South Australia only. Rental application rules, prescribed forms and information destruction timeframes differ in every Australian state and territory. If you manage property outside SA, this article does not apply to you.

A common rental application process asks for more supporting documents when an applicant's first submission does not seem sufficient. South Australian law has put a limit on that practice, and a clock on what happens afterwards.

Form A1 is the visible change, the prescribed application form that became mandatory on 1 January 2026. Around it sits a set of rules about how much you may ask for, who has to fill in what, and how long you are permitted to keep any of it, and the deadlines in that last category are short.

The Two Document Rule

Consumer and Business Services states that from 1 July 2024, landlords and agents have been prohibited from requiring prospective tenants to provide more than 2 documents in each of three categories: verifying identity, financial ability to pay rent, and suitability.

Two per category. Not two in total. The limit applies to what the landlord or agent may require, and the Regulations separately restrict other information that can be requested from prospective tenants.

That changes the screening process from an open-ended request for supporting evidence to a defined set the agency has chosen in advance. Requiring a third document in a capped category can be a breach.

The practical work is deciding, in writing, which two documents your agency requires in each category, and making sure every leasing consultant asks for the same two. A process where the request varies by who is on the desk is harder to control and audit against a numerical cap.

CBS notes this does not prevent tenants from offering to provide further documentation that might assist their application. The distinction is between what you require and what an applicant volunteers, and it only holds if your standard request is documented.

Form A1 And What Changed On 1 January 2026

CBS states that Form A1, the Application for a prospective tenant to enter into a residential tenancy, was introduced by regulations from 1 September 2025 and must be used from 1 January 2026.

Applicants can now indicate a preferred duration of any resulting tenancy agreement, which produces a stated preference on the form that your agency has to do something with, or visibly not do something with.

Form A1 also carries a specific restriction worth knowing. The form notes that a landlord or agent must not request information relating to the employment of the prospective tenant other than a payslip or a document confirming their employment. If your process asks for an employer's contact details for a verbal reference, check that against the prescribed form and current regulations.

One Form Per Applicant

CBS states that a separate application must be filled out by each prospective tenant to be listed on the resulting lease. Not one application per household. One per person going on the lease.

A single household application with a co-applicant section would not reflect the separate-application requirement, so agencies should ensure their intake process creates an individual Form A1 for each prospective tenant who will be listed on the resulting lease. A leasing process that produces one record for the household is what makes the next section impossible to satisfy.

Thirty Days

Here is the part that is easy to miss when you focus on Form A1. CBS states that from 1 September 2024, legislated timeframes for destruction of prospective tenant information apply. If the application is successful, the information must be destroyed three years after the end of the tenancy. For unsuccessful applicants, it must be destroyed 30 days after the tenancy is let, or if the applicant agrees, six months after providing the information.

Thirty days for prospective tenant information where the applicant does not become the tenant. Three years for tenant information after the tenancy ends.

If your process needs a precise trigger date, work from the Act rather than a summary. The Residential Tenancies Act 1995 frames the period by reference to the date on which the relevant residential tenancy agreement was entered into. CBS describes the same period as 30 days after the tenancy is let, and Form A1, in the warning it gives applicants, describes it as 30 days after the successful tenant signs the residential tenancy agreement specified on the application form. Those are the same event described at different levels of precision, and the Act is the one to build a trigger from.

Thirty days is short. For a property leased mid-month, the prospective tenant information is due for destruction by the middle of the following month, by which point the leasing consultant has moved on to the next several properties. That is not a reminder. It is a scheduled task with an owner, or it does not happen.

Operationally, it also means an agency needs to know where prospective tenant information has been copied or stored. The CRM, the application platform, the shared inbox, owner correspondence and local files can all become part of the retention problem if they hold information covered by the rule.

CBS notes that a tenant concerned about the use or non-protection of their information can seek orders from SACAT.

Same Problem, Different Implementation

This is the point for anyone managing across state lines, and the comparison with Queensland is unusually direct.

Queensland's Residential Tenancies Authority states that property managers and owners may request a copy of up to two types of documents to verify an applicant's identity, and that documents related to financial ability and suitability may also be requested, with no more than two documents from each category. Structurally identical to South Australia.

The retention rules are where they diverge. The RTA states that all personal information related to a tenancy must be securely destroyed within seven years after the end of the agreement, and Queensland's Form 22 tells unsuccessful applicants their information must be destroyed within three months of the relevant tenancy commencing. South Australia requires thirty days and three years respectively.

Same concept. Very different retention periods. We covered the Queensland rules in more detail in our guide to Queensland's data destruction obligations.

A single national application process now has to account for materially different state requirements. The practical answer is to design the core process so it can accommodate the strictest requirements in the jurisdictions you operate in, then apply the jurisdiction-specific form and rules on top. Parallel processes can leave agencies with several different answers to the same question about where an application went.

Rent Bidding And Payments

Two further rules sit around the application.

1. CBS states that landlords and agents must advertise premises at a fixed amount and must not solicit or otherwise invite an offer for higher rent. No rent ranges, no offers-above advertising, no inviting a bid.

2. On payments, two separate prohibitions apply. Form A1 states that a person must not require or receive a payment, other than rent or a bond, from a prospective tenant for a residential tenancy or its renewal or extension. CBS's Tenant Information Guide states more specifically that a person must not receive a payment from a prospective tenant to aid in their assessment or in their rating for suitability as a tenant. If your agency uses a third party assessment or application service, check how the service is paid for and whether any payment from the prospective tenant is involved.

Who Is Exempt

CBS states that the Form A1 requirement does not apply to residential tenancy agreements for SA Housing Trust properties, National Rental Affordability Scheme participants, NDIS providers, registered community housing providers, and Australian registered charity or not-for-profit providers.

If you manage a mixed portfolio, the application process differs by property rather than by office, which is exactly the kind of split that gets handled correctly for six months and then quietly stops being.

What To Do This Month

1. Write down which two documents your agency requires in each of the three categories, and make sure every leasing consultant asks for the same two.

2. Check that your intake creates a separate Form A1 for each prospective tenant, not one for the household.

3. Build the 30 day destruction deadline into your leasing workflow, with a defined trigger, a named owner and a record of completion.

4. List every system, inbox and device where prospective tenant information can end up, because information covered by the destruction requirement can exist in more than one system or location.

5. Check every SA advertisement carries a fixed rent amount with no range and no invitation to offer more.

6. Identify which properties fall within the Form A1 exemptions and make the difference visible in the record for that property rather than in someone's memory.

Conclusion

Form A1 is the change SA agencies noticed, because a mandatory form announces itself on a date. The thirty day destruction clock does not announce itself at all, and it keeps running long after the property is leased and everyone has moved on.

An agency can be using the correct prescribed form, on the correct date, for the correct number of applicants, and still be holding sets of identity documents in a shared inbox two months later. That is the version of non-compliance that survives an internal review, because nobody thinks to look for what should no longer be there.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When did Form A1 become mandatory in South Australia?
CBS states that Form A1 was introduced by regulations from 1 September 2025 and must be used by residential landlords and prospective tenants from 1 January 2026.

2. Does each applicant need their own form?
Yes. CBS states that a separate application must be filled out by each prospective tenant to be listed on the resulting lease.

3. How many documents can we ask for?
CBS states that since 1 July 2024, landlords and agents have been prohibited from requiring prospective tenants to provide more than two documents in each of the following categories: verifying identity, financial ability to pay rent, and suitability. CBS notes this does not prevent tenants from offering further documentation voluntarily.

4. How long can we keep an unsuccessful application?
CBS states that information relating to an unsuccessful applicant must be destroyed 30 days after the tenancy is let, or, if the applicant agrees, six months after the information was provided. The Act frames the period by reference to the date the relevant residential tenancy agreement was entered into. Information relating to a successful application is subject to a different timeframe of three years measured from the end of the tenancy.

5. Are any properties exempt from Form A1?
CBS states the requirement does not apply to residential tenancy agreements for SA Housing Trust properties, National Rental Affordability Scheme participants, NDIS providers, registered community housing providers, and Australian registered charity or not-for-profit providers.

Important Notice

This article applies to South Australia only. Residential tenancy law in Australia is state and territory legislation, and application forms, screening rules, prohibited information categories, destruction timeframes and advertising requirements differ between Australian states and territories.

Information was checked against the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) as published at legislation.sa.gov.au, Consumer and Business Services guidance, publications and forms at cbs.sa.gov.au, and Residential Tenancies Authority material at rta.qld.gov.au, available as at 7 September 2026. The Act is supported by the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2025. Legislation is published as dated compilations, so confirm you are working from the current version. The Act states the trigger for destruction of prospective tenant information by reference to the date on which the relevant residential tenancy agreement was entered into, and CBS guidance and Form A1 describe the same period in plainer operational terms. Where a precise trigger date is required, the Act should be used. This article does not reproduce the contents of Form A1 or list the categories of information prescribed in the Regulations as information that must not be requested. Obtain the current form and Regulations directly from Consumer and Business Services, as forms, regulations and guidance may change. Anti-discrimination obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 and the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 apply separately and are outside the scope of this article.

Always verify current requirements with Consumer and Business Services before acting. This content is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. RIOO is not a law firm.