In April this year, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, detailed a plan in the National Cabinet in Brisbane to strengthen the rights of renters across the country. Housing Ministers from each State and Territory will be tasked with developing proposals for National Cabinet.
Darwin Community Legal Service (DCLS) welcomes this plan and further welcomes the governments approach in not seeking all states to be absolutely uniform, acknowledging that different states/ Territories have different circumstances but urge the NT Government not to fall behind in giving tenant’s rights. We have called upon The Hon. Chansey Paech, Attorney-General, and The Hon. Selina Uibo, Minister for Housing, to undertake urgent reform in the Residential Tenancies Act of the Northern Territory.
In the meantime, DCLS are in the initial stages of a new campaign; Make Renting Fair in the NT. One of the first steps in the campaign is to gather research via a survey to enable us to present a compelling submission to Government.
We know that a vast majority of people in the NT are renters. We also know that our current tenancy laws are failing renters across the Northern Territory. In fact, we have the worst rental protections in the country. But we need to make sure that the voices and experiences of renters in the Northern Territory are heard by our lawmakers.
We are asking renters in the Northern Territory to take part in our Renting Survey.
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