Every person has a right to feel safe in their home and live free from violence.

No matter what your relationship is with the person who is violent towards you, or whether you are named as a tenant on the tenancy agreement, you have rights under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (the Act).

If you are in a domestic relationship with the person who is violent towards you, such as a spouse, a de facto partner, a dating partner, a family member or an informal carer, you may be able to apply for a domestic violence order at a Magistrates Court to place limits on the behaviour of the violent person.

QCAT also accepts applications from people experiencing domestic and family violence for an order to:

• be recognised as the tenant
• remove the name of the person who has committed an act of domestic and family violence from the tenancy agreement
• restrain the person who has committed an act of domestic and family violence from causing further damage or injury
• prevent your personal information being listed in a tenancy database where a breach of the agreement is a result of the actions of another person who has committed an act of domestic or family violence, or
• end your tenancy agreement altogether.

When seeking to be recognised as a tenant or to have your name removed from the agreement, you can speak directly with your property manager/owner. It is important to capture any decisions or outcomes in relation to the tenancy in writing. If you have concerns about disclosing domestic and family violence information to the property manager/owner, you should seek further tenancy or legal advice.

Property managers/owners should be aware these situations may occur and must be handled with a level of sensitivity. Information must be kept private and confidential for the privacy of parties involved.

For more details, see this fact sheet on domestic and family violence information for tenants or contact the RTA direct on 1300 366 311.