Rental Passport preparation
Document workspaceAsked for a statutory declaration with a rental application?
A declaration request needs a clear purpose and the correct official process. Start by understanding what the recipient wants you to address, before choosing a form or writing formal wording.
RentFiles Editorial · Ella’s Next StepElla Brooks is a fictional RentFiles editorial voice.
- Market
- AU
- Jurisdiction
- Australia
- Updated
Short answer
Ask which fact the declaration should address, which jurisdiction or type is required and where the current official instructions can be found. Keep those answers with the request. Use the relevant official process and seek appropriate advice if you are unsure about the content or its legal effect. Do not turn a Rental Passport, an informal note or this article’s checklist into an official declaration.
Guide map
In this guide
Jump to the part that matches the decision in front of you.
Useful context
Clarify the fact the recipient wants addressed
Write down the request in the recipient’s words. “Provide a declaration” is not enough for this preparation exercise. Ask whether the question concerns a particular address, a period without a record or another specifically identified fact. Do not expand the request into a complete personal history or a statement about matters you cannot confirm.
Use this original clarification message: “For [property reference], please confirm the particular fact or period you want addressed, the type or jurisdiction of declaration required, and a link to the current official instructions. Please also confirm where the completed document should be sent and the due date.” This message is an enquiry, not declaration wording.
Working checklist
Create a request card before selecting an official process
The request card below stays with your preparation notes. It is deliberately not laid out as an official form: it has no declaration clause, witness section, signature box or certification statement. Its purpose is to expose missing instructions before you start.
The Attorney-General’s Department provides Commonwealth statutory-declaration guidance and distinguishes state and territory requirements.
Confirm the required type with the requester instead of assuming it follows solely from your current address. Do not infer that every territory has a different process. The relevant official instructions should settle which framework applies to the requested document.
- Purpose: the recipient’s exact question and the period it concerns.
- Type: confirmed Commonwealth, named state or territory, or still awaiting clarification.
- Instructions: current official destination supplied or confirmed by the requester.
- Delivery: intended recipient, requested format and due date.
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Action plan
Follow a clarification map, rather than an invented form
Use this original three-way map. If the requester confirms a Commonwealth declaration, open the Attorney-General’s Department guidance linked to this page and follow the current instructions relevant to the method you choose there. Do not use a copied form image or a template reconstructed from an article.
If the requester identifies a state or territory process, ask for the responsible official instructions for that process and follow them. A Commonwealth source linked here is not evidence that it governs every declaration used in a rental application.
If the type or purpose remains unclear, keep the task open and ask again. For a question about what you should declare, or whether the requested document is appropriate in your circumstances, seek suitable advice rather than guessing from a sample. This guide does not decide whether a recipient is entitled to request it.
- Confirmed Commonwealth: current Commonwealth instructions.
- Confirmed other framework: current official instructions for that framework.
- Unclear purpose, framework or content: clarify before preparing or signing.
Practical example
Example: an incomplete address period
In this fictional example, an applicant is asked to address an earlier rental period because a reference is unavailable. They remember the month they moved but cannot confirm the exact day. Their preparation note records the known month, the records available and the unresolved date question. They do not convert an estimate into a precise date to make the file look complete.
The next step is a focused question to the requester about the fact it needs addressed, followed by the relevant official process or advice. The example supplies no formal statement to sign and makes no claim that a declaration will be accepted in place of the missing reference.
Keep the working notes private. Share the requested completed item through the confirmed channel, rather than attaching all the notes and unrelated records by default.
Keep in view
Keep the completed document and its acceptance separate
Before handoff, compare the completed item with the request card and relevant instructions. If a statement is unresolved, the wrong process was used or you are unsure about a change, pause and obtain appropriate guidance. This page cannot establish legal sufficiency, validate a signature or certify that every requirement has been met.
A recipient’s decision about the application remains separate from preparing the document. Keep the declaration identifiable in your file list and avoid describing the whole personal profile as sworn or officially verified. RentFiles helps organise the file; the agent or landlord decides the application outcome.
Source attribution: © Commonwealth of Australia 2026, Attorney-General’s Department. Jurisdiction-boundary guidance paraphrased under CC BY 4.0. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Ella · One clear step at a time. Practical editorial guidance from RentFiles.
Questions
Common questions
Clear answers for the decisions people usually pause on.
Does this page include a statutory-declaration template?
No. The request card and email help clarify instructions; they are not official forms or wording to sign. Obtain the current form or digital process from the responsible official destination.
Does every rental applicant need one?
Do not infer a general requirement from this guide or another applicant’s experience. Start with the actual request for your application. Questions about the request’s legal basis need appropriate advice.
Will a declaration replace my missing reference?
Ask the recipient about the proposed alternative and its purpose. Preparing a declaration does not establish that it must be accepted or that it answers the same question as the missing record.
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