Tenancy & Housing

What is this service?

We assist tenants renting in inner city Sydney, including parts of Sydney’s inner west and inner south.

Know you rights!
Check out our Share Housing Survival Guide

The Inner Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service (ISTAAS) 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 direct advocacy to nearly 10,000 tenants a year.

Typical tenancy issues

  • Being evicted
  • Getting your landlord to do repairs
  • Rent arrears
  • Getting your bond back
  • You rights in share housing
  • Your rights as a boarding house resident
  • Public Housing and Community Housing
  • Going to the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal
  • Going to the Housing Appeals Committee
     

Catchment and Eligibility

We assist tenants renting in inner city Sydney, including parts of Sydney’s inner west and inner south. To find your local tenants 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 the resources and services listed below under the heading Self-help resources for tenants.

How do I access this service?

Fill in the online enquiry form or call us on (02) 9698 5975.

We will take some initial details from you. If we are able to advise you we will arrange for a Tenant Advocate to call you back. If your matter is urgent it might be possible to speak to a Tenant Advocate immediately.

Self-help resources for tenants

Share Housing Survival Guide: For information about your rights in sharehousing in NSW www.sharehousing.org

Boarding Houses and the Law: a legal guide for people living in boarding houses in NSW (revised 2018)

The Repair Kit: Getting Housing NSW to repair your home: A legal guide for public housing tenants in NSW (revised 2019)

Other Tenancy Factsheets:

  • Residential Tenancies Act
  • Eviction
  • Ending a tenancy
  • Rend, bond and other payments
  • Access and privacy
  • Locks and security
  • Share housing
  • Starting a tenancy
  • Strata renting
  • Boarders and lodgers
  • Domestic violence

For more factsheets see www.tenants.org.au

Other tenancy advice and information services:

Terence's Story: Housing NSW tenants forced to live in mould and damp for years