Deaf Society of NSW

A real casework story forwarded to us from a Brisbane based service this week. We wonder who will help these sort of renters after June if the TAAS program is not refunded?  Please Premier Newman, renters need these services.  Just a small portion of the interest on tenants’ bonds funds a whole network of local services.

“We had a call from a renter using TTY – the relay services for people who are  hearing impaired.  Through the TTY call, we realised the first thing we had to establish was whether the client was covered under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 or if they were a lodger.  After talking for some time on the phone the caller asked if they could see an advisor face to face.  The client reported they had sought help from the RTA, who were unable to assist, as well as from another service that turned them down because they could not afford an Auslan interpreter.

We really needed to see the caller’s documents in order to make sure our advice was completely accurate.  Whilst the cost of interpreters is quite prohibitive, we did not want the client to be disadvantaged nor for them to get the run around, so we organised a date and time.  The client appointment lasted three hours.  It wasn’t that the advice was difficult but it just takes that amount of time, to go through documents and use the interpreter as a conduit in our communication.

The client was very happy with the service.  But who will be able to help them if services like ours are not funded after June?