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
Rough sleeping camps found burnt in Launceston
Hayden Smith ABC (No paywall)There are growing concerns for people experiencing homelessness in Northern Tasmania after the burning of camps used by rough sleepers. The charred remains of two camp sites were recently found on the banks of the Tamar River in Launceston. Police say a fire was reported on Sunday, but have no information to suggest it was suspicious. However, advocates are alarmed.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-24/tasmania-launceston-housi…
# Must read, Hot topic Australia, .When can tenants challenge evictions?
Damien Carrick ABC (No paywall)How do tenancy tribunals balance the competing needs of tenants and landlords? And why is Victoria - from a tenants' perspective - ahead of the pack? Guests: Tanya Lakic, Lawyer, Peninsula Community Legal Centre. Leo Patterson Ross, CEO, Tenants' Union of NSW.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lawreport/tenants-and-lan…
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, Eviction.Queensland's rental watchdog under fire after issuing just four fines to landlords, agents in past year
Owen Jacques ABC (No paywall)Queensland's powerful rental watchdog could be facing a shake-up after issuing just four fines in the past 12 months despite identifying hundreds of offences by landlords and real estate agents. New figures this week show that for 478 offences confirmed by investigations by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA), landlords or agents were given either further education or a caution. The four fines were given to landlords or agents for unlawful entry, holding an open home without consent and showing personal items in an advertisement.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-05/residential-tenancies-aut…
# Australia, Rent.Families, single women joining Queensland's record high social housing waitlist
Johanna Marie and James Taylor ABC (No paywall)Following the death of her aunty, with whom she shared a home, Julie Kelly was forced to join Queensland's long queue for social housing. The 62-year-old said the choice was either homelessness or accepting a one-bedroom unit in the rural North Burnett town of Gayndah, 150 kilometres away. "They told me there was nothing available in Bundaberg for me and it got to a very stressful stage," she said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-30/queensland-social-housing…
# Australia, Public and community housing.Labor’s 5% deposit scheme will only make the banks richer – and that’s the point
Max Chandler-Mather DeepCut News (No paywall)Labor’s latest 5% house deposit scheme housing policy – expanding the Liberals’ Home Guarantee Scheme – is a policy for bank profit, not first home buyers. It will drive up house prices, push first home buyers into more debt and deny thousands of low-income renters the chance to buy a home. The Home Guarantee Scheme allows first home buyers to get a mortgage with just a 5% deposit, without having to pay for mortgage lenders insurance.
https://www.deepcutnews.com/p/labors-5-deposit-scheme-will-only-…
# Australia, .Mum suffers 'chemical exposure' after moving into Housing Trust property
Daniel Keane ABC (No paywall)An Adelaide mum says drug contamination at the public housing property she recently moved into has forced her to resort to "squatting" at her old home because she does not want to put her son and herself in further danger, with the state government confirming a review into the case is now underway. The tenant, Lauren, who asked for her last name not to be used, said she and her son had become ill almost immediately after moving into an SA Housing Trust property at West Beach.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-27/housing-trust-meth-proble…
# Australia, .Home workers could claim thousands as ATO scrambles to fix loophole
By Nina Hendy The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)
Australians who work from home could be eligible for thousands of dollars in tax deductions after an ABC presenter successfully challenged a ruling from the Tax Office that rent could not be claimed as an expense by such workers. However, the finding from the Administrative Review Tribunal has spurred a Federal Court challenge from the ATO, which is seeking to overturn the decision.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/home-workers-could-claim-thousa…
# Australia, Rent.Lack of housing in remote NT community Borroloola forcing families off country
Tilda Colling ABC (No paywall)When Darcy Isaac moved back to the remote Northern Territory community he grew up in, he had hoped to bring his children and raise them on country. But a lack of suitable housing available in Borroloola instead forced Mr Isaac to leave his three kids behind in Queensland. "I am worried … this is where we live, and when we go out there [away from country] we [are] nothing," he said. "We feel like we want to come back here, but in the back of the mind [we] think: 'Oh there's a house problem back there, all the time'."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-18/borroloola-housing-lack-f…
# Australia, .