Photographing and Filming Tenants’ Possessions for Advertising Purposes

Project Status:

Tabled in parliament

Start Date:

19/12/2013

Tabled in Parliament Date:

14/05/2015

Reference

This Community Law Reform Project addressed concerns that the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) had not kept up with changes to how agencies and landlords advertised properties online. Increasingly, advertisers publish extensive interior and exterior photographs of their properties across a range of websites, sometimes including the possessions and clues to identity of their tenants. Since this practice was not properly covered by the Act, tenants relied on the goodwill and professionalism of landlords and agents to ensure their privacy and security. This project sought ways to balance the rights of landlords to advertise their properties with their tenants’ privacy and security rights.

The Commission’s preliminary research to identify issues included an examination of current law in Victoria and other jurisdictions and meetings with tenant advocates, real estate agents and government agencies. A consultation paper in June 2014 identified options for reform and asked for submissions. Further consultations across Victoria and 20 submissions informed the final report, tabled in Parliament in May 2015.

You can read the final report, the consultation paper and other documents by following links below.

To find out which of the Commission’s recommendations became law, visit the Implementation page.

Community Law Reform Projects are conducted in accordance with section 5(1)(b) of the Victorian Law Reform Commission Act 2000 (Vic), which empowers the Commission to initiate inquiries of general community concern, provided they are limited in size and scope. More about Community Law Reform can be found here.

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Project Stage

  • Terms of reference received
  • Submissions and consultations
  • Submissions closed
  • Final Report
  • Tabled in parliament

Publications

Publication Date

26/05/2015

Tabled in Parliament in May 2015, the Commission’s report, Photographing and Filming Tenants’ Possessions for Advertising Purposes, made 9 recommendations for changes in law and practice.
Publication Date

26/05/2015

Tabled in Parliament in May 2015, the Commission’s report, Photographing and Filming Tenants’ Possessions for Advertising Purposes, made 9 recommendations for changes in law and practice. Read More
Publication Date

26/05/2015

Tabled in Parliament in May 2015, the Commission’s report, Photographing and Filming Tenants’ Possessions for Advertising Purposes, made 9 recommendations for changes in law and practice. Read more
Publication Date

14/11/2014

The Commission received the following submissions for its community law reform project, Photographing and Filming Tenants’ Possessions for Advertising Purposes. Read more
Publication Date

27/06/2014

The consultation paper describes the current state of the law and asks for community input.
Publication Date

27/06/2014

The consultation paper describes the current state of the law and asks for community input. Read More
Publication Date

27/06/2014

The consultation paper describes the current state of the law and asks for community input. Read more