New South Wales
Rent payment must be free and convenient: the prescribed methods must be offered and enabled, and no fee or cost may be passed on for using them.
What the law requires
Section 35 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 sets out the ways rent can be paid and requires a landlord or agent to offer each prescribed way, and to enable the one you choose. It is a term of every residential tenancy agreement.
35 Tenant must be offered way to pay rent that is free and convenient
(1) The following are prescribed ways to pay rent— (a) by Centrepay operated by the Commonwealth, (b) by an approved electronic bank transfer method.
LegislationResidential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), s 35 · as in forceWhat cannot be charged
Section 35(4) prohibits charging a fee, or passing on a cost, for the payment of rent in a prescribed way. The maximum penalty is 50 penalty units.
The NSW Rental Taskforce has used these powers in practice, recovering more than $166,000 in unlawful fees for over 2,000 renters and issuing more than 200 penalty notices.
… the NSW Rental Taskforce has recovered more than $166,000 in unlawful fees for more than 2,000 renters …
Government statementNSW Government · Ministerial releaseWhat methods must be offered
- Centrepay, operated by the Commonwealth - required from 2 March 2026, including existing tenancies.
- An approved electronic bank transfer method - defined in s 35(9) as a transfer from you to the landlord’s or agent’s account at an ADI, free of charge to you other than charges ordinarily imposed by your own bank. The NSW Government identifies EFT, direct debit and BPAY as approved methods.
Regulator guidanceHow and when to pay rent
What about inconvenient alternatives?
NSW’s protection is narrower but sharper than a general “reasonably available” test: the prescribed methods must be offered and enabled, and section 19(2)(f) separately prevents a landlord from requiring you to use a specified service or business.
… tenants cannot be required to use a third-party app, or any specified service or business to pay their rent.
Regulator guidanceNSW Fair Trading · Use of third-party apps for tenancy transactionsRelevant legislation
- Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), s 35 - prescribed ways, offer and enable, no fees. Read it
- s 19(2)(f) - a landlord must not require the tenant to use a specified service or business.
How to dispute it
Start with the written request. If that fails, contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20, and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a formal determination.
Unresolved questions
- UnresolvedWhether an arrangement that issues a fresh reference each period still satisfies s 35 as an “approved electronic bank transfer method”.
- UnresolvedWhether a platform may charge for optional features that are unrelated to processing the payment.