Government to run trial to make rental applications safer, more secure

The federal government is running a trial to make applications more secure for renters, potentially removing the vast amounts of information being handed to real estate agents.

When applying for rental properties, people need to provide a significant amount of personal information to real estate agents, including their driver's licence, passport, bank statements, and utility bills.

The federal government has raised concerns about the growing risk of data breaches and identity theft.

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The growing threat has caused the government to look at potential alternatives, such as trialling digital IDs, such as government-issued myIDs.

"Whatever we can do to minimise people sharing loads of personal data about themselves and then losing control of that, I think, is a good thing," Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said.

Trials are set to begin next year. Using verified online tools, renters could soon be able to confirm their identities with a simple click rather than giving agents personal documents.

Rental applications are currently highly regulated and differ from state to state. The trials aim to make the process easier while also limiting the amount of sensitive data shared between renters and agents.

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