Redact a Bank StatementBefore the Agent Sees It
Show the salary going in and the balance. Not every purchase you have made, and not your account number. Redacted in your browser. Nothing uploaded.
Free daily redaction, no signup required
Redacting is not you being awkward. It is written into the rules.
If an agent has told you nothing can be blacked out, check your state.
Victoria
Since 31 March 2026 rental providers and agents must use the prescribed rental application form, and may only ask for what that form permits. On bank statements Consumer Affairs Victoria is explicit: a statement with daily transactions cannot be demanded, and while you may need to provide a statement, you can delete transactions that you feel should be kept private. Agents are also capped at two identity documents and two financial documents.
South Australia
Landlords and agents are prohibited from requesting bank or financial statements without the account number and outgoing transactions redacted or removed. Applicants also cannot be asked for more than two documents in each category.
New South Wales
Fair Trading Commissioner guidance says that where an applicant provides bank statements rather than payslips, they should be encouraged to redact the daily transaction history and only provide evidence of savings. The guidance also stresses data minimisation and says agents should not request multiple forms of evidence when one will do.
Queensland
Applicants cannot be asked for information about legal action they have taken, certain tenancy notices, or their history regarding rental bonds or bank statements.
Nationally, in April 2026 the Privacy Commissioner determined that the 2Apply rental platform collected personal information that was not reasonably necessary and did so by unfair means, breaching Australian Privacy Principles 3.2 and 3.5. The decision found the form used confirmshaming, biased framing and bundled consent.
“Renters often lack real choice when making rental applications. Either they hand over personal and private information, including ID documents and payslips, or risk housing precarity or even loss.”Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind
What to Cover, What to Keep
They need to know you can pay the rent. Nothing else.
Black these out
- BSB and account number
- Individual outgoing transactions
- Merchant and payee names
- Other account balances on the page
- Card numbers, if shown
- Your full address, if shown
Leave these readable
- Your name
- Bank name
- Statement period
- Incoming salary deposits
- Closing balance
Better still, ask your bank for a proof of balance document. It shows the balance with no transaction list at all, so there is far less to redact.
How It Works
Under a minute, and the file never leaves your device.
Open the statement
Drop in the PDF or a screenshot from your banking app.
Cover the rows
Black out transactions and the account number. Leave the pay deposits and balance.
Attach the safe copy
Export as PNG or PDF and submit that version with your application.
Your statement never leaves your browser
In a tight rental market people apply for twenty or thirty properties. That is twenty or thirty copies of your financial life sitting on platforms and agency computers, and the Privacy Commissioner has pointed directly at the security risk created by the volume of personal information held across the real estate sector.
RedactID does not become another copy. There is no upload step, because the redaction happens inside the page you already have open. We never receive your statement, so we cannot leak it.
How that actually worksCommon Questions
Can I black out transactions on a bank statement for a rental application?
Yes. In Victoria the prescribed rental application form, mandatory since 31 March 2026, states that while you may need to provide a statement, you can delete transactions that you feel should be kept private. NSW Fair Trading Commissioner guidance says that where a prospective tenant provides bank statements instead of payslips, they should be encouraged to redact the daily transaction history and only provide evidence of savings. In South Australia, landlords and agents are prohibited from requesting bank or financial statements without the account number and outgoing transactions redacted or removed.
The agent said nothing can be blacked out. Are they right?
Not in several states, and not as a general principle. The purposes recognised across Australian guidance are confirming your identity, establishing that you can pay the rent, and showing you are likely to look after the property. Your individual purchases serve none of those. In Victoria the entitlement to redact private transactions is written into the prescribed form. If an agent insists on unredacted daily transactions, you can point to your state consumer affairs or fair trading guidance, and you can offer a proof of balance document or payslips instead.
What should I actually leave visible?
Your name, the bank, the statement period, the incoming pay deposits and the closing balance. Those demonstrate income and savings. Cover the BSB and account number, the individual outgoing transactions, merchant names, and any other account balances that happen to appear on the page.
Is there an alternative to sending a statement at all?
Often yes. Several Australian banks issue a proof of balance or account confirmation document that shows an account balance without any transaction history. Victoria’s prescribed form also lists payslips and Centrelink payment statements as acceptable evidence of capacity to pay, and caps the number of financial documents an agent may request. Offering the least revealing document that still answers the question is usually accepted.
Why not just use the black highlighter in a PDF viewer?
Because a black rectangle drawn over a PDF is usually a layer on top, not a deletion. The text underneath can often be selected, copied or recovered by removing the shape. RedactID flattens the redaction into the exported file, so the covered pixels are genuinely gone.
Does RedactID see my bank statement?
No. The redaction runs in your browser on your own device. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and we never receive the file. This matters here more than almost anywhere, because the whole risk you are managing is the number of copies of your financial data sitting on other organisations’ systems.
Applying for a property this week?
Black out the transactions first. It takes less time than the inspection queue.
Redact My Statement