Pamela Hunter is the Community Services Manager at VERTO – who run the South West NSW Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service. This blog post was originally published at verto.org.au/blog.

Rents are increasing

Every renter knows the anxiety of finding a letter in the mailbox or hearing the ping from our inbox telling us we've got mail from the landlord. Is it an eviction notice, your life about to be uprooted? Or – just as you thought you’d got the budget under control – is the rent about to increase? At the moment getting a rent increase notice is a pretty common experience across NSW. And many are shocked by just how high the proposed rent increase is. 

If you have never lived in an embedded network then many of you might be asking what this is and what does it have to do with renters? It's no surprise to the Tenants Union of NSW that a lot of people do not know about embedded networks. Often renters don't find out they are living in a home that is part of an embedded network until they move in. They call their chosen energy provider to set up an account, only to be told they are in an embedded network. At that point they become aware of the first disadvantage: they do not get to choose their energy provider.

Climate change is not new. Scientists have been monitoring the effects of increased carbon in our atmosphere, and the reduction of greenhouse gases has been a well publicised global issue since at least the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The Albanese Labor Government this week announced their new cabinet line up, with 19 MPs and 4 Senators included in the new 23 person cabinet.