Separated woman denied accommodation

November 2017

Hannah* is separated from her husband and receives child support payments as part of her income. Her payments made a substantial part of her income, which enabled Hannah to afford to pay rent.

Hannah’s application for a rental accommodation was denied by the real estate agent after she was told her child support payments would not be considered as part of her income.

Hannah made a complaint of marital discrimination with ADNSW. She said child support payments was a characteristic that generally applied to people who are separated or divorced. 

At conciliation, the complaint was settled when the agent agreed to re-consider Hannah’s  situation and then offered to rent her the property.  

*Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.