Real estate agents in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) could soon be required to disclose if the photographs used in their rental listings were digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI).
According to combined media reports, the new law was proposed following reports of AI-altered photographs in listings that eliminated property flaws or created a false impression of the property’s appearance – including one case with digitally generated furniture that put a double bed in a small bedroom that could only accommodate a single bed.
The penalties for not disclosing the use of altered photographs will be $5,500 for individuals and $22,000 for businesses.
“Being misled into visiting a property that is not suitable is frustrating for prospective tenants and may mean they miss out on other properties,” said Leo Patterson Ross, president of the Tenants Union of NSW. “But it also risks inflating the rent itself by inflating the number of people who appear interested in a place and increasing pressure on someone to rush to put in an
Ross added, “Landlords could also be required to disclose at the advertising stage the age of the photos being used, the repairs and other compliance history, the energy efficiency performance, and provide floor plans for the property as well as current required disclosures.”
The proposed legislation is part of the Residential Tenancies (Protection of Personal Information) Amendment Bill 2025, which includes new curbs on the collection of personal information, with the goal of reduce identity theft and data breach risks. NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong roughly one-third of NSW residents are renters and nearly 187,000 pieces of identification information are collected from the state’s renters each week.
“These reforms will stop unnecessary data collection, limit the risk of data breaches, and give everyone greater confidence in how privacy is safeguarded throughout the rental process,” Chanthivong said. “Renters are entitled to dignity and privacy when living in a rental property — and this extends to their personal information, too.”
I think transparency is important. It only makes sense to disclose if a photo has been AI altered. It should be a matter of ethics above and beyond a law.
We already indicate on the photos if they are virtually staged. Disclosing AI staging is basically the same thing, only the agent doesn’t have to pay for virtual staging and can do it on AI themselves. It’s a good change for Realtors.