Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
No-fault evictions leave NT renters at risk of homelessness
Jason Walls ABC (No paywall)When Lara Dunkley first noticed mould creeping down the walls of her Darwin home, she never imagined she would be effectively homeless within six months. Ms Dunkley is no stranger to the Top End humidity, so when she found the mould she cleaned it, told the real estate agent and vowed to use the air-conditioner more. But when she later discovered there was a leak coming from the apartment above, she had to get the landlord involved."Every day I would get home and go 'what's going to be mouldy now?'," she said. "I'd throw out a pair of shoes today, a handbag tomorrow … spend hours scrubbing mould off the walls.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/no-fault-evictions-leave-…
# Must read Australia, Rent.No-fault evictions leave NT renters at risk of homelessness
Jason Walls ABC (No paywall)When Lara Dunkley first noticed mould creeping down the walls of her Darwin home, she never imagined she would be effectively homeless within six months. Ms Dunkley is no stranger to the Top End humidity, so when she found the mould she cleaned it, told the real estate agent and vowed to use the air-conditioner more. But when she later discovered there was a leak coming from the apartment above, she had to get the landlord involved."Every day I would get home and go 'what's going to be mouldy now?'," she said. "I'd throw out a pair of shoes today, a handbag tomorrow … spend hours scrubbing mould off the walls.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/no-fault-evictions-leave-…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Greens to introduce new law to enshrine housing as a human right in the ACT
Oliver Jacques Riotact (No paywall)The ACT Greens will introduce new legislation to enshrine housing as a basic human right in the capital. In Australia, there is no legal right to housing in any state or territory legislation or constitution. If the Greens proposal is successful, the ACT would become the first jurisdiction to do so. “Like education or healthcare, affordable housing is an essential service and key to living a life with dignity,” ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said. “This legislation put forward by the Greens reflects a practical way we can focus the priorities of the government, ensuring that the government properly considers housing affordability in decision making.”
https://the-riotact.com/greens-to-introduce-new-law-to-enshrine-…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement Australia, .A small Victorian tourist town of 2,600 people has 100 properties for sale. What’s going on in Bright?
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Everywhere you look in Bright there are trees – shaded crimson, amber and gold in the autumn; they attract thousands of tourists to the Victorian town. But nestled in between the elms, oaks and maples are “for sale” signs hitched on fences and banged into front yards, revealing others are moving on. Almost every street has a house for sale in the high country village, population 2,620, where visitors flock each year. Figures from CoreLogic show 71 homes on the market in the last month, more than double that recorded in November 2019. So what’s causing the mass exodus? On Friday 100 properties were listed for sale on realestate.com.au. Yet, there were only two for rent.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/16/a-small-v…
# Must read Australia, Rent.Homeless Canberra man appeals unauthorised camping conviction for sleeping in his car on national land
Charlotte Gore ABC (No paywall)A homeless Canberra man has successfully appealed a charge for unauthorised camping in the ACT Supreme Court. The man was found guilty of unauthorised camping on unleased national land in November last year after sleeping in his car in an unrestricted carpark. He appealed the ACT Magistrates Court decision, his main complaint being that he was not camping and therefore should not have been found guilty. In his initial case, the Commonwealth prosecutors said the incident constituted camping because the man was sleeping in his car for at least some of the period between 1am and 5am.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/act-homeless-man-appeals-…
# Hot topic Australia, .Australia’s deadliest natural disaster you’ve never heard of
Jo Lauder, Tyne Logan, Fran Rimrod, Alex Lim and Stacy Gougoulis ABC (No paywall)This is not the start of a post-apocalyptic movie. Actually, it’s Melbourne in 2009. In the last week of January, a heatwave settled over Australia’s south-east, locking in endless days and nights of soaring temperatures. What unfolded over the following two weeks was the deadliest natural disaster in Australia’s recent history. Yet, most people don’t know the full scale of what happened. It was overshadowed by another catastrophe hot on its heels. Since 1900, heatwaves have killed more people in Australia than floods, fires, and all the other disasters put together. And with the climate warming, we’re likely going to see more in the future.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/heatwave-of-2009-australi…
# Hot topic Australia, Disasters.NT Court of Appeal upholds tenants' right to clean drinking water in remote communities
Oliver Chaseling ABC (No paywall)The Northern Territory Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling that the NT government is legally responsible for providing safe drinking water in remote communities, laying the foundation for a wider class action over remote housing. Residents of the Central Australian remote community of Laramba first took the NT government to court in 2019 over the level of uranium in their drinking water, which was then three times above the Australian standard. The NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) initially ruled in the government’s favour, finding it was the NT’s Power and Water Corporation that was responsible for water supply, but Laramba residents were successful in their 2023 appeal to the NT Supreme Court.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-27/court-rejects-nt-governme…
# Must read Australia, .One million Australians are negatively gearing, new tax figures show
Tom Crowley ABC (No paywall)Nearly half of all Australian landlords have negatively geared properties, according to new figures that show the highest earners are hauling in tens of billions of dollars from tax concessions and loopholes. Capital gains tax concessions will "cost" the federal budget $75 billion this year, and super tax concessions another $51 billion, according to Treasury's annual tax report. As in previous years, most of the benefit will go to the highest earners. For instance, the top tenth of tax filers will account for $4 of every $5 claimed this year via the capital gains tax (CGT) discount.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/one-million-australians-a…
# Must read Australia, .