Consider amendments as part of the Residential Tenancies Act 2006 (Vic) review

The Department of Justice and Community Safety’s review of the Residential Tenancies Act 2006 (Vic) consider amending the Act to:

• empower Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal members to make an order under section 233A of the Act if a member is satisfied that family violence has occurred after considering certain criteria—but without requiring a final family violence intervention order containing an exclusionary condition
• provide a clear mechanism for apportionment of liability arising out of the tenancy in situations of family violence, to ensure that victims of family violence are not held liable for rent (or other tenancy-related debts) that are properly attributable to perpetrators of family violence
• enable victims of family violence to prevent their personal details from being listed on residential tenancy databases, and to remove existing listings, where the breach of the Act or the tenancy agreement occurred in the context of family violence
• enable victims of family violence wishing to leave a tenancy to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an order terminating a co-tenancy if the co-tenant is the perpetrator of that violence—including, where relevant, an order dealing with apportionment of liability for rent (or other tenancy-related debts) between the co-tenants
• prevent a landlord from unreasonably withholding consent to a request from a tenant who is a victim of family violence for approval to reasonably modify the rental property in order to improve the security of that property