Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service

We provide free legal advice and advocacy to renters in inner city Sydney, including parts of Sydney’s inner west and inner south.

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About this service

RLC's Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service (ISTAAS) provides free and confidential legal advice and advocacy to people living in public and private housing in inner-city Sydney, including parts of Sydney’s inner west and inner south.

This service is one of a number of Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Services throughout New South Wales. As a network, we respond to over 30,000 requests for tenancy advice a year and provide free legal advice and advocacy to nearly 10,000 tenants a year.

Our Tenants' Advocates can advise you about issues including:

  • Eviction
  • Rent issues - limited matters only
  • Share housing
  • Boarding houses
  • Public and Community Housing -  including specialist advice for tenants being affected by public housing redevelopments and relocation. 
  • Going to the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) - limited matters only
  • Going to the Housing Appeals Committee

Who can access this service?

This service is for tenants in inner-city Sydney, including parts of Sydney’s inner west and inner south. To find your local tenants' advocacy service, go to www.tenants.org.au and enter the suburb you are renting in.

Please note: due to high demand, we are not able to advise on every tenancy matter. If we are not able to advise you, we will refer you to other resources and services. Learn more about accessing our services.

How to contact us

To request free legal advice about your tenancy or housing matter:

LEGAL ENQUIRY Form call 02 9698 5975

If you need an interpreter to speak to us, call the free Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

 

If we are able to advise you, we will arrange for a Tenants' Advocate to call you back. If your matter is urgent, we will arrange advice as quickly as possible.

If we are not able to assist you, we may refer you to other services and resources, including those listed below.

How we can help: Terrance's story

Other services that can help

Self-help information

Legal information for renters during COVID-19

A guide for people living in a share house in NSW.

A legal guide for people living in boarding houses in NSW. 

A legal guide for people living in public housing in NSW.

Factsheets, resources and templates for a wide range of tenancy issues. 

Information for international students looking to rent a house or unit in NSW.

Learn about your rights as a renter, evictions, and how to seek help.

Social housing tenants have the same rights to have their homes repaired as all other tenants in NSW.

What you need to do if you are a respondent in a New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) matter.

Law reform updates

Tenancy housing low angle brown apartment black block with cloudy skies
Papers and submissions

RLC's submission discusses current and future housing needs including affordable social and Aboriginal housing, and Waterloo's social housing community through redevelopment and relocations.

© Redfern Legal Centre 1977 - 2022

Gadigal Land, PO Box 1805,
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012