ABOUT

Tenants' Union news

Also check out our blog, Tenant News archive, media appearances, and Housing News Digest.
For factsheets and sample letters, please see Tenancy info.

 

Tara Steers: Tenant Advocate in South West NSW

Tara
Tara Steers is a Tenant Advocate in Albury. Up until the commencement of the Act in 2015 Tara had limited experience with land lease community residents but after accompanying the Tenants’ Union on a road trip, visiting communities along the Murray River, she developed a passion for the work. Tara is now highly regarded by land lease community residents in the area and her services are constantly in demand.
Read more

Hastings Point Holiday Park: Closure

Beryl Anderson, Paul Smyth, and Judy Tucker at the final Tribunal hearing 
Hastings Point Holiday Park was once a thriving residential park nestled between the Tweed Coast Road and Cudgera Creek. That changed in 2006 when the park owner discussed gradual closure and redevelopment of the park to a luxury retirement living complex. The park owner held meetings with the residents and made promises about their future in return for their support for the development application. None of these eventuated. Instead, home owners had their agreements terminated and, in order to win reasonable compensation, they would have to fight seven lots of proceedings in six courts and tribunals over a period of five years. Here is their story.
Read more

Community legal centres support marriage equality

Rainbow house - yes!
The National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC), the peak body for Community Legal Centres across Australia, today reiterated its support for marriage equality.
Read more

Energy and climate – Tenant News special edition

Tenant News 114
Energy bills. Most of us don’t look forward to getting them. They're often difficult to understand, but the worst part is looking to the spot in the bill where the dollars owed sit in heavy black numbers. This special edition of our magazine Tenant News focuses on energy and climate issues, from a renter's perspective. Many renters want to take action to reduce their energy use – for the climate as well as for the household budget – but are limited by the laws and structures of renting.
Read more

Unfairly evicted for challenging electricity misuse & excessive rent

Jeremy and Mari
“We stood up to the landlord. That’s the real reason we were evicted.” Jeremy tells how he received a 'no-grounds' eviction after he challenged the landlord over excessive rent and a requirement to pay for electricity used in a communal area.
Read more

Solar power and tenants

Grant
Grant Arbuthnot, Tenants' Union Principal Legal Officer, discusses three decisions by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). Each of these three decisions has implications for tenants and solar power. The decisions are by three different NCAT members over three years. Solar power in the tenancy market usually exists in premises that have previously been in the owner occupier market. This brings new and strange disputes.
Read more

Community Power Revolution

Erland
Erland Howden, tenant and member of Blue Mountains Renewable Energy Co-op, talks about ways tenants can be involved in community-owned solar. "Being a tenant can make it harder to be part of the renewable energy revolution. I’ve got a pretty good landlord at the moment, but she still drops round without giving us proper notice – and I don’t complain because I don’t want to rock the boat and be forced to move. Similarly, I’d find it difficult to convince her to install solar power and share the benefits."
Read more

Bill Busters – campaigning for systemic change

Bill Busters Logo
Simple, energy saving technologies are not only good for renters, they are good for the whole country and planet because they reduce the energy demand which is driving up domestic energy prices, and greenhouse gas emissions, writes Jason Ray from Friends of the Earth Sydney.
Read more

Power Savers making gains

Leonie
Sixty households in Coonamble have signed up to a community program to cut their electricity bills. The Coonamble Power Savers Program is an energy efficiency program in operation since July 2016. The original Power Savers project started in 2013 and assisted over 1,000 low-income households in NSW, including tenants, to reduce their power bills and improve comfort in their homes.
Read more

Liveable homes, a liveable climate

Brad
The sun falling on Australia’s deserts in just four days could power the whole planet’s electricity needs for a year. That’s a win for the cost of energy in Australia and for the future of the planet. But how are we doing in transitioning from fossil fuels to solar? Brad Smith, Energy and Climate Campaigner with the Nature Conservation Council assesses the NSW situation.
Read more