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
• Your 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

Renters’ Guide to COVID-19: legal information about situations that may arise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

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)

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal: how NCAT works

NSW Fair Trading: information on renting

Tenants’ Union of NSW: factsheets, resources and templates for a wide range of tenancy issues. Factsheets include:

• 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 resources see www.tenants.org.au

Other tenancy advice and information services:

• Greater Sydney Aboriginal Tenants Service (GSATS) (02) 9698 0873 www.nswats.com.au/gsats
• Tenants' Union Hotline on (02) 8117 3750 
• Seniors Rights Service on 1800 424 079  www.seniorsrightsservice.org.au for over 55-year-old residents of retirement villages, nursing homes and hostels. 
• NSW Fair Trading on 133 220 

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