Not all landlords will have the same rental application as other landlords, and some landlords who own several types of property might have separate applications that require different information for each property.
For example, if a landlord manages an adults-only residence in Sydney, they would likely include that information somewhere on the application and ask if the applicant has children.
So long as the landlord has the same vetting process and application form for every tenant applying for the same property, and they aren't asking illegal questions (e.g. about ethnicity, religion, etc.) as a way of discriminating against candidates, the application questions can be used to collect a wide range of information.
Typically, someone screening tenants might ask for the following details:
- Personal information (the applicant's name, phone number, birthday, dependents, pets, etc.)
- Tax file number to perform a credit check
- Residential history (the applicant's current address, previous landlord's name, the length of their tenancy in that residence)
- Employment details (their job history, position, time spent in that position, supervisor's name and contact information, and salary information)
The tenancy application also has another section where a tenant can authorize the criminal and credit background check. In this section, there is also space for the applicant to comment on anything negative that may show up on the criminal and credit background checks, like a bankruptcy claim.