by the rooming house operator or their agent, other than permitted by the law, may be an offence unless they have a ‘reasonable excuse’. This can include:
- If it is necessary to provide a service, but only during the hours listed in the rooming house rules and only where you have agreed to or requested the service
- VCAT has made an ‘abandonment’ order – an order that says you have given up your right to live in the room
- An emergency, when it is necessary to enter to save a life or valuable property
These are the reasons for entry by a rooming house operator that do not require your consent:
- A ‘notice to vacate’ or a ‘notice of intention to vacate’ has been given, and the rooming house operator or their agent wants to show the room to a potential resident
- To carry out a legal duty under rental laws, other laws or a requirement listed in your rooming house agreement. For example, to undertake repairs or to check the smoke detector is working. See the list of operator duties on our page about rooming houses
- To show a prospective buyer or lender, if the rooming house is being sold or used as security for a loan
- To carry out a routine inspection, with a minimum of 4 weeks between inspections. At this inspection, the rooming house operator or their agent can inspect the room. If you are not keeping it in good condition or not following the rules of your rooming house agreement or the rooming house rules, they can give you a notice of breach of duty. Learn more on our page about renter breaches
- There are reasonable grounds to believe you have not followed your duties under the law. For example, you have caused damage to the room or communal areas. Learn more on our page about rooming houses
Even if the rooming house operator or their agent has legal permission to enter your room, they must still follow the rules about how and when they can enter, as well as when and how you must be told.
Under rental laws, the rooming house operator or their agent cannot enter your room, or attempt to enter, to try to force you to leave, either permanently by evicting you or temporarily, for example by asking you to leave during an inspection.
The only way you can be legally evicted from your room is when a ‘possession order’ is made by VCAT and you do not leave by the date in the order. In this case, only the police can evict you. They will usually contact you to let you know when they are coming. To learn more, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.
It is an offence for the rooming house operator or their agent to try to force you to leave, such as restricting access to communal areas, withdrawing services or otherwise causing you to ‘abandon’ the room (leave it permanently without the proper notice). You can apply to VCAT for a restraining order to stop them. You can also report them to Consumer Affairs Victoria. See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
You must receive proper notice
Even if the rooming house operator or their agent has a legally valid reason to enter your room, they must send you the proper notice – a written ‘notice of entry’ – setting out the reason and required information, and given to you with the correct amount of advanced warning.
See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or agent does not follow the rules.
The notice of entry must:
- Be in writing – a phone call telling you about it is not enough
- State the legal reason for the entry
- Be given to you in advance, to ensure you are given the minimum notice period. See the information on this page about how much advanced warning is required
You must receive a notice of entry in one of these ways:
- In person between 8 am and 6 pm
- By mail
- By electronic communication, such as email (if you have given written consent to receive notices this way)
For more information on consenting to have notices sent electronically, see our page on starting a tenancy.
You must receive the notice of entry at least 24 hours in advance, except in the case of a routine inspection, which must be given 48 hours in advance. There are also rules for the manner, time and length of entry.
If you have been given the correct notice of entry for a legally valid reason, you have a legal duty to allow entry by the rooming house operator or their agent, or other people authorised to visit, such as for repairs. This is the case, even if the time does not suit you or you will not be home.
The rooming house operator or their agent is allowed to enter your room between 8 am and 6 pm, but not on public holidays.
Those authorised to enter must enter in a reasonable manner and can only stay for the time needed for the purpose of the entry. Entering in a reasonable manner may include showing respect for your privacy, such as not looking through wardrobes during a routine inspection. It also includes not damaging any of your belongings during the visit.
If those entering do the wrong thing, depending on what has happened you can apply to VCAT for a restraining order to stop them, an order restricting entry, or compensation.
See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or agent does not follow the rules.
Even if the rooming house operator or their agent is not doing the wrong thing, you may still be able to apply to VCAT to limit the times when entry to your room can occur. For example, you may have a health condition that means entry is not appropriate early in the morning.
To learn more, see the information on this page about applying to VCAT and what orders VCAT can make.
Here’s what you can do next
- See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or agent does not follow the rules
- Learn about the additional rules that rooming house operators and their agents need to follow when they are selling the rooming house on our page about when your rental home is being sold
Your legal duty to permit entry
If a proper notice of entry has been given by your rooming house operator or their agent, you must permit the entry – it is a legal duty (obligation).
If you refuse the entry, the rooming house operator may give you a notice of breach of duty, which you generally have 3 days to comply with.
If you do not comply after this time, the rooming house operator may apply to VCAT for a compliance order. VCAT will give you notice of its hearing about the compliance order, where you can explain your circumstances. If VCAT makes a compliance order, and you do not follow it, the rooming house operator may give you a notice to vacate, which can lead to eviction. For more information, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.
Make a plan for your pets
If you have written consent to keep a pet, or live with an assistance animal, make sure they are safely secured to prevent them from escaping or injuring visitors or themselves.
Particular circumstances
There are rules about certain activities relating to your privacy and security, such as changing the lock to your room, or if the rooming house operator or their agent collects and uses your personal information. There are also steps you can take if you are being harassed by your rooming house operator or their agent. There are also rules about increasing room capacity (the number of people who can legally share a room), as well as things you can do about your safety and security in your room or in communal areas.
Safety and security in communal areas
The rooming house operator may make house rules about the use of the rooming house, including about communal areas and visitors. If they do make rules, they must make sure that the rules are reasonable and are followed and interpreted fairly. They must also give you a copy of the rules and put a copy up in your room.
There may be an onsite manager in your rooming house, who can assist with ensuring the rules are followed and that the communal areas are clean and safe. The law does not require a rooming house operator to tell you whether there is an onsite manager living at the rooming house or present during business hours. It may be helpful to ask about this before signing a residency agreement. Regardless of whether a manager is onsite, all rooming house operators and managers must respect your right to quiet enjoyment.
If the rooming house operator does not meet their duties in relation to communal areas, including in relation to house rules and your quiet enjoyment of the areas, you can send them a notice of breach of duty or make an application to VCAT.
See the information on this page about how to send the rooming house operator a notice of breach of duty and our page about going to VCAT.
The only people who can access communal areas are:
- The rooming house operator and their staff (who can enter these spaces at any time without notice). However, they should not interfere with your quiet enjoyment and they should not be there without a genuine reason
- Genuine visitors, residents or authorised agents
It is not uncommon for people to hang around in common areas, whether they are genuine visitors or unauthorised. Residents may feel unsafe because of nuisance, disturbance or intimidation, particularly late at night.
If you have a safety or security concern:
- Record and report the issue to the rooming house operator
- Contact the onsite manager, if there is one
- If the person causing problems is connected to a resident and their conduct is unlawful, the rooming house operator may issue a breach of duty notice to the resident. See our page on renter breaches
- If there are reasonable grounds to believe a visitor has committed a serious act of violence or poses a risk to the safety of people on the premises, and the property has an onsite manager, the rooming house operator can issue a ‘notice to leave’ requiring that person to leave immediately. See our page on notices to vacate and eviction
- If you are in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000)
If safety issues in the common areas continue, raise your concerns with the rooming house operator and outline what you want done about it. It can be helpful to join with others who have the same concern and raise the issue together as a group. Your complaint is more likely to be taken seriously.
If the issue remains unresolved or is urgent and relates to the rooming house operator failing to follow a duty under the law, such as implementing house rules, you can send them a notice of breach of duty or apply straight to VCAT. See the information on this page about what to do when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
You can also make a complaint about the rooming house operator to your local council or Consumer Affairs Victoria. See the information on this page about how to get help.
Victoria’s rental laws do not cover the use of CCTV cameras in the common areas of rooming houses. However, privacy and surveillance laws can apply. How they apply, such as about recording and storing data, access to it and what notice to residents is required, can be complicated.
Residents with safety concerns may be able to install security devices, including CCTV, but this usually requires the rooming house operator’s written consent if it involves modifying the premises in any way. Any installation must comply with the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 and must not unreasonably interfere with the privacy of other residents or cause a nuisance.
For example, a camera with cloud-based storage that records and faces only the inside of your own room (not towards the door or common areas) is likely to be permitted. However, if other people are entering your room as guests, you should inform them that CCTV is operating before they enter.
If CCTV is installed on the exterior of the building, residents should generally be told that recording is taking place. If the rooming house operator has placed CCTV inside the building without your consent, seek legal advice. Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how to get help.
If you need access to CCTV footage, as evidence in a VCAT matter, it may be possible to apply to VCAT to get orders requiring the operator to produce the footage. Be aware that many systems only retain recordings for a limited time. For more detail, see our page on modifications.
Safety in your room
When you apply to move into a rooming house, the operator must give you a notice telling you if you will be renting a room for yourself or a shared room. If you live in a room with ‘exclusive occupancy’ (only you) and the rooming house operator wants to add a new resident to your room, they must get your permission.
If you live in a shared room and feel uncomfortable about a new resident living in your room (or their visitor), you should check the rooming house rules to see whether they are being followed. If not, you should tell the rooming house operator or onsite manager, if there is one. If the rooming house operator or onsite manager does not take reasonable steps to protect your safety and follow the rules, you can send them a notice of breach of duty. If the matter is urgent, and there is a risk to your safety, you can apply straight to VCAT for a restraining order or other urgent action.
If you are in immediate danger, call Victoria Police on Triple Zero (000).
See the information on this page about what to do when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
For more information on shared rooms and your rights, and visitors, see our page about rooming houses.
Changing the locks
Common reasons for changing locks include safety concerns, such as family violence, the risk of violence, or a recent break-in.
Rooming house operators have a legal duty to comply with the minimum standards listed in the Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023. This includes fitting your room with a lock that can be operated by a key from the outside and can be opened from the inside without a key. The key may be a physical key, an electronic fob or information used to operate a lock such as a PIN number.
If you do change the locks because of safety concerns, you must give the rooming house operator a copy of the new key as soon as possible.
If you live in a shared room, you cannot change the locks to exclude other residents of the room unless you have a lawful reason, such as an intervention order or an immediate risk to your safety. For more information, see our pages on rooming houses and renter breaches.
Family violence is committed by a relative, partner or former partner, or someone who is like family – such as long-term residents who you have lived with for several years. Personal violence is committed by someone who is not family. Violence may also include financial, emotional and other types of coercive control.
If family or personal violence is the reason you are changing the locks, give the rooming house operator a copy of any safety notice or intervention order that excludes the person from the room and communal areas of the rooming house. It may also be appropriate in some circumstances to ask the rooming house operator to deactivate electronic access, such as an entry fob or password, to prevent the excluded person from entering. If you are not satisfied with their response, you can make an urgent application to VCAT. See our page on going to VCAT.
The rooming house operator or their agent is not permitted to give the new key to the person who committed the violence for as long as an intervention order or safety notice is current. If they do, you should apply for a restraining order from VCAT. See the information on this page about how to apply to VCAT.
If you are in immediate danger, call Victoria Police on Triple Zero (000).
Financial assistance
To help pay for the locks, you may be able to apply for immediate financial assistance from the Victorian Government’s Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme. To learn more, call the Financial Assistance Scheme helpline on 1800 161 136.
Here’s what you can do next
- For support with family violence, call 1800RESPECT at 1800 737 732 (available 24/7)
- Read the Tenants Victoria Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit [PDF] for information on other safety measures you can take, such as security lights, alarm systems and CCTV
- See the additional information on this page about family or personal violence
Taking photos or videos
Victoria’s rental laws do not clearly allow or prohibit the rooming house operator or their agent from taking photos or videos inside your room or the rooming house.
The rooming house operator or their agent can take photos during an entry to your room or the rooming house if there is a legitimate reason, such as assessing repairs or investigating a possible breach of your rooming house agreement, rooming house rules or rental laws. In these cases, they should only take photos for that purpose.
The rooming house operator or their agent does not have a general right to photograph the inside of your room. If a rooming house operator or their agent is taking photos without a clear purpose, they may be failing to follow the Privacy Act 1988 or failing in their duty to respect your right to quiet enjoyment.
See the information on this page about what to do when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
Family or personal violence
Family violence is committed by a relative, partner or former partner, or someone who is like family, such as long-term residents who you have lived with for several years. Personal violence is committed by someone who is not family. Violence may also include financial, emotional and other types of coercive control.
An intervention order is a court order to protect a person, their children and their home from another person’s behaviour. If you experience violence from a family member, partner or ex-partner, you can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a family violence intervention order or personal safety intervention order, or contact your local community legal centre. If the person who has committed the violence breaches the intervention order, contact the police.
Victorian rental laws do have protections for people experiencing family or personal violence, including ways to end a residency, or exclude a co-resident who is using violence. To learn more, see our page on family violence. See also the information on this page about changing the locks on your room and other security measures.
However, the law does not clearly explain how risks of family violence or personal safety should be managed when someone needs to enter a room. If you have any safety concerns, speak with the rooming house operator and agree on how access will be handled. This includes during inspections by prospective residents.
If the rooming house operator is putting your safety at risk by not following the law, such as giving a new key to a resident who has committed violence, you can apply to VCAT for a restraining order to stop them carrying out or repeating the behaviour. See the information on this page about how to apply to VCAT.
If you are in immediate danger, call Victoria Police on Triple Zero (000).
Here’s what you can do next
- For support with family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (available 24/7)
- See the Tenants Victoria Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit [PDF]
- See our page on family violence
Harassment by the rooming house operator or their agent
Your rooming house operator or their agents (including contractors) cannot harass you. They have a duty to ensure you experience quiet enjoyment of your room. This might include harassing phone calls, emails or letters, sending a tradesperson to your room without proper notice, or a tradesperson making inappropriate comments during an entry to your room. If this occurs, you should write down or keep evidence of the harassment and tell the rooming house operator or their agent as soon as possible.
If a tradesperson or other contractor harasses you, even if you cannot prove exactly what happened, your feedback to the rooming house operator or their agent is still important. It helps them to identify broader problems with the contractors they use.
If the rooming house operator or their agent does not fix the problem, or they are the person harassing you, you can apply to VCAT for a restraining order to stop them. See the information on this page about orders that VCAT can make.
Use of your personal information
There are rules on how your rooming house operator or their agent must collect and handle your personal information. These rules are in the Privacy Act and Victoria’s rental laws, the Residential Tenancies Act.
The Privacy Act covers organisations that earn more than $3 million a year, which may include some real estate agents and large rooming house providers. The Privacy Act also covers any organisation that runs a residential tenancy database, regardless of how much money it makes a year.
A real estate agent or rooming house provider must tell you if they are covered by the Privacy Act. If they are, they must have a privacy policy that they can give you. This policy should also be available on their website. That policy covers what information they need to collect, what happens if you don’t provide it, who they usually disclose the information to, and that you can access your information or complain about its use.
An agent covered by the Privacy Act can only collect personal information from you that is reasonably necessary for them to carry out their role as an agent. They usually cannot collect sensitive information without your consent. This includes things like your race, religion, sexual orientation and criminal record.
If a rooming house operator or real estate agent collects a document that contains your tax file number strict rules apply, including that they must usually blank out the number if showing the document to anyone else.
Subject to laws about tenancy databases, a rooming house operator or real estate agent may supply information about you to a residential tenancies database, which contains information about renter breaches, such as failing to pay rent or causing damage. Learn more on our page about tenancy databases.
If you are worried about how an agent is using your personal or confidential information, make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner or Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Learn more about how your information is handled under the Privacy Act on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.
If privacy laws do not apply to an agent or rooming house operator, they must still follow privacy protection rules under the Residential Tenancies Act. Your legal right to quiet enjoyment also states that the rooming house operator must not unreasonably restrict or interfere with your privacy.
Certain questions cannot be asked when you apply to rent a room, such as asking for your bank statements that contain daily transactions, or for information that might be discriminatory, such as your race, religion or sexual orientation – unless they give you a written reason for why this is needed.
The rooming house operator or their agent can only use your personal information to decide if you are suitable for the room, or for another legitimate reason, such as complying with a court order. For example, they cannot sell your contact details or use your contact details to send you promotional material. Learn more on our page on applying for a rental property.
If the rooming house operator or their agent fails to follow these rules, you can report them to Consumer Affairs Victoria. See the information on this page about when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules.
When the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules
There are actions you can take when the rooming house operator or their agent does not follow the rules about privacy and entry or access to your room. What action to take depends on what rules were broken and your situation.
Send the rooming house operator a notice for breach of duty
You can send your rooming house operator a notice for breach of duty if they have not followed a duty under Victoria’s rental laws, the Residential Tenancies Act.
Duties are sections of that Act called ‘duty provisions’. There are special consequences if they are not followed, including potential fines and payment of compensation to you.
The rooming house operator is failing in their duties, for example, if they do not respect your quiet enjoyment of your room (section 122), such as not giving you enough advanced warning when entering your room and staying too long during an inspection, or not implementing house rules (section 127).
You can use the Consumer Affairs Victoria official form: Notice for breach of duty to owner of rooming house [Word]
A notice for breach of duty can tell the rooming house operator to:
- Fix the problem
- Not repeat the same or similar breach
- Pay you compensation for any loss you have suffered because of their breach of duty
For more information, including how to fill out a notice, see our page on landlord breaches and other notices. See also our page on rooming houses.
If you send a breach of duty notice to your rooming house operator for failing to ensure your quiet enjoyment, they have 3 days to respond. After this period, you can apply to VCAT for a compliance order requiring them to act or to stop certain conduct. See the information on this page about how to apply to VCAT.
However, if the issue is serious and urgent, such as the rooming house operator wrongfully giving keys to a person that poses a threat to you or your family, you do not need to wait. In these cases, we recommend that you apply immediately to VCAT for a restraining order or other urgent action.
You can also apply to the Magistrates’ Court for an intervention order.
If you are in immediate danger or need urgent protection, contact Victoria Police on Triple Zero (000).
Apply to VCAT
When there is a disagreement between you and your rooming house operator or their agent, VCAT can make a final decision on how to fix it. VCAT is not a court, but its decision has to be followed.
If you decide to go to VCAT, the order you ask it to make will depend on several factors, including which rules the rooming house operator or their agent broke and how serious the threat is to your privacy and safety.
Restraining order
You can apply to VCAT for a restraining order against the rooming house operator or their agent to either stop something that goes against Victoria’s rental laws or your rooming house agreement, or to force them to take action that is required under rental laws or your rooming house agreement.
Examples of when a restraining order may be appropriate against the rooming house operator or their agent include:
- To ensure certain contractors who may pose a threat or behaved poorly during a previous visit are not used
- To stop, schedule or limit the number of inspections of a room, when these are against the law
- To stop harassing visits to your room or other harassing contact such as excessive phone calls, emails or letters. It is not considered harassment if there is a legitimate reason for the visits or contact, such as dealing with a serious safety concern
- For failing to follow the rules for protecting those experiencing personal or family violence, such as preventing you from changing locks, or giving a new key to a person committing violence
- To stop entering your room (or trying to) to force, or attempt to force, you to leave
If a rooming house operator or their agent does not follow a restraining order, you should write down what happened and keep any evidence. You can apply to VCAT for further orders, including compensation. You can also report the behaviour to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which will investigate and may issue a fine against the rooming house operator or their agent. See the information on this page about how to apply to VCAT, how to report an offence to Consumer Affairs Victoria and how to get help.
Compliance and compensation order
If your rooming house operator or their agent has not followed a duty under Victoria’s rental law, the Residential Tenancies Act, you can apply for a compliance order that forces them to do so. Examples include not allowing you quiet enjoyment of your room, not following house rules, or failing to fix a problem after being issued with a notice of breach of duty. You can also ask for compensation for any loss, such as a rent refund for the time your quiet enjoyment was affected. For information on how to calculate your loss of enjoyment, see our page on claiming compensation.
These types of orders are best where there are no immediate or serious safety issues. They could include failing to give enough notice for an entry to your room, or staying longer than required to complete the purpose of the visit.
Order limiting or specifying entry
If your rooming house operator or their agent gives you the proper notice to enter your room but does something wrong during the visit or because of it, you can ask VCAT to make an order that limits how they can enter your room in the future.
These orders usually only last for a set time, not the whole tenancy. An example may be that during an inspection the rooming house operator or their agent goes through your drawers and photographs what is inside.
Compensation order for damage or loss during entry
You can apply to VCAT for compensation if your belongings were damaged or stolen during an entry to your room. However, you must be able to show that the rooming house operator or their agent caused, allowed or contributed to the loss in some way. For example, a tradesperson hired by the rooming house operator or their agent spread dust through the room or damaged your television.
For more information, see our page on claiming compensation.
To apply, fill out VCAT’s general application form. If the dispute relates to family violence, use VCAT’s form for family violence applications.
You can complete the form online or download a PDF and fill it in electronically or print it and complete it by hand. If you want a hard copy form posted to you, call VCAT on 1300 018 228.
When you get to the section ‘What orders do you want VCAT to make?’, write:
- Section 472 – if you require a restraining order
- Section 141 – if you require compensation for damage to or loss of your belongings during entry
- Section 209 – for a compensation or compliance order relating to a breach of duty
- Section 452 – general application – for anything else
For more information, see our page on going to VCAT.
VCAT will let you know the time, date and place of the hearing.
At VCAT, the people who hear and decide cases are called members. A VCAT member listens to each side, reviews any evidence and resolves the dispute based on the law, either at the end of the hearing or in writing later.
It is best that you go to the hearing to tell your side of the story. If you don’t go, you run the risk of not having your side heard, or your application may be dismissed. While you may feel stressed about the hearing, VCAT is less formal than a court and Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page on how you can get help.
Here’s what you can do next
- View our step-by-step videos on going to VCAT and our one-minute animation on compensation
- Look at the information on the VCAT website about how to prepare for the hearing, including how to prepare evidence and what happens on hearing day, and what help you can get from the family violence support team
Report an offence to Consumer Affairs Victoria
It is an offence under rental laws for a rooming house operator to enter your room in a way that does not follow the rules, to try to force you to leave the room, or to ignore the rules about your privacy and safety.
You can report an offence to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which can issue an infringement notice and make the rooming house operator or their agent pay a fine. For serious offences, Consumer Affairs Victoria can start a case against the rooming house operator in the Magistrates’ Court, which could result in a larger fine or even a criminal conviction.
Consumer Affairs Victoria has an online complaint form, or you can call them on 1300 55 81 81.
For more information, see our page on complaints about landlords and agents.
Make a complaint
If you are worried about how your personal or confidential information is being handled by the rooming house operator or its agent, you can make a complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner or Consumer Affairs Victoria.
If you are worried about how your rooming house is being operated, you can contact your local council.
Get help and other resources
If you need support in understanding your privacy while renting, help is available.
Tenants Victoria services
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Renter Support Line
For all Victorian renters.
Other organisations
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Anika Legal
For Victorian renters who cannot afford a private lawyer.
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Victoria Legal Aid
For all Victorians.
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Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG)
For Victorians aged 50 and older.
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Federation of Community Legal Centres
For all Victorians.
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Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program (TAAP)
For Victorian renters in private rentals, rooming houses and caravan parks who are in financial hardship or affected by family violence.
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Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT)
For all Victorians.
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Consumer Affairs Victoria
For all Victorians.
There are step-by-step guides, self-help tools and other resources to assist you with understanding when a rooming house operator or their agent can enter your room, going to VCAT, and the protections and support available for those experiencing personal or family violence.
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Rooming House Residents Handbook
View Tenants Victoria’s pocket guide on moving into, living in, and moving out of, a rooming house.
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Consumer Affairs Victoria webpage
Consumer Affairs Victoria has an informative webpage about when and how your landlord can enter your rental property.
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Step-by-step video on going to VCAT
This Tenants Victoria video walks you through the entire VCAT process – from gathering the necessary documents to understanding what happens during a hearing.
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Prepare for a VCAT hearing
VCAT has step-by-step information on how to prepare for a hearing.
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Video on compensation
Tenants Victoria has prepared a one-minute animated video about compensation.
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Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit
Tenants Victoria’s informative Family Violence Protection Tenancy Kit contains detailed information about protections in renting laws for people affected by family violence.
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The Orange Door website
The Victorian Government’s The Orange Door service can also connect you to legal and financial support.
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Victims of Crime website
The Victorian Government’s Victims of Crime service offers free support and information for those affected by crime, including a phone hotline.
The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and landlords in numbered sections.
The sections in this list relate to privacy and entry to your room. Click on a link to see more about the section.
- Section 17 – Room used by operator or operator’s family or employees
- Section 94G – Restriction on use of personal information provided by prospective residents
- Section 94H – Rooming house operator must not request prescribed information from applicants
- Section 122 – Quiet enjoyment – rooming house operator’s duty
- Section 126 – House rules
- Section 127 – Duties relating to house rules
- Section 136 – Access to room
- Section 137 – Grounds for entry of a room
- Section 138 – Manner of entry
- Section 139 – What must be in a notice of entry?
- Section 140 – Resident has duty to permit entry
- Section 141 – What if damage is caused during an entry?
- Section 142 – What if a person exercising right of entry fails to comply with Division?
- Section 142O – Termination by abandonment
- Section 142R – Offences relating to interference with rights
- Section 142Z – Order of abandonment
- Section 209 – Compliance and compensation order for breach of duty
- Section 472 – General power of Tribunal to make determinations
- Section 480 – Offence to fail to comply with determination of Tribunal
The Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023 set out the privacy, safety, security and amenity standards in rooming houses.
The Privacy Act 1988 may also apply to the handling of your personal information as a renter and when the rooming house operator or their agent takes photos.
The Surveillance Devices Act 1999 applies to the use of CCTV.
