Form A1 South Australia Rental

What Form A1 Is

Form A1 is the prescribed rental application form that residential landlords and property managers must use when screening prospective tenants in applications covered by the Act. The form is published by Consumer and Business Services (CBS) and became mandatory on 1 January 2026 under Section 47B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995. The requirement does not apply to agreements with the SA Housing Trust or its subsidiary, an NRAS approved participant, a provider of specialist disability accommodation under the NDIS, a registered community housing provider, or a provider of housing registered under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012.

Why It Was Introduced

Before Form A1, rental application requirements varied wildly. Some agents requested two pages of information; others demanded payslips, bank statements, employment contracts, and references going back years. The 2023 amendments standardised the process to protect tenants from excessive information demands while still giving landlords enough data to make an informed decision.

The Document Limits

Form A1 enforces strict caps on what you can request from a prospective tenant. Under Regulation 8 of the Residential Tenancies Regulations 2025:

• Identity documents: Maximum 2 (e.g., driver's licence, passport)
• Financial capacity documents: Maximum 2 (e.g., payslips or a bank statement with outgoing transactions and account number redacted)
• Suitability documents: Maximum 2; the form also provides space for two relevant referees, such as previous landlords or employers
• Expenditure-based financial information: A landlord cannot request information primarily based on a prospective tenant's expenditure records

You cannot require more than two documents for identity verification, ability to pay rent, or suitability, or request financial information primarily based on expenditure records. The tenant may attach further documents voluntarily.

What You Can Still Assess

The document limits don't prevent you from making a sound tenancy decision. The form allows up to two documents for each category — identity verification, ability to pay rent, and suitability — and provides space for two referees, typically previous landlords or employers, to support an assessment of the applicant's history.

What the Form A1 regime removes is the fishing-expedition approach where landlords asked for everything and then picked the applicant who looked wealthiest. The assessment is now about capacity and history, not lifestyle surveillance.

The CBS Tenant Information Guide

Form A1 is one of several mandatory documents in the pre-tenancy disclosure package. Before or when the tenancy agreement is entered into, you must also provide the CBS Tenant Information Guide — a government-published document explaining the tenant's rights and obligations. Failure to provide it carries a maximum penalty of $25,000 under Section 49(3).

The guide covers repair rights, entry rules, bond processes, rent increase procedures, and where to get help. It's available on the CBS website and must be provided in its current published form — a landlord-written summary or a condensed version doesn't satisfy the requirement.

Other Mandatory Disclosures

Alongside Form A1 and the Tenant Information Guide, the pre-tenancy package includes:

• Property inspection sheet — completed and signed by the landlord and given to the tenant when the tenancy agreement is entered into, documenting the property's condition
• Intention to sell disclosure — if the landlord plans to sell within three months (maximum penalty $20,000)
• Embedded network disclosure — if electricity is supplied through an embedded network (maximum penalty $20,000)

Each item has its own requirements, and missing a required item can undermine a landlord's position in a later SACAT dispute.

Where to Get the Form

Form A1 is available on the CBS renting and letting section. Download the current version each time you advertise a vacancy — using an outdated version after a revision could be treated as non-compliance.

Connecting Forms to Your Compliance File

For an unsuccessful applicant, destroy their information as soon as practicable after 30 days from the date the relevant tenancy agreement is entered into, or, with the applicant's consent, as soon as practicable after six months from the date the information was provided. For a successful applicant, destroy tenant information as soon as practicable after three years from the end of the tenancy under Section 76B; the maximum penalty for failing to do so is $20,000.

The SA Rental Minimum Standards guide includes the full pre-tenancy checklist — from Form A1 through to the signed inspection sheet — with the deadlines and retention rules for each document in one workflow.

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