Why you need More Bang for Your Bond!

Renting can come with one or two challenges in New South Wales, but often the first and most pressing is paying the bond. In Sydney, where median rents are pushing $500 a week, it means keeping a couple of grand handy just in case you need to move on short notice. But tenants can console themselves that they remain entitled to recover the bond as soon as their tenancy ends.

Bonds are tenants’ money – the Rental Bond Board only ever holds them on trust. Of course, a landlord can make a claim against a bond if the tenant has caused them some financial loss. But where there is a dispute about who gets the money, the landlord bears the onus of proof. They must demonstrate how and why it should be put towards their costs, because on the face of it the bond is the tenant’s money.

This brings us back to those challenges for tenants. From fending off opportunistic or even downright bogus bond claims, to trying to get your landlord to take an outbreak of mould in the bathroom seriously, renting a home comes with built-in levels of despair. No doubt there are stresses for landlords, too, but perhaps they’re not on the same scale.

There are very different outcomes pursued by those who place themselves at the whims of a rental market. For landlords it is generally a question of wealth creation. If it all gets too hard, it is easy enough to liquidate and find somewhere else to park your money. But for tenants it’s about keeping a roof over one’s head. Bailing out is for the lucky few at one end of the income scale, and the unlucky at the other. For most in the middle, renting is often just a place to lump it while your landlord makes off with the proceeds.

You can also see this imbalance in the kinds of dispute each party is likely to bring to the Tribunal, and the types of remedy available. The most common action by landlords is to seek to end a tenancy, and have the tenant vacate the property. An officer of the sheriff can enforce this kind of Tribunal order, and they may use reasonable force if necessary. On the other hand, tenants are more likely to bring an action to have repairs and maintenance carried out, and there’s no real way to have this enforced. Where a landlord refuses to comply with a repair order, it falls to the tenant to take them back to the Tribunal and give it another go.

On top of this, landlords have the support of an entire industry of real estate agents and property investment experts to help them negotiate whatever difficulties they might encounter. Tenants don’t have this. But they do have large amounts of bond money held in trust by the Rental Bond Board. This money generates interest, and our renting laws say that interest on tenants’ bond money may be used to fund ‘advisory services’ for tenants.

In New South Wales, the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services have received funding from the interest on tenants’ bonds for more than twenty years. Fair Trading NSW provides a service to tenants, too, but they are unable to replicate the work of Tenants’ Advocates. They are part of the machine of government, and they quite rightly remain impartial. Their telephone information services are available to tenants, landlords and real estate agents alike, and their operators approach each conversation as though the other side is listening. And as a consumer protection agency they must focus on a great deal more than just tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities - they have about 40 different pieces of consumer law to get their heads around. They are simply unable to develop the high levels of expertise in residential tenancy law and practice that independent, specialist services can.

But the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services are struggling to keep up with demand. They have not had a real increase in funding since 2002 – although the number of people renting in New South Wales has gone up by 25% since then. In such an environment services are necessarily restricted to the most needy. Tenants with a ‘low-level’ need for advice or support are finding it difficult to get through.

The working family paying $500 per week to rent within a half-hour commute of the office, who’s just had their home sold out from under them and is worried about getting their bond back, has a genuine need for good quality advice. Sure, they might not be faced with the immediate prospect of long-term homelessness, but if such tenants are not able to obtain independent, specialist advice when they need it, then our system is letting them down.

This brings us back to tenants’ bonds, and the interest they generate. As the number of people renting goes up, so does the number of dollars held by the Rental Bond Board. And so too the amount of interest they earn. Currently, the NSW Rental Bond Board holds in excess of $1billion of tenants’ money, generating about $60million in interest each year.

For every single dollar of interest that tenants’ bond money earns, 68 cents goes to NSW State Government to fund services such as the Tribunal and the Rental Bond Board. 10 cents is added to that $60million surplus. 8 cents is put towards the funding of Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services. Less than one cent is paid out to tenants directly when they recover their bonds. The rest is divided between other community services such as financial counselling and a No Interest Loans Scheme.

Visit www.yourbond.org to see where your interest goes

This can’t go on. Tenants’ money should be used for the benefit of tenants.

The NSW Tenants’ Advice & Advocacy Services and the Tenants’ Union of NSW are currently campaigning for more of the interest on tenants’ bonds to be returned to tenants, and to better fund the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services. Visit www.yourbond.org to find out how you can support the campaign.

Happy 20th birthday, TAASs

Twenty years ago this week the first generalist Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services commenced operations. This was the start of the State-wide network of local TAASs that continues to inform, advise and advocate for tenants throughout New South Wales today. We estimate that more than half a million tenants have gotten phone advice and other assistance from TAASs over that time.

NSW Fair Trading Minister Matthew Mason-Cox has kindly sent a warm note of congratulations on the anniversary:

NSW Fair Trading is proud of its association with the Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Service and the work it is doing to empower tenants. To provide a continuous community service for 20 years is a significant milestone and I congratulate the services and their staff for their continued dedication to ensuring all tenants are able to exercise their rights.

Now it's over to legendary tenants advocate and TU Older Tenants Project Officer, Dr Robert Mowbray, to tell the story of how the TAASs came to be.

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Let’s jump back in time and see the circumstances around our birth. The earliest reference to a tenant organisation in New South Wales is the Rent Payers Association. They campaigned for fair rent legislation in the period 1910 to 1916 and also gave advice to tenants: ‘If you are in trouble about rent, ring up Telephone No. Paddington 752’.

In 1975 the Australian Government Commission of Inquiry into Poverty identified seven main areas in which tenants required assistance. The first was ‘access to informed advice on their legal position and on the rental market generally, both before and after entering into a residential lease’. The Poverty Inquiry was a fillip to the emergence of Tenants’ Unions in a number of states. So, in 1976 the Tenants’ Union of NSW was established.  In its early years it relied heavily on active members, social work students on placement, resources provided by South Sydney Community Aid (a neighbourhood centre in Redfern), and was assisted by a few young lawyers. It built up a network of volunteer tenancy advisors across a number of locations to provide information to tenants. At the same time it campaigned for fully funded services. 

In the 1980s, the Tenants’ Union was successful in lobbying the NSW State Labor Government's Housing Minister, Frank Walker, for the funding of the Housing Information and Tenancy Services (HITS) Program. This commenced 1 January 1986, and provided a network of nineteen Tenants’ Advice and Housing Referral Services (TAHRS) across New South Wales. The program, however, was short lived. In December 1988, following a change in government, the Coalition’s Minister for Housing, Joe Schipp, terminated the program – against the recommendations of his senior management.

Following cancellation of the HITS Program there was a constant pressure on the State Government for its reintroduction from a broad range of community groups across the State. The Uniting Church became actively involved in the campaign through its Board for Social Responsibility and it funded a tenants’ service in Western Sydney. Redfern Legal Centre also provided a tenants’ service. Part-time services were maintained by the local councils of North Sydney, Randwick and Waverley. Community groups maintained pressure over a period of years. Consultations about a State Plan for the Department of Housing in 1990, 1991 and 1992 were held at venues in all Department regions across New South Wales, and these consultations unanimously called for the reintroduction of funding for independent tenants’ services. Community groups made submissions to John Mant’s ‘Inquiry into Certain Customer Service Bodies under the Responsibility of the Minister for Housing’. His 1993 report was supportive.

By the end of November 1993, the NSW State Coalition Government had a new Minister for Housing, Robert Webster. The Minister called a meeting with representatives of the community organisations that had been lobbying for refunding of tenants’ services. At this meeting he stated that the Government would again fund community-based tenants’ services. He advised that he would set up a working party to examine how a Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program (TAAP) might be funded. Subsequently, the Department of Housing contracted the Tenants’ Union to resource a network of generalist services ... and the first generalist TAAS were funded from 1 December 1994. Specialist services for residents of residential parks and for Aboriginal tenants were funded in late 1995.

So, happy 20th birthday to all those TAASs out there!

For a glimpse at the enormous amount of help provided and lives changed by the TAASs, see our posts under the label ‘my3cents’. For the case for greater funding for the TAASs and more advice and advocacy for tenants, see the TU's policy and law reform page. 

Aboriginal Tenants' Services, serving country

During NAIDOC Week 2014 we've recognised the contribution Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society. Specifically, we've talked about Serving Country, marking the centenary of World War I and paying tribute to Australia's Indigenous service men and women throughout the years.

As NAIDOC Week wraps up today, we'd like to pay tribute to another kind of service: the Aboriginal Tenants' Advice Services in New South Wales. These services are run by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people, and they do an incredible job. Recently the TU's Aboriginal Legal Team paid a visit to one of these services, where they spoke to Legendary Tenants' Advocate and service Coordinator, Jim Allen.

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INSIGHTS FROM JIM ALLEN, COORDINATOR OF MURRA MIA ABORIGINAL TENANTS ADVICE SERVICE 

Interviewed by Galit Aflalo and John Mewburn during the Tenants’ Union Service Visit of 4 July 2014

Why did you first decide to be a tenants’ advocate?

It wasn’t a decision to become a tenants’ advocate, I have always been involved in Aboriginal affairs, whether it be Land Rights movements or trying to work through the issues to get more and better housing for Aboriginal people. A position became available in tenancy advocacy and it was a bridge between my work at a community level and paid employment.

Housing has always been one of the basic human rights that Aboriginal people have been denied for as long as occupation of Australia has taken place. Aboriginal people have been made to be fringe dwellers, their own land has been taken from them. Aboriginal people have been put onto missions, segregated from the white community and denied the basic human right of housing. Aboriginal people are still being denied the basic right of proper housing today in 2014.

In your view, how and why have Aboriginal people been the denied the basic right of proper housing?

It goes back to the original white settlement of Australia, the colonialisation of this country. White settlers expelled Aboriginal people from this land. In doing that, they segregated Aboriginal people away from the white development that took place in the 200 years that followed.

If you segregate people away from a developing economy, leave them out of a financial system, leave them out of the education system, steal their wages, steal their children, push them onto missions, put them into homes, incarcerate them and don’t allow them to be a part of the overall development, at some point in time there is going to be poverty amongst that segregated group of people.

The segregated ‘White Australia’ policies of government have left Aboriginal people without employment, without education and higher education, without positions in medicine, science, agriculture, mining and has left Aboriginal people out of the wealth and financial system.

All of the things that white people enjoy have been denied to Aboriginal people over 200 years.

Racism has denied Aboriginal people the same choices as other Australians. Racism has allowed Aboriginal people to be left behind.

When you leave Aboriginal people out of the financial and legal system, it is easy to stigmatise Aboriginal people for not being able to read or write, not being able to own or care for a house, not being able to abide by white man’s law. Aboriginal people have been stigmatised for their disadvantage over 200 years.

If we had walked together side by side as a country, walked together as equals, we would have developed in step with each other. Instead, today we have high rates of suicide, alcoholism, high infant mortality, suicide, poverty and disadvantage amongst Aboriginal people

If we had walked together side by side as a country, we would have all had the same standards of living today. If we had walked together as a country, there would be less racism and disadvantage today.

Could you describe some of the policies that have impacted on the state of repair of Aboriginal Housing in NSW?

It is a fact that the vast majority of Aboriginal people now are reliant on social housing and that can be government managed social housing or Aboriginal managed social housing. The two systems have not walked side-by-side in their development.

Where government managed social housing is financially supported by the government, Aboriginal managed social housing has been left without financial support for 40 or 50 years.

The locations where most of our Aboriginal communities have been able to acquire housing are usually on the former reserves and missions. The former reserves and missions do not receive local shire council support or funding for roads, the delivery of power, garbage collection, water or sewerage and therefore the liability falls with the local community, a local community that has minimal government support.

Once again, Aboriginal housing is now in a state of wholesale disrepair. Governments are still saying that they will not financially support further development or capital growth for Aboriginal housing even when all of the statistical data states that we need thousands of more houses across the country to meet the homelessness, the overcrowding and the aging stock of some of the housing that is 40, 50 and 60 years old.

What do you see as the three key tenancy issues for Aboriginal tenants in NSW?

The three key issues would be:

(i)              Repairs and maintenance issues;

(ii)            Overcrowding;

(iii)          Policy around housing that addresses the uniqueness of Aboriginal culture.

Aboriginal people often get into difficulty because of their close kinship ties and the visitors that may come and go during the course of the tenancy. This could be seen as breaching public housing policy regarding noise and overcrowding. This could also lead to a tenant’s rent subsidy being cancelled because there are constantly other people staying at the social housing property.

All Aboriginal people still have strong associations through family, clans and their tribes that have evolved over thousands of years. Those associations still exist today. Our people will travel from one end of the coast to the other and stay with their relatives and they are passing through many many towns. This happens constantly. This places a burden on those people they visit who are living in social housing. Social housing managers don’t understand it, neighbours don’t understand it and it becomes a crisis point in most tenancies at one point or another. Housing policy doesn’t allow for extended family and the relationships that we have with the extended family, our clans and our tribal history.

For example, if there is a funeral in Wilcannia, there are no motel rooms around so all visiting family members will stay in the tenancies of their relatives. If there are a lot of funerals in Wilcannia over a particular period, there will be a lot of Aboriginal people staying with their relatives and you will see a lot of notices of termination issued for overcrowding. There is no understanding of that cultural difference in public housing policy.

What have been some of your most rewarding moments as an Aboriginal tenants’ advocate?

My most rewarding moments have been when I have been able to save an Aboriginal family from an unjust outcome. When I say unjust, I mean when all of the facts become available and it might be through a Tribunal, that we save a tenancy that was definitely going to be ended because the social housing provider had not really fulfilled what they should have done in trying to sustain a tenancy and have unjustly taken action that they shouldn’t have taken. In terms of an Aboriginal family, I mean a mum and dad and children.

When I walk away from the house, when I know them people are going to have a place to stay and all them little children are not going to be homelessness tonight, that makes me really happy.

What has been your most disappointing moment as an Aboriginal tenants’ advocate?

The most disappointing moment is when good people in social or public housing management don’t do the right thing and allow unjust treatment of our people.

What are some of the key challenges that Murra Mia encounters in advising Aboriginal tenants?

A major challenge is our lack of resources. We only have 5 workers and we cover a geographical area that you could fit France, Belgium, Switzerland, England, Ireland and Wales into.

What is the value of community partnerships and relationships to the outcomes that Murra Mia achieves?

Without community partnerships or working agreements with all involved in housing, Murra Mia would be unable to provide not only advocacy at a basic level but advocacy at a policy and tenancy management level.

Murra Mia highly regard the strong networks, the working partnerships that we have developed over 17 or 18 years with social housing providers, Housing NSW, community housing providers, the Aboriginal housing sector and land councils right across our geographical area. Those partnerships and working networks allow us to advocate for Aboriginal tenants in every part of our working region.

What key development would you like to see in the Aboriginal tenancy sector in the next year?

Housing NSW, the Aboriginal Housing Office, the Aboriginal Tenants Advocacy Services and other associated agencies and NGOs need to work towards developing an in-depth policy document around sustaining Aboriginal tenancies in social and public housing.

What key messages would you like to give to Aboriginal tenants before they first enter into a tenancy agreement?

Keep any documents relating to your tenancy and have them stored in a secure place.

You need to keep your lease, ingoing report and any letters from your landlord. You need to reply to the letters from your landlord. Most of all, you need to keep all documentation and rent receipts.

Try and maintain a positive, secure home.

Any Aboriginal person who gets into a conflict in their tenancy needs to contact their local Aboriginal Tenancy Service. We have got extensive networks and we are highly professional advocates. We are experienced representatives at the Tribunal and through conciliation and mediation with Housing, real estate agents and all landlords.

The TAAS network has the highest reputation and does an incredible job around sustaining tenancies for Aboriginal people in the rental system.

NSW tenants – you're billionaires!

Congratulations, tenants of New South Wales – you're billionaires!

According to the annual report of the NSW Rental Bond Board, at some point last year the total value of tenants' bonds lodged with the rental bond board ticked over $1 billion for the first time. At 30 June 2013, the total stood at $1 043 000 000.

All of it tenants' money.

That billion dollars earned interest: a handy $58 million for the year. Most of that interest was divvied up and paid out for various purposes.

All up about $38 million – almost two thirds of the interest earned – went to the NSW State Government. The largest part – a bit over $24 million – went to the NSW Department of Finance and Services for 'administrative services' rendered to the Bond Board.

Another $13.5 million went to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal, as a contribution to the cost of its operations (a similar contribution will be made to NCAT). It's true that tenancy is a big part of the Tribunal's business: across its three tenancy-related divisions (Tenancy, Social Housing and Residential Parks) it received more than 51 000 applications. Of these, 83 per cent were made by landlords.  

And another $500 000 went to NSW Fair Trading, as a contribution to the cost of its telephone information service, which gives tenancy information to tenants and landlords alike.

Out of the remaining third, $7.5 million went to the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program: in other words, your TAASs, which provide information, advice and advocacy to tenants – never landlords. Tenants advocates like the work, so thank you tenants; we also reckon tenants get a very valuable service for their money.

A little over $3 million went to not-for-profit financial counselling services, a little over $2 million went to the No-Interest Loans Scheme, and a little over $400 000 went to The Aged Care Rights Service. These are valuable services too, and we encourage you to use them if you need them.

And $2.5 million went in grants to affordable housing schemes – in particular, as the NSW State Government's contribution to NRAS projects. 

Last – and least – $132 000 went to individual tenants, in interest payments on bonds paid out at the end of tenancies.

That leaves a bit over $3 million of interest not paid out over the year. This was added to the pile of surplus monies from previous years where, in total, a little more than $62 million has now accumulated.

So, tenants have some valuable services to show for their billion dollars – but we think they should have more. Between the surplus and the payments to government – particularly the payment to the Tribunal, which really should be funded by the whole of the community, not in such a large part by tenants – more monies should be directed to the TAASs, which are still funded as if they are serving the rental market circa 2002, and more should go to tenants individually.

NSW Fair Trading tenancy dispute resolution service

NSW Fair Trading is promoting a dispute resolution service for certain types of tenancy disputes. If you're a tenant (or a landlord, or an agent) and you've not been able to sort out a problem yourself, you can apply to NSW Fair Trading to conduct mediation between you and the other party.

The mediation might result in a non-binding settlement of the dispute, or it might not settle, in which case you'll have to consider applying to the Tribunal for an outcome (currently the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal; from 1 January next year, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal). You'll have to consider applying to the Tribunal if the other party doesn't keep to the settlement they've agreed to, too.

It's good to know that this service is there as an option – one option amongst several. You can also contact your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service, who are experienced hands in negotiating with landlords and agents. Even when they cannot negotiate on your behalf can usually give you some handy tips on how best to do it yourself.

And the Tribunal is an option. You should consider applying to the Tribunal, particularly if you've been given the run around by your landlord or their agent for some time. Keep in mind that there are time limits on applications: you've got to apply within three months of becoming aware of a breach; and for some other types of dispute, the time limit is less than that.

And note that the Fair Trading service is optional, not mandatory (a mandatory process, duplicating the Tribunal's dispute resolution role in an inferior way, and complicating access to justice, would not be a good idea). 

Congratulations, NSW tenants

Thanks to a small amount of the interest earned by the government's investment of your bond money, Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services will continue to operate in New South Wales.

The loss of the Parks and Village Service and the Older Persons Tenants Service will hurt these services, as it will hurt the tenants and park residents who have directly or indirectly relied upon their expertise over the years. But the continuation of Fair Trading's Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program - and the TAASs that it funds - gives cause for a momentary cheer.

There's been no increase in the funds available to the program, so TAASs will still be delivering their services at a cost of just three cents a day to each tenant household in NSW. It's money well spent. Despite the tight budgets within which they operate, TAASs do great work. They are local, they're on the ground, and they make a difference in the communities they serve.

Not long ago we held our annual TAAPstar awards ceremony, where we acknowledge the good work that the TAASs do. These awards are hotly contested. The many nominations always inspire us, and remind us of the ever present need for the work that Tenants' Advocates do. Here are some examples:

- New England and Western TAAS assisted a tenant who had arrears in the thousands - the tenant’s mother had been diagnosed with leukaemia and hospitalised in Newcastle. The tenant’s regular trips to Newcastle had left her unable to afford the rent. She was issued with a termination notice, and the landlord had applied to the Tribunal to enforce it. The tenant agreed to vacate the property, but she couldn't afford to pay the arrears in a lump sum. With the support of an Advocate in conciliation, the tenant negotiated with the real estate agent who agreed to a repayment plan of $30 per week.

- South Western NSW TAAS heard from a number of tenants who were being charged by the local Community Housing Provider (CHP) for repairs at the end of their tenancy, including costs that they did not believe they were responsible for. The CHP was adding an 'admin fee' to the bill, which was based on a percentage of the costs claimed. An Advocate represented these tenants at the Tribunal, and the Tribunal did not allow this admin fee at any of the hearings attended. The Advocate wrote to the CHP explaining why they should not charge this fee. The CHP’s solicitor wrote to the TAAS, stating why they believed they could charge this fee. Then with assistance from the Tenants' Union, the Advocate wrote to the Registrar of Community Housing, who engaged with the CHP about whether it was valid to claim this admin fee. As a result of these enquiries, the CHP is no longer adding an admin fee to claims for costs of end-of-tenancy repairs.

- Inner West TAAS was approached by two tenants who had been living in their property for over twenty years. They had recently made a complaint to the landlord about ongoing building works in the unit block. In reply, the landlord issued a hefty rent increase and a no grounds notice of termination. With assistance from the TAAS, they applied to the Tribunal for an order that the termination notice was 'retaliatory'. The landlord withdrew the termination notice, but pressed on with the rent increase. The TAAS assisted in obtaining summonses for the tenancy agreements of every other unit in the block. Those agreements showed what the tenants had suspected – that they were being singled out for a grossly excessive rent increase. The matter went to final hearing and the Tribunal did not allow the rent increase.

The ongoing funding of Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services means that examples like these will continue every day, in every part of New South Wales, for years to come. Congratulations, tenants. It's money well spent.

Goodbye from OPTS

From December, the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program (TAAP) – administered by NSW Fair Trading, using tenants' money – will no longer fund a separate resource service for older tenants, and the Older Persons Tenancy Service (OPTS) will regretfully close its doors.

From OPTS's legendary tenants advocate Dr Robert Mowbray, a final postcard.

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OPTS, along with the Park and Village Service, has received the chop. 

With the loss of OPTS from the TAAP, over 80 years of worker-experience in the community sector may be lost ... and much of this has been in the area of tenant advocacy! But, more importantly, there will be significant gaps left by the chopping of OPTS. NSW Fair Trading advises that TAAP will continue to assist older tenants and park residents, particularly social housing and vulnerable tenants/residents in the same way as previously. But this is nonsense.

Regarding OPTS, what particularly will be missing is support to direct services on older persons issues (for example, dementia, capacity, hoarding), and the complex casework OPTS previously did; for example, with protected tenancies, long-term tenants and older tenants in unusual circumstances. This is a real concern. The changing demographics of renters shows an increasing number of older persons living in the private rental market. Indeed, recent research identifies older, single females in the private rental market as the 'new poor'. Research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute found that renting is no longer temporary but permanent for increasing numbers of people, who have been priced out of the housing market. Indeed, 30 per cent of long-term tenants were aged 45-64. Dr Stone, the researcher, said the potential cost of this older group was a 'policy bomb waiting to go off'!

Direct services generally with no additional funding will not be able to provide the same level of support with complex casework.

Some of OPTS achievements are reflected in a selection of its case studies. Here are some really complex recent matters where OPTS assisted … 

A protected tenant 

Jock has lived in a terrace house in Kirribilli since 1974. The landlord has done little repairs over these years.  Jock paid rent of $300 per week. He contacted OPTS after his real estate agent served a 14-day termination notice, alleging he was 30 months behind in rent and owed $28,000.

OPTS advised Jock that he was a protected tenant and, because his landlord had never lawfully increased the rent, he was liable to pay what he did back when he started his tenancy. Simple arithmetic showed he was in rent credit of over $200,000. Putting this another way, his rent was paid up for another 800 years!

OPTS and his client met with the real estate agent prior to a Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal hearing. OPTS convinced the agent that the tenant was a protected tenant. The agent withdrew his application.

The owner promptly changed real estate agents and this real estate agent promptly organised a builder’s report which identified works required to bring the property up to scratch. OPTS organised second builder’s and pest controller’s reports and these reports stated that remedial work could be done without the need for Jock to move.  These reports were provided to the real estate agent. Jock sought to settle this matter by proposing repairs being undertaken, regularising a rent increase by signing a ‘17A Agreement’ and a 3-year fixed term lease. In return, Jock would not pursue overpaid rent for the last six years (the maximum period for which he can recover overpaid under the law).

A year later negotiations have led nowhere. The new real estate agent is seeking to have the local government council condemn the house. Council advises that the landlord is known for not doing repairs. Council does not wish to see the tenant out in the street. OPTS has referred Jock to a solicitor for action on overpaid rent and repairs … but Jock is still willing to negotiate a settlement. 

Asbestos in premises 

OPTS tested Section 52(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 that covers landlord’s complying with statutory obligations relating to health and safety of residential premises. The tenant had been living with asbestos fibres since March 2013. The asbestos roof was breaking down and fibres were falling into the premises because there was no ceiling. The tenant stayed with friends from this date and did not pay rent from that time. OPTS relied on the Division of Local Government's ‘Model Asbestos Policy for NSW Councils’. OPTS argued the asbestos policy is sub-ordinate legislation with powers under Sections 33A and 159 of the Local Government Act 1993.

A copy of OPTS submission was sent to the landlord’s solicitor before the formal Tribunal hearing. He stated the landlord would negotiate an agreement. Consent orders were made that 12-weeks rent be waived until the tenant formally vacated, the tenant’s $750 asbestos report be paid for, whole rental bond be paid back and tenant’s removal costs be covered. 

A Court of Appeal decision revisited 

For some time OPTS has been assisting a group of people who, many years ago, bought their houses but ever since have paid rent for the ground on which they stand. In this case, Lithgow Valley Colliery Company, a mining company, owned land and allowed its workers to build houses on its land. These houses subsequently were transferred to relatives or sold to others. In 2000 the Colliery sold the land to a developer (Ceedive) who sought to evict residents. 

The Court of Appeal decision in the case of May v Ceedive Pty Ltd [2006] NSWCA 369 (15 December 2006) held that the buildings were fixtures and the ‘ground rent’ agreements were agreements for the lease of ‘premises’. The Court further held that this meant that residents who had ground rent agreements and ‘bought’ their houses prior to 1 January 1986 may be tenants covered under the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1948.  

Recently OPTS assisted Brendan, a resident in a similar situation, whose parents ‘purchased’ their house but not the land in the 1950s. Following the death of his mother, Brendan became what is known as a 'statutory protected tenant'. Nevertheless, the owner served him a termination notice under the 2010 Act, citing the death of the tenant. OPTS represented Brendan in three hearings of the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. Prior to these hearings it sought advice from a barrister in the May v Ceedive case, which became the basis for the submission to the Tribunal. The questions before the Tribunal were whether the premises are covered by the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1948 and whether sections 83A and 83C of that Act apply. The decision on the first question flows from the decision of May v Ceedive. The decision on the second question relates to an occupant becoming a 'statutory protected tenant' following the death of the tenant. The respondent was successful on both accounts.

Housing NSW and heritage property 

An elderly couple contacted OPTS because they required major repairs, including replacement of the roof, to their heritage-listed cottage – built in the 1850s, now owned as public housing by the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC). OPTS sought to negotiate directly with LAHC who advised that they would do temporary repairs until the place becomes unlivable. At that point in time, Housing NSW will provide an alternate residence for the tenants. OPTS obtained pro bono assistance from a heritage architect who provided a report and a barrister who drafted a letter and agreed to represent the tenants in any proceedings in the Land and Environment Court. Immediately after receipt of that letter, NSW LAHC advised that they already had agreed to replace the roof! Work on a new roof was completed a few months later. The tenants are thrilled. 

A hoarder 

Margy is nearly 80 years of age. Last year her friend rang OPTS stating that sheriff officers were evicting Margy the next morning. Two workers from OPTS attended the premises just before the sheriff officers were due. Clearly, Margy was a hoarder. She wouldn’t allow OPTS into her unit … the unit, the foyer and her unregistered car were chock-a-block with all manner of things.

Shortly afterwards the sheriff officers arrived and then the police. After prolonged negotiations, on the instructions of the sheriff officers, the police removed Margy from her premises. They allowed her to pull together a few possessions to take with her. Over many weeks OPTS negotiated with the owner’s solicitor moving some of her possessions to a storage facility. Much was placed in a skip. Her car was towed away.

Margy organised alternative accommodation at a local backpackers hostel. She started bringing things back to her room. This made it difficult for others who were sharing the room.  She was finally asked to leave and the manager of the backpackers hostel found her a room in a boarding house.

It was clear Margy was neglecting her health and she had difficulty making day-to-day decisions. OPTS organised support through a Boarding House project attached to a neighbourhood centre. Both liaised with a local community care team who made application to the Guardianship Tribunal and a guardian was appointed. The guardian organised for Margy to be admitted to the hospital for a health check and assessment, with the intention of moving her to an aged care facility where she will receive the appropriate care.

At the time of going to hospital her room in the boarding house had become chock-a-block with all manner of things … After thorough assessment in hospital Margy moved to a low care facility in the inner west. 


But not all of OPTS cases are so complex...  

A quandary about water bills 

OPTS has a protected tenant in her 80's who's been in hospital for three months and now finds the landlord has failed to pay the water bill. Sydney Water has disconnected the water supply and this will delay her return home.  (As a protected tenant she is not liable for water usage charges.) Section 62 of the Sydney Water Act 1994 allows her to pay the outstanding bill (including reconnection charges) and count it as rent.

But how does she make this payment, because Sydney Water no longer has a physical location that anyone can visit in order to pay bills? She can't pay it at the Post Office without knowing the Account Number and Sydney Water will not give it to her because she is not the customer. She can't pay it over the telephone unless she has a credit or debit card which she doesn’t have. OPTS discussed this with officers of Sydney Water who were apologetic but said they were unable to do anything.

OPTS resolved this quandary by using its own credit card and paying the amount over the telephone.  The tenant reimbursed OPTS with a cheque.

(Postscript: The tenant has now returned home to running water and rent paid many months in advance with her rent! The landlord is refusing to collect letters sent by ‘Registered Post’ stating that the payment to Sydney Water is rent.) 

Jim can now use his washing machine 

Jim is an older bloke who lives in a social housing property in a rural northwestern town.  He had been living in the property for nearly a year and had no key to the power box in the laundry so he could use the washing machine. Also, there was only one garbage bin for four units.  OPTS was contacted by the local hospital regarding Jim after they learned of his situation. Jim suggested to his neighbour that he also contact OPTS because he had exactly the same problems. OPTS made representations on behalf of both clients to the Housing NSW office and the Housing NSW Contact Centre.  Some 10 months after OPTS first contacted Housing NSW, things finally moved. Jim reports he and his neighbor are now using the washing machine and have extra garbage bins.  

OPTS’s legacy

OPTS’s casework has made a profound impact on the lives of many older renters.  But its legacy is more than just its casework. It developed an expertise second-to-none on ‘protected tenancies’ and long-term tenant matters. Its accumulated knowledge on protected tenancies is recorded in a revised guide to protected tenants that will be used by workers with TAAS. It has also produced a CD that provides an oral history of protected tenants in New South Wales. Over many years it has also resourced the network of TAAS on older persons issues, such as dementia, capacity to make decisions, and hoarding. 

Happy International Tenants Day

The first Monday in October is International Tenants Day. It's a fluke that the day falls on the Labour Day public holiday here in New South Wales – the International Union of Tenants sets the date to coincide with the United Nation's World Habitat Day. The purpose of World Habitat Day is to 'reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter.'

(Tenants make cities!) 

Your Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services work for the realisation of that right throughout the year. In the coming year, however, the work will get tougher, because we'll be without two services that do exceptional work for special groups of tenants and their advocates in the TAAS network.

In the next funding period for the TAASs, there'll be no Park and Village Service and no Older Persons Tenancy Service. The Sydney Morning Herald has an article on the case of PAVS; we'll post word from OPTS in coming days.

A portion of the funding that these two services have previously received is to be rolled into the contract for the general resource service for the TAASs (currently, the Tenants' Union), for the provision of specialist support in relation to residential parks and older tenants. But it won't be the same level of service as provided by PAVS and OPTS.

The other part of the money that used to go to PAVS and OPTS will go instead to the Aboriginal TAASs, who certainly need additional funding, but they'll be the first to say that it shouldn't have to be at the expense of services for park residents and older persons.

Overall, the total amount of funding provided to TAASs will remain the same as under the funding period just ending. It hasn't increased in real terms for 10 years, despite the number of rental households growing by 25 per cent over that time. TAASs are funded from interest earned on tenants' money: bonds lodged with the Rental Bond Board, and monies held in real estate agents' statutory trust accounts. (Actually, just a small fraction of the interest goes to TAASs; much more goes to the State Government.)

Tenants, on your day, remember it's your money, and your services.

Where do the parties stand on housing: part 4 - The Greens

While we were making up housing policies for Labor and the Liberals, because neither had announced their own, another political party launched not just a housing policy, but also a 'Better Deal for Renters' too.

Here we take a look at the housing policy of The Greens.

Social housing
The Greens propose substantial new investment in social housing, to arrest the vicious circle of its present decline, and build 122 000 new dwellings over the new 10 years – equivalent to half the number of households currently on waiting lists around the country.

Because – let's face it – the Greens won't be forming government next week, one might object that the Greens can promise new housing as much as they like, because they'll not have to find the money for it. But what makes this promise worthy of attention is the innovative financing mechanism proposed: a suite of Affordable Housing Supply Bonds that would appeal variously to institutional investors – notoriously absent from rental housing investment in Australia – and 'retail' investors – the so-called 'mums and dads' who have run rampant over the rental market, leaving inflation, debt and insecurity in their wake. Any means of turning their resources instead to the production of new, affordable, secure social housing deserves consideration.

Affordable rental
To support other forms of affordable rental, the Greens are proposing an extension of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), and some specific-purpose programs: a special Uni-NRAS for affordable student accommodation, and grants to enable vacant buildings – the real under-occupancy problem – to be converted to affordable rental housing.

Tax reform
The Greens propose cutting the capital gains tax discount rate from 50 per cent to 40 cent, as recommended by the Henry Review. This is one way of reducing the fatal attractiveness of negative gearing, so would not just increase government revenue, but also reduce distortion in the rental market too. We suggest that while they're at it, the Greens should consider land tax reform too – also recommended by the Henry Review.

The 'Better Deal for Renters'
In addition to their proposals for social housing and affordable housing, the Greens' 'Better Deal for Renters' comprises three elements.

The first is the establishment of a new national body to implement a new National Standard for Rental Housing. Matters for consideration in the Standard would include:

• improved security of tenure;
• stability and fairness of rents;
• a new efficiency standard for rental dwellings;
• standards as to the state of repair and physical security (ie locks, etc) of a dwelling; and 
• better legislative protection of vulnerable marginal renters.

The Greens don't go as far as specifying exactly what needs to be done in each in relation to each of these matters – that would be for the national body to advise, and it might itself come up with some other matters to advise on. As for the nature of the national body, the Greens indicate that it might be constituted like the National Dialogue on Universal Housing Design. This sort of industry and consumer stakeholder forum would be a welcome development, and probably be especially useful in advising on the efficiency standard, but we wonder how it would deal with the more contentious matters, particularly legal security of tenure and rents – it may be necessary for legislators to take the lead here. As for how the National Standard could be implemented – that is, by the Federal Government in areas that are usually the responsibility of States – the Greens propose using the processes of COAG and attaching some strings to Commonwealth funds. Fair enough.

The second element is actually a better deal for landlords too: a grant to help cover the cost of efficiency improvements required by the anticipated National Standard.

And the third element is additional funding for tenants' advocacy services. Declaration of interest: the Tenants' Union of NSW is, of course, one of those advocacy services. But the case for increased funding is strong, especially in Queensland, where the State Government still refuses to fund tenants advice and advocacy services there, and in New South Wales too, where TAASs do an extraordinary job on a budget that still set as if we're working in the rental market circa 2002.  

Well done to the Greens. We'd congratulate them for no other reason than their effort to get the hugely important matter of housing on the campaign agenda – but more than that, many of the measures they propose stack up as sound policy too. These are policies worth your consideration on election day – and worth consideration by whichever party forms government thereafter.

The 3 Golden Rules of Renting

We've talked before about the history and work of Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services, and the value they represent. Part of that value is in the depth of experience and knowledge of these services (and even some dedicated individuals!) who have been assisting tenants for 20 or even 30 or 40 years. TAASs get asked all sorts of questions by tenants every day. Sometimes, we hear of problems that have never been asked before, and require a bit of lateral thinking before they can be resolved. More often, we hear variations on the same theme: "Am I in the right here, or are they?"

But sometimes that doesn't matter - all that matters is what the available evidence can tell you... If we are ever to give tenants some simple advice before a dispute arises, it is to simply follow the three golden rules:

1. Get everything in Writing

We mean everything!

International relations were for a little while ruled by an old russian proverb that translated to "trust, but verify". This can be a good way to approach your tenancy as well. All too often we hear from tenants who have trusted their landlord or their agent to keep a promise that was made with nothing more than a handshake. But when it comes down to it, these promises are not worth the paper they are written on.

Having a chat on the phone is often much quicker and more convenient than a full blown sit-down - but it's also much harder to prove that the conversation ever happened. It's harder still to prove who said what about when, where, why and how...

It's always wise to follow a phone call with a letter - signed and dated - recording your understanding of all the key issues and outcomes of your conversation. Always keep a copy for yourself. That way if the details of the conversation are ever in dispute, you have a solid piece of evidence that can be relied on to support your own version of events.

2. Keep your own records

Memory is a fickle thing - you might still remember the name of the first person you kissed decades ago, but not the name of that slightly boring person you met at a party only just last week. Whether you're reporting repairs, making agreements about rent reductions, or discussing a date for an inspection, you want to be able to show that the conversation happened the way you remember it.

People have different filing systems (which aren't always the most reliable). Sometimes landlords change agents and documents don't make it across the switch. Sometimes things get lost... and sometimes promises and agreements are made that are just not adhered to.

Keeping your own copies of letters sent and received, receipts for rent paid, invoices, bills and agreements made can save you a lot of grief when it comes time to sort out the history of the tenancy.

Most importantly, sometimes there is no document to retain in the first place. Make a brief note outlining all the key facts you wish to keep track of - ie who said what, when, where, why and how. Date it, and put it in your file. That way, you've got a record of the conversation, taken contemporaneously, which will be seen as a more reliable account than a later recollection of the same facts.

3. Know your rights

There's nothing harder than being in an argument where only one side knows what they're talking about. There are a lot of myths out there about renting, too, so knowing your rights can be easier said than done. But there are lots of resources available for tenants, so you can always know what the deal is.

Here are our three favourites for tenants in New South Wales:

Read something!

There are 26 factsheets available. They cover the main topics TAASs get asked about all the time, and we add new ones periodically as well.

Read something else!

Available online and for free at the NSW State Library's Legal Information and Access Centre is the Tenants' Rights Manual, written by the Brown Couch's own Dr Chris Martin, with the rest of the Tenants' Union and many Tenants' Advocates and other workers contributing. The online Manual is updated as the law changes, and fleshes out much of the information contained in the fact sheets.

Ask someone!

Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services are just a phone call away - you can find your local service's details here. As we've discussed before, Tenants' Advocates are under the pump with ever increasing demand for their time and services - but if your question hasn't been resolved by looking at the above information, they'll be happy to take your call.
The Tenants' Union of NSW is also on Facebook and Twitter (and you'll find some of the TAASs using social media, too).

Come by and say hello!


The 3 golden rules of renting are the mainstay of Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Services. They are articulated here in a form made famous by Sundar Mahtani, a legendary Tenants' Advocate who has been giving advice and assistance to tenants across Sydney for the better part of 30 years.

A quest to save one million tenancies...

*** Although this post was written in mid-2013, it remains relevant in 2015 as the Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Services pursue a claim for increased funding.

Note, however, that the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal amalgamated with several other Tribunals into the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) in 2014 ***

It's time we had another look at the work of Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Services.

These services - TAASs - have existed across New South Wales for many years. They offer free advice and information to tenants about the rights and responsibilities that come with renting a home.

We've spent some time of late talking about the cost of these services to tenants, and the value that they represent. We've spoken about the need to increase funding to TAAS, and observed the rollercoaster of uncertainty that similar services in Queensland are currently facing.

Today, we'd like to talk a little more about the services themselves.

There's a Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service in every region of New South Wales. No matter what your postcode, there's a locally based service that you can call for advice when you need it. There's also a website - www.tenants.org.au - where you can get the phone number for your local service, and find out when their advice lines are open. Or, if what you need is a little bit of information to help you sort an issue out for yourself, you can find a series of Tenants Rights Factsheets providing answers to a range of common questions about renting in New South Wales.

During the period between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012*, TAAS provided direct assistance to a total of 30,629 tenants. That represents about 4% of the state's tenants, according to the latest census data. But it represents about 19% of people who have a question about renting in New South Wales: the Fair Trading Information Centre (FTIC) reports** handling 131,000 tenancy related inquiries over the same period, and that includes calls from landlords and real estate agents, too.

Interestingly, FTIC noted an increase of nearly 7.5% in tenancy related calls over the year. TAASs would probably have seen such an increase in the use of their services, too, if they had the resources to handle it. Instead, they saw the demand on their services increase, but their ability to respond to calls remained the same as previous years.

Of those 30,629 contacts by TAAS, at least 19,074 were tenants renting in the private rental market, and 3,308 were social housing tenants. 2,479 identified as Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander, and 4,431 were from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse background.

TAASs put 10,201 tenants in touch with other services to help them solve a problem. Factsheets and other printed material were sent to 26,674 tenants - but with in excess of 4,500 factsheets downloaded from www.tenants.org.au each month, there are plenty of tenants being referred to this information from other sources as well.

TAASs advocated directly for 4,638 tenants, and assisted 3,564 in the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. They helped tenants to write letters, draft applications, negotiate, conciliate, and attempt to resolve their tenancy disputes with landlords and real estate agents all over New South Wales. Sometimes they stood before the Tribunal and made submissions on a tenant's behalf.

Rumpole of the Bailey, sure loved a court-room drama

We sometimes hear that TAASs are a little too keen to race off to the Tribunal whenever they meet a tenant in distress. Frankly, we don't see any reason to apoligise for that - the Tribunal is there to help resolve disputes when all else has failed. Often, by the time a tenant gets in touch with a TAAS, much has already transpired between the parties, and the situation warrants some pretty strong intervention. But when we looked at this data, it made us wonder where this perception actually comes from...

3,564 appearances by Tenants' Advocates in the Tribunal, out of a potential 30,629, hardly seems like they're banging the doors down. But when you consider that TAASs provided ongoing support or advocacy to 4,683 clients over the period, it means that in 76% of cases this included a trip to the Tribunal.

To really give us the context in which these figures should be considered, we need to look over the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal's data from the same period. There were 32,626 applications in the Tribunal's Tenancy Division, and 16,084 applications in the Social Housing Division - 48,710 all counted. Tenants made a total of 8,128 of those, across both divisions, with the vast majority being a claim for a bond refund.

The most common applications were in fact made by landlords - overwhelmingly, for the termination of a tenancy. In the Tenancy Division, there were 19,373 of these. In the Social Housing Division, there were 9,536. That's a total of 28,909 - almost as many contacts as TAASs had over the year!

As we pointed out a couple of months ago, TAASs are successful in preventing homelessness in 82% of matters where their clients face such a risk. One of the key reasons for this is that a Tenants' Advocate from a local TAAS will sometimes attend the Tribunal with a tenant, and assist, when their landlord has asked for the tenancy to be brought to an end.

Take this recent example: a tenant had received a notice of termination that alleged she was causing nuisance and interfering with the peace, comfort and privacy of her neighbour. The matter ended up in the Tribunal, where the landlord's evidence was pretty thin on the ground. They had a letter from another landlord saying that his tenant (ie, the neighbour) was threatening to leave because of the behaviour he was subjected to from next door. There were no real details about what that behaviour was, but it seemed to have something to do with small children playing loudly.

The Advocate who assisted this client said "I asked the landlord - if there really is a problem, why not just ask the tenant to be more mindful of the neighbour, instead of sending her a notice of termination?" The landlord agreed that the tenancy did not need to end, as long as the tenant agreed to abide by all the terms and conditions of the residential tenancy agreement.

Said the Advocate: "This tenant was very intimidated by the whole Tribunal process. Without help I'm sure she would have been convinced by the landlord that leaving was her only option." But the landlord in question was a social housing provider, and the tenant's prospects of finding another home after losing that tenancy would have been pretty slim.

Not every application to terminate a tenancy can be so easily disposed of, and in fact many of them proceed through the Tribunal without a second thought. The Tribunal recently celebrated its 1,000,000th order, and although we'll never know if it was an order to terminate a tenancy, it's a reasonable bet that it was. Given the vast majority of the Tribunal's work is tenancy related, and most of the applications it hears are made by landlords seeking to end a tenancy, it hardly seems to matter. A very high proportion of those one million Tribunal orders resulted in someone losing their home.

Tenants' Advocates who work with TAAS are highly skilled and compassionate people, but they can't fix every problem that comes their way. Even if they could, it would take awhile to be able to boast that they've saved one million tenancies. Wouldn't it be nice if they could?



*This is the latest period for which we have complete sets of data across a range of sources.
**See the 'Rental Bond Board Annual Report 2011-2012' page 10.

Queensland TAASs and the State/Federal rollercoaster

More news just in from Queensland: the Federal Government will fund Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Services north of the Tweed for a further six months.

Perhaps we should back-track a little. You will recall that, only three short weeks ago, the Federal Government offered Queensland TAASs a "life-raft" - $2.5 million for the Queensland Government to keep TAASs going for another six months, on the condition that the State would ensure these services continue into the future.

Queensland rejected the offer, declaring that they would not formulate policy around what money they get from the Federal Government.

Today the Federal Government has announced it will give that $2.5 million straight to the Tenants' Union of Queensland, so that they can administer Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Services for a further six months.

This is great news, and we congratulate the tenants of Queensland for taking such a strong stand in support of their services.

But without a commitment from the Queensland Government - a commitment that they seem determined not to give - Queensland TAASs are still in limbo. All the more so, as the federal election looms.

This commitment from the Federal Government will carry Queensland tenants through the looming electoral storm. What happens next is anybody's guess.

In the meantime, some Queensland TAASs are closing their doors for the last time, as their highly skilled, experienced and committed staff must make tough decisions in the face of an uncertain future.

Follow Save Tenants Services for regular updates on the continuing struggle for funded Tenants Advice and Advocacy in Queensland.

Tenant activism: the emergence of the Tenants Union of NSW

The Institute of Tenancy Culture Studies presents a guest appearance by Visiting Fellow, Dr Robert Mowbray.

Today just under 30 per cent of Australians live in rental housing. One hundred years ago the figure was over half, but in the second half of the twentieth century the proportion in home ownership increased due to the massive subsidisation of this tenure by the federal government, largely through the taxation system. Today, 24 per cent live in private rental and 5 per cent live in social housing where the main players are state housing authorities and, increasingly, not-for-profit community housing providers. In the 1950s social housing developed as an alternative to home ownership, but from the 1970 it increasingly was targeted to the most needy and in recent times no longer guarantees the expectation of a life tenure for new tenants.

Residential tenancies legislation is a state government responsibility but, in all States of Australia, it provides little security of tenure because, when the fixed term of the agreement expires, landlords are able to evict their tenants without having to give a reason. Fixed terms generally are no more than 6 or 12 months. In addition to poor security of tenure, housing affordability is a major problem in the private rental sector, with only one affordable, available dwelling for every five low income household. At the same time there are one quarter of a million applicants for social housing.

State-wide tenant organisations have existed across Australia since the middle of the 1970s and their major focus is lobbying for a better deal for both private and social housing tenants. This discussion looks at the emergence of the Tenants Union in New South Wales, which is the most populous of the States within Australia. However, the situation is not dissimilar in other States. The earliest reference to a tenant organisation in New South Wales is the Rent Payers Association who campaigned for fair rent legislation in the period 1910 to 1916.

During the Depression of the1930s houses in the coal fields of were declared ‘black’ and left to rot because of unfair evictions by landlords. The Unemployed Workers Movement in Sydney employed tactics that included occupation and sieges. The situation became volatile and there were major confrontations between large numbers of tenants and police carrying batons and guns. This forced the State Government of the day to introduce a law postponing evictions where there was hardship.

During the 1950s and 1960s the source of tenant power was their potential, not their actual activity. Legislation which was a legacy of the Second World War controlled rents and restricted evictions, and tenants wielded political influence through their concentration in certain electorates. However, with the phasing out of this legislation and the growth of home ownership, tenants declined as an electoral force. New tenants outside of rent control legislation were not easily identifiable as a voting group.

By the early 1970s these new tenants comprised the bulk of tenants across New South Wales. The Australian Government Commission of Inquiry into Poverty at the time reported that landlord and tenant legislation across Australia was in many respects unfair to tenants, particularly the poor and disadvantaged. Indeed, a major report to the Poverty Commission stated that the law contained grave deficiencies that needed to be remedied in the interests of tenants. The Poverty Commission’s report acted as a fillip to tenant activists and Tenants Unions emerged in a number of States.

In 1976 The Tenants Union of NSW was formed to act as a spokesperson for tenants across the State. It grew out of a working group of Shelter NSW, a fledgling housing organisation at the time. Early members of the Tenants Union of NSW were activists drawn from a variety of backgrounds. Initially it focused on establishing a network of tenant services across the state and campaigning for consumer rights-style reform legislation along the lines advocated by the Poverty Commission.

It increased its visibility by distributing posters, leaflets, car stickers and t-shirts, running stalls at festivals, seeking regular media coverage and giving talks to community groups. It was part of a coalition that campaigned around a report called ‘Reforming a Feudal Law’ as a blue-print for new legislation. A model residential lease was promoted. Other campaigns around tenancy law reform included one called ‘Campaign Action for Rental Reform’ or CARR for short, a cheeky play on the name of the then Minister for Consumer Affairs.

Tactics such as rent strikes kept the issue of tenancy law reform alive. There was a struggle to save the tenancies around a large Sydney public hospital which decided to bulldoze half its stock and sell off the rest. There were campaigns on broader issues of housing justice, including the setting up of a Tent City. Early campaigns ran in tandem with one run by resident groups to save large tracts of inner Sydney housing seen as slums from being demolished by the state housing authority (which were retained but now are totally gentrified).

It wasn’t till 1987, ten years after the establishment of the Tenants Union of NSW, that residential tenancy law reform was introduced in New South Wales. Today the Tenants Union of NSW is the State’s peak non-government organisation for people living in rental housing. It relies largely on legal aid (Commonwealth and State funding) and a small part of interest that accrues on the lodgement of tenants’ rental bond and real estate agents’ trust funds (State funding). It is a specialist community legal centre with its own legal practice in residential tenancies law, and is the primary resource body for the State-wide network of twenty-three Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services.

It is recognised by both Government and industry groups as a major stakeholder with whom to negotiate. Unlike some of the tenant organisations in Europe, Tenants Unions across Australia do not enjoy mass membership. This is because the bulk of tenants in Australia are tenants of private landlords and the types of landlords who dominate in this market are small scale individual investors (some referred to as ‘mum-and-dad’ investors) with one or two properties, attracted to rental property investment by tax breaks.

Indeed, Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that in June 1997 (at the time of its last survey on this topic) one in fifteen income units (comprising singles and couples) living in private dwellings across Australia were investors in residential rental property. This is a huge proportion of the population who are landlords. To organise tenants and sustain their membership where there are so many landlords has always been a daunting task, even though the Tenants’ Union of NSW is committed to as broad a membership as possible.

But it is for this same reason that Governments are reluctant to introduce reform legislation that provides increased security of tenure. Small scale individual investors in the private rental market usually have their eyes on the long term capital growth picture. In Australia rental properties are enmeshed in the owner-occupied market. This means the rental investor’s ability to sell the property with vacant possession on the owner-occupied market is crucial in order to maximise capital gain. This works against the legislative provision of increased security of tenure.

Yet, lobbying for law reform that promotes increased security of tenure remains a major objective of the Tenants Union of NSW. This may only become achievable when the types of landlord who dominate the rental market become large institutional investors, such as entities financed through superannuation funds; with a distinct rental housing market in which rental housing stock is traded as such. Australian workers have over one trillion dollars in superannuation assets. Australians have more money invested in managed funds per capita than any other economy.

In recent years a powerful coalition comprising peak social service, union, housing industry and community housing bodies has been lobbying for superannuation funds to invest in affordable rental housing, but so far with limited success. Certainly, a proportion of these funds directed to community housing providers would help address the affordability problem for low-income households.

In the meantime, tenant activists across Australia will continue to chip away …

Other versions of this article with photos have been published in ‘Global Tenant’ (April 2013), the quarterly magazine of the International Union of Tenants, and ‘Around the House’ (no. 92, March 2013), the newsletter of Shelter NSW.

Robert Mowbray was the founding Secretary and is a life member of the Tenants Union of NSW. He currently works with the Older Persons Tenants' Service.