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
Housing Australia: Why we need fair rental policies
Tone Wheeler Architecture and Design (No paywall)We have spent decades treating renting as a waiting room for ownership. Policy followed the comfortable myth that everyone would eventually move on to a mortgage. Very little effort went into making renting secure, stable or fair because it didn't seem necessary. Everyone was just passing through. That assumption has collapsed. For many, renting is no longer a phase but a condition, stretching across working lives and child-rearing years. Renting has expanded not because it was planned, but because ownership has retreated. The divide between owners and purchasers has become a gulf.
https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/editorial/opinion/housi…
# Australia, Rent.Where do the millions in rental bond interest go?
Andy Kollmorgen CHOICE (No paywall)When you pay a rental bond it’s a substantial outlay that generally comes out to four weeks’ rent, so it’s natural to worry about whether you’ll eventually get your money back. Landlords have been known to lay claim to some or all of it at the end of a rental tenancy, sometimes on flimsy grounds. Most bonds are returned in full, but only technically speaking. For instance, if you receive the same $3200 back that you put in up front, you’re actually getting back less due to inflation. Bond reimbursements aren’t tied to the consumer price index, nor do they include the interest your money would have earned over time.
https://www.choice.com.au/money/property/renting/articles/where-…
# Hot topic Australia, Bond.New laws for pets in rentals take effect in Tasmania, making it easier to keep an animal
Josh Duggan ABC (No paywall)Lanna has a pretty good idea why she's previously struggled to find a rental house. She believes the reason has four legs and a fluffy coat — her Border Collie, Cruze. "On paper, I had everything else going for me — I had a good solid work history, I had good finances behind me, I had no prior landlord saying that I was a terrible tenant," she said. "The only thing that was held against me was the fact that I had a dog."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-20/tas-pet-rental-law-change…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement Australia, Pets.Voluntary home energy ratings won’t drive retrofits for all, but these solutions will
Nicola Willand, Ralph Horne, Bhavna Middle and Sarah Robertson The Fifth Estate (No paywall)The Australian government recently announced that the energy rating scheme for new homes will be extended to existing homes in mid-2026 in a voluntary capacity, suggesting that this will “inform renters and home buyers upfront about the energy efficiency of a home and how much it will cost to run” and drive low carbon home improvements that cut energy emissions and costs. Extending home energy ratings to dwellings built before the introduction of the Nationwide Home Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) in 2005 is an important step towards raising public awareness of energy efficiency and how the build quality of a dwelling’s envelope and its fixed appliances contribute to energy bills and thermal comfort in the home.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/voluntary-home-en…
# Australia, Utilities water energy internet.Public servant Nadine Marie Smith allegedly helped intimate partner skip social housing waitlist
Daryna Zadvirna and Callum Liddell ABC (No paywall)A Perth public servant who allegedly helped her partner skip ahead a long list of people on the public housing wait list in order to secure a home has faced court on a corruption charge. Nadine Marie Smith, 55, who was arrested earlier this month at her Clarkson home in Perth's north, allegedly committed the offence in September last year at her workplace in Mirrabooka. Police allege Ms Smith entered into an intimate relationship with a social housing applicant and created a housing offer for him, bypassing a significant number of applicants on the wait list.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-25/public-servant-allegedly-…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing.Max lives in a 'renters' utopia', but some say the city's famous housing system isn't fair
Jennifer Scherer SBS (No paywall)In a desirable Viennese neighbourhood, within walking distance to a lively market square, bars and lush green spaces, an apartment block that looks like any other is nestled between rows of pastel-coloured, baroque apartment buildings. It's a public housing block, known as a Gemeindebau, and Maximilian Schranz, 28, lives here with his partner Lisa, 24. "The area here is very nice," Schranz told SBS Dateline. "I like it a lot personally — it's very green, a bit on the outskirts of the city, but very well connected."
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/max-lives-in-a-rent…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.CLCs hit back at federal minister for questioning their role
Grace Robbie Lawyers Weekly (No paywall)Community legal centres (CLCs) across Australia have joined forces in an open letter to a federal minister, shining a light on their vital work and the support they provide to communities in strengthening the nation’s legal systems and ensuring justice for all. This follows recent comments by Madeleine King, Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, who claimed that CLCs “are not political campaign vehicles – they are there to provide legal services to the community, nothing more”, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/sme-law/43948-clcs-hit-back-at-…
# Hot topic Australia, .Judge issues AI warning after landlord uses fake law defence
BBC (No paywall)A judge has warned AI users they could face contempt of court proceedings after the technology invented fake legislation and fictitious references in a case he heard. Sheriff John MacRitchie dealt with a case brought by landlords seeking £5,000 in rent arrears from two former tenants at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court. The defendants, Your Home Partners, told the sheriff they were relying upon legislation called the Interest on Debts (Scotland) Act 1985. This legislation does not exist. The sheriff said the claimants actions were reckless but did not find them in contempt of court. In a judgement, he said: "The lodging of false legal references has the potential to obstruct justice."
# International, .