Listening to Renters' Voices
29/04/2025
Between May and November 2024 a series of innovative Renters’ Forums was organised by the Tenants’ Union of NSW in partnership with the Sydney Alliance and the NSW Rental Commissioner, NSW Fair Trading.
The full report, Listening to Renters' Voices, explores the key outcomes of the forums. Also available is a 2-page summary, an Organiser's Guide, and a set of videos (see below).
The central purpose of the forums was to directly engage renters across NSW, particularly those from often marginalised communities, to share their experiences and propose solutions related to the challenges of renting. This initiative aimed to ensure that renters' voices were heard by decision-makers and to foster a deeper understanding of the systemic issues within the NSW rental market.
The forums employed a participatory and inclusive approach, moving beyond traditional consultation methods to actively involve renters in shaping public policy. By partnering with Community Champions and community organisations, the project successfully reached diverse groups, including First Nations renters, regional renters, young renters, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The format of the workshops was shaped and driven by renters themselves – this encouraged open discussion, the sharing of both problems and solutions, and direct interaction with policymakers.
Sparking a Conversation: An Organiser's Guide
Sparking a Conversation is an organiser’s guide to the Renter’s Forums. The forums moved beyond the typical format of listening circles, shifting out of the passive model of merely recording shared stories and instead allowing renters to actively share potential solutions with one another and pitch these to decision-makers in the room. The event’s format allowed the participants to challenge existing laws and policies, and to propose solutions to rental insecurity, the poor quality and accessibility of rental homes, rent rises and other related cost-of-living pressures and climate resilience and the ways renters can be involved in moving to net zero. This report describes our approach to doing (and designing) consultation differently.
