5 December 2018

Rental stress, poor living conditions, lack of responsiveness to repairs, discrimination in accessing housing and lack of security are all commonplace for those who rent their home. As renting becomes the new normal it is clear that laws and policy that leave renters relatively powerless is no longer acceptable.

A national survey of tenants entitled, Disrupted – The Consumer Experience of Renting in Australia reveals that 51% of renters are currently living in a home that need repairs, with 44% of people who rent across Australia afraid that a request for repairs could lead to eviction and 68% concerned it would result in a rent increase.

Darwin Community Legal Service Executive Officer Linda Weatherhead said that the Northern Territory’s Residential Tenancies Act was in urgent need of review. “Changes to the legislation are long overdue and we welcome the commitment by the Attorney General for this to occur in 2019. The NT is the only jurisdiction in Australia without an independent bond board and lacks many basic protections provided to renters in other parts of the country.”, said Ms Weatherhead.

A Copy of Disrupted – The Consumer Experience of Renting in Australia, can be found at the this link https://www.choice.com.au/disrupted

Media contact: Linda Weatherhead, Executive Officer,  08 8982 1111

[pdf-embedder url=”https://www.dcls.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Media-Release-Disrupted-Report.pdf” title=”Media Release – Disrupted Report”]

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