Disputing a review
If you manage a profile and a review on your profile is inaccurate, defamatory, off-topic, or breaches the guidelines, you can raise a dispute. Here's exactly how that works from a claimant's point of view.
Who can dispute a review
Only verified claimants of the profile a review is written about can dispute it. Disputing is part of profile management, not a public action — there is no 'flag' button visible to anonymous users that opens a dispute.
If you don't yet manage a profile, the first step is to claim it. Claim a profile (free) and complete admin verification, then you can open a dispute on any review on that profile.
What you can dispute on
We use 11 structured reason categories so disputes get triaged consistently — not by claimant urgency, but by what the dispute is actually about.
Defamatory or potentially unlawful
A statement that is more than fair comment — for example, a specific accusation of a crime, a knowing falsehood, or content that breaches Australian defamation law. These are auto-held for admin review on submission.
Inaccurate fact
A specific factual claim that is incorrect ("the building has no smoke detectors" — there are smoke detectors). Provide evidence; we'll review.
Wrong target
The review is about a different building, agent, or building manager than the one it was filed against. The reviewer linked it to the wrong profile.
Personal information leak
The review contains personal information about a staff member, neighbour, or other tenant — names, numbers, exact unit numbers, photos of people. We treat these urgently.
Off-topic / not a rental experience
The review describes something that happened outside the rental relationship — for example, a sales transaction or a non-rental dispute.
Other
Anything else that doesn't fit the categories above. You'll be asked to explain in plain text.
Five additional categories cover narrower edge cases (relationship dispute, period dispute, duplicate review, retaliatory review, harassment of staff). Full list with definitions is at /policies/disputes.
What happens after you submit
Submission
Your dispute lands in the admin queue with a structured reason, your statement (private), and any evidence you've uploaded. The reviewer is notified that a dispute has been opened — but they do not see your identity or your evidence.
Triage and review
An admin opens the dispute, reads your statement, looks at the evidence, reviews the original review, and may also ask the reviewer for evidence privately. Critical-band disputes (defamation, personal information leak) auto-hold the review while triage runs.
Decision
One of 11 outcomes is recorded — from 'no action' to 'review removed', plus middle states like 'edited by admin', 'period removed', 'reviewer warned'. The reasoning is written down and you'll receive it.
One appeal
If you disagree with the decision, you have one appeal. Appeals go to a different admin for an independent read. After the appeal is decided, the matter is closed unless new evidence appears.
What disputing a review cannot do
- Remove a genuine negative review just because you disagree with it.
- Reveal the reviewer's identity, contact details, or evidence to you.
- Skip the admin queue or pay to have the dispute decided faster.
- Bypass the appeal cap. One appeal per dispute, then closed.
- Convert this into a tribunal-style proceeding. We are not VCAT or NCAT — we make policy-and-guidelines decisions, not legal-truth decisions.
Fair to both sides
Reviewed parties can claim profiles for free, correct core details, and respond publicly. They cannot remove genuine negative reviews. The dispute process exists to handle clear breaches — not to suppress unflattering feedback.
Ready to open a dispute?
You'll need to be signed in and managing the profile the review is on.
Start a dispute