Ending a NSW tenancy because of domestic violence — your rights

If you or a dependent child in your care are in circumstances of domestic violence, you have a specific right under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 to end your tenancy immediately, without paying any compensation or break fee.

The law is designed to protect you. The pathway is straightforward, and it does not require your landlord’s agreement. You do not have to wait out a notice period. The tenancy can end on the same day you give the notice.

If you are looking for information about the standard process for leaving a tenancy early, our guide on how to break a lease early in NSW covers the general rules. This article is specifically about the domestic violence pathway.

When you can use this right

Under section 105B of the Act, you can give a domestic violence termination notice if you or a dependent child of yours is in circumstances of domestic violence. A dependent child is a child who lives at the property (permanently or from time to time) and is wholly or partly dependent on you for support (s105A).

You are in circumstances of domestic violence if any one of four situations applies:

• A conviction: A relevant domestic violence offender has been found guilty of a domestic violence offence committed against you or your dependent child while you were a tenant at the property (s105B(2)(a)).
• A Domestic Violence Order (DVO): A DVO is in force that was made to protect you against a relevant domestic violence offender (s105B(2)(b)).
• A family law injunction: An injunction under the Family Law Act — issued under section 68B or 114 of that Act, on the basis of family violence — is in force against a relevant domestic violence offender (s105B(2)(c)).
• A competent-person declaration: A competent person has declared that you are a victim of domestic violence perpetrated by the offender during the tenancy (s105B(2)(d)).

A “relevant domestic violence offender” means a co-tenant, occupant, former co-tenant or former occupant, or someone with whom you have or had a domestic relationship (s105A).

Important clarification: the domestic violence does not have to have occurred at the rental property itself. Section 105B(2)(a) requires the offence to have been perpetrated during the currency of your tenancy — not on the premises specifically.

The four supporting documents you can attach

When you give the notice to your landlord, you must attach one supporting document. Under section 105C(2), the document must be one of the following:

1. Certificate of conviction — a copy of the conviction certificate from the offender’s criminal proceedings (s105C(2)(a)).
2. Domestic Violence Order — a copy of the DVO in force against the offender. This can be a local DVO, an interstate DVO, or a foreign order (s105C(2)(b)).
3. Family law injunction — a copy of the injunction granted under section 68B or 114 of the Family Law Act in proceedings against the offender (s105C(2)(c)).
4. Competent-person declaration — a declaration made by a competent person in the form prescribed by the Regulation (s105C(2)(d)).

You only need one of these four documents.

Who is a “competent person”?

Section 105A sets out exactly who can make a competent-person declaration. The list is:

• A registered health practitioner registered under Division 1 or 2 of Part 7 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) — this covers medical practitioners, nurses, and other registered health professions
• A person registered as a social worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)
• An employee of a government agency that provides child welfare services
• An employee of a non-government agency that receives government funding to provide services relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, refuge, or emergency accommodation
• A person approved by the Commissioner of Victims Rights to provide approved counselling services under the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013
• A person prescribed by the regulations

The competent person must be someone you (or your dependent child) have actually consulted in the course of their professional practice (s105C(5)). They cannot simply be an acquaintance who holds one of these roles.

How the termination notice works

The notice must be in writing. You give it to your landlord and to each co-tenant (s105B(1)). The notice given to the landlord must have the supporting document annexed to it (s105C(2)).

Under section 105C(1), the termination date you specify can be on or after the day you give the notice. There is no advance notice period. The tenancy can end immediately.

If you are in a fixed-term agreement, you can set the termination date before the end of the fixed term. You are not required to see out the remaining fixed-term period.

Prescribed form: The notice itself must be in the form prescribed by the regulations (s105C(3)). If you are using a competent-person declaration as your supporting document, that declaration must also be in the prescribed form (s105C(2)(d)(i)).

Confidentiality: Anyone who receives the supporting document — including your landlord and their agent — is prohibited from using or disclosing it except as permitted by law (s105C(3)). They must also store and dispose of it securely (s105C(4)). These are legal obligations with a penalty of up to 20 penalty units for breach.

Declaration contents are not reviewable: If you use a competent-person declaration, its contents cannot be challenged in Tribunal proceedings (s105F).

What happens after you give notice

Once you give a valid domestic violence termination notice and vacate the premises:

• No compensation or break fee: You are not liable to pay any compensation or other additional amount for leaving a fixed-term agreement early (s105D(1)).
• Your tenancy ends: If you are a co-tenant, your tenancy under the agreement ends on the termination date you specified, provided you also vacate the premises (s105D(2)).
• Bond return: The standard bond return process still applies. You should document the property’s condition when you vacate and apply for your bond to be returned in the usual way.
• DV damage protection: You are not responsible for any damage caused to the property during the commission of a domestic violence offence by the offender. Section 54A specifically protects the victim from being held liable for a co-tenant’s actions in those circumstances.

Protections for co-tenants who remain

If you give a domestic violence termination notice, it ends your tenancy. It does not automatically end the tenancy of a co-tenant who stays.

The remaining co-tenant’s rent: A co-tenant who is not the domestic violence offender and who continues to occupy the property is not liable to pay more than their proportional share of rent for two weeks from the date the notice was given (s105D(3)). That amount equals the rent payable immediately before the notice was given, divided by the number of tenants before the notice (s105D(4)). After that two-week period, the agreement continues on its existing terms for those who remain. If the formula produces an unfair amount in a given case, the Tribunal has the power to order a different figure (s105D(5)).

If a remaining co-tenant wants to end the agreement entirely: Any co-tenant can apply to the Tribunal for a termination order for the whole agreement, if the Tribunal is satisfied a domestic violence termination notice was validly given by another co-tenant (s105E).

When the offender is a co-tenant: Under section 79(1), when a final apprehended violence order is made that prohibits a co-tenant from having access to the property, that co-tenant’s tenancy is terminated automatically by operation of law. This does not affect the tenancy of anyone else who remains.

Other DV-specific protections

Several other protections exist alongside the termination pathway:

Damage liability: Section 54A protects you from liability for any damage caused to the property during a domestic violence offence committed by a co-tenant. You cannot be held responsible for that damage.

Tenancy database: Section 213A prohibits a landlord or agent from listing your personal information on a residential tenancy database because you ended your tenancy using a domestic violence termination notice. This protection applies whether your tenancy ended or your co-tenancy ended under Division 3A of Part 5.

Changing locks: Section 71(2)(d) makes it a reasonable excuse to change locks without the landlord’s consent if an apprehended violence order prohibits a person from having access to the property. If you need to act quickly to secure the premises, the law recognises this as a lawful reason.

No key obligation: Section 72(2) means you are not required to give a copy of the new key to a person who is prohibited from having access to the property by an apprehended violence order.

Coming change — the Domestic Violence Reform Act 2025

The Residential Tenancies Amendment (Domestic Violence Reform) Act 2025 (No 65 of 2025) was assented to on 28 October 2025. It has not yet commenced.

When it does commence, it will replace section 71 to broaden the grounds for changing locks without the landlord’s agreement. The new grounds will include DVOs (including interstate and foreign orders), family violence injunctions, bail or parole conditions, and situations where the tenant reasonably believes a lock change is necessary to prevent a domestic violence offence. These changes are not yet in force. Until proclamation, the current four grounds in section 71(2) still apply.

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The domestic violence termination pathway exists because the law recognises that safety comes first. You have a right to leave without financial penalty. The supporting documents are straightforward, the notice can take effect immediately, and your landlord is legally required to keep your information confidential.