Bond Kit: How to Secure Your Bond

No matter what challenges this year has thrown at us, the team at the Tenants’ Union of NSW remained focused on helping people in some of the toughest moments of their lives, many who faced the risk of losing their home in the middle of this ongoing health and economic crisis. Like renters across NSW, our staff have shown incredible resilience in the face of crisis. Our dedicated executive along with our expert legal team, our incredible education and resources team, and our fearless policy advocates have delivered services and information online and at-home when people really needed them. While the actions and impact of the Tenants’ Union this year are too many to mention, our Annual Report covers the highlights...

Renting Matters is a series of podcasts produced by the Tenants’ Union of NSW and Legal Aid NSW. The series is part of Legal Aid NSW's Law for Community Workers on the go – which keeps community workers up-to-date with legal topics and changes to the law – and has clocked up over 69 episodes with 23,000 downloads and counting. Renting Matters features tenants and workers from across the Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service Network, the Tenants' Union and the community sector. In a relaxed, conversational style, guests share anecdotes, information and tips designed for busy people. We would love you to listen and subscribe via your preferred podcast platform, and share the podcast with friends and colleagues!

In October 2021, around 100 Tenant Advocates from across NSW came together online for our annual Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services Conference, under the theme 'Forging Ahead'. It was a great opportunity for Tenant Advocates to hear from each other about the issues faced by different renters, and to learn, discuss and innovate in our practice. A main focus of the Conference this year was the huge challenges faced by renters due to COVID and the ongoing housing crisis, as well as how we can forge ahead and continue to improve.

We’re relaunching our Make Renting Fair campaign, and we want to explore alongside our community: what can we do to build a fairer renting system? What can we learn from successes overseas about how we can organise renters and win? This event is the second in our series and we're excited to announce we'll be hearing from Renters United, in Aotearoa, about their renter organising to make renting fair.

International students in Australia make a huge contribution to the economy and the community. They also face serious struggles and hardships. Finding and keeping rental accommodation is one of the major hidden risks they face. COVID-19 has made it even riskier. Professor Alan Morris and colleagues recently undertook significant research about international students' experience in the private rental sector in Australia prior to and during the pandemic. In this interview, Paul van Reyk, Senior Project Officer with the Tenant’s Union, talks with Alan about the recent research.

The NSW Government has introduced financial incentives that can be claimed by landlords who provide a rent reduction to tenants impacted by COVID-19 during this period. If you are an ‘impacted tenant’, you can advise your landlord that if they provide you with a rent reduction, then they can claim one of the following two types of government payments.