Category Archives: Commentary

Really? On the day he tried to cut TAAS?

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October 31 is the last day the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service (TAAS) program is funded at a state level following the Queensland Housing Minister Bruce Flegg’s decision to discontinue the program and reallocate the funds.  On that very same day, the National Housing Conference opens at the Brisbane Convention Centre at 8.30am with a speech by Minister Flegg.  A sad irony to say the least.

The Commonwealth government will commence their emergency funding of the TAAS program the next day, preventing Queensland from becoming the only state or territory without any tenant advice services.  On November 2, the Federal Housing Minister, Brendan O’Connor (whose department is providing the emergency funding), addresses the National Housing Conference at 9am.

The defunding of the TAASs by the state government and attempted removal of these important support services for private rental market and social housing tenants casts a shadow over the Conference (particularly as these services were virtually self-funded by tenants through the interest generated on their bonds). Tenants are just not treated equitably.  Three weeks before announcing the defunding of TAAS, the Queensland government reintroduced stamp duty concessions for repeat home purchasers, costing the government $250M annually in lost revenue.  Reducing these concessions by just 2.5% would cover the entire cost of the TAAS program.

The Secretary General of the International Union of Tenants (IUT) is a keynote speaker at the National Housing conference .  The IUT considers Australian tenancy laws weak when compared to other developed countries.  Had it not been for the actions of the Federal government, Queensland tenants’ relatively weak rights would have been further compromised without access to any advice to ensure they are respected.

October 31 – November 2 will be strange days indeed.  If you’re interested in the National Housing Conference program you can see it here.

It’s like another tax on tenants!

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In fifteen days, the state government withdraws all funding from tenant advice services in the state even though they’re funded mainly from the interest generated on tenants’ bonds.  Luckily the Federal government has stepped in to provide emergency funding until the end of June next year.  The Federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs have been working very hard to get funding sorted out before the state withdraws its money on October 31.  The state government’s withdrawal of funding  like imposing an additional tax on tenants.  We still have an argument to win to get back tenant bond interest for tenant services, but thanks to the Feds at least we’re hear to run it!

What’s your question to the Minister?

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From Queensland Parliament website

Later this month, the Queensland Parliament holds its budget estimates committees hearings. The hearings are held after proposed expenditures in the state budget are referred to portfolio committees (like housing) to examine.On the day of the hearings, both the relevant Minister and the Departmental head must attend and may be asked questions by Members of Parliament.

This year the Housing Minister will appear at a hearing on October 18.  We want to know, if you were a Member of Parliament, what question would you be asking the Minister about his decisions in this year’s budget?

Gillard government rescues tenant advice services with emergency funding

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As many of you will have now heard, the Gillard government, through Federal Housing Minister Brendan O’Connor, has announced $3.3M in interim, emergency funding for the 23 de-funded Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services.  Read Minister O’Connor’s.announcement here.

These monies will proportionally fund each service between October and June 2013.

This decision by the Federal government is a life line to Queensland tenants who would otherwise be left without access to any free specialised tenant advice services from the end of this month. The Save Tenant Services group wishes to thank the Federal Minister and government for their support.

This does not mean, however, that our campaign is over.  We still need to pressure the state government to stop using tenant bond interest for other purposes over advice and advocacy for all Queensland tenants.

Last year $5M was provided by the Residential Tenancies Authority to the Department of Housing for the TAAS program.  This year, the Queensland Housing Minister, after deciding not to fund TAAS services, then required $7M to be provided for social housing.  All from tenant bond interest.

Queensland tenants are the big winner today, but now the Queensland government needs to step up to the mark, stop taxing tenants of their bond interest and divert those $7M back into services designed and specifically for all Queensland tenants.

For helping get us to this point, we want to thank you all – Queensland tenants and the TAAS services themselves, support services in local communities who have so passionately supported the TAASs, state, national agencies, the Australian Services Union, the Opposition parties.  At risk of missing significant supporters, we want to thank QAILS and NACLC and Community Law Australia.  There are so many organisations and individuals that have helped.  Please stay tuned, we still need your help.

Who pays for tenant advice?

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Since we posted this picture the first time, the amount of tenant bond money held by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) has increased. At the end of August, $655.9M of was held.

Last financial year, the RTA expected to make $41M in interest on tenants’ bonds, most of which was used to run the RTA itself.  Only $5M was given to the Department of Housing for the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service program (TAAS), a program aimed specifically at addressing tenants’ needs.  Additional to the bond interest, another $1.4M was added from consolidated revenue, bringing the TAAS program funding to $6.4 in its entirety.

This year, the Housing Minister did not let the RTA fund the TAAS program, even though they wanted to.  Instead, the RTA has now provided $7M in tenants’ bond interest to the Department of Housing for, according to the Minister, the delivery of social housing.  That’s more than the entire TAAS program funding for last year.

Tenants.  Hung out to dry.

Funding diagram

The irony of leases forced to be broken

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Community Law Australia is a campaign by a coalition of community legal centre bodies led by the National Association of Community Legal Centres.   

Today they issued a press release outlining their concerns with the lose of access to justice for tenants through the decision by the Queensland government to cut funding to the tenant advice services.

Click here to read the media release.

 

Getting rid of anti-social or introducing discrimination?

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The Minister for Housing today discussed introducing a ‘three strikes and your out’ policy for public housing tenants.  Read the media article here.  Is this a good idea?

The  Minister’s comments, suggesting greater support for public housing tenants, are welcomed.  However, it’s hard not to be cynical about what the change might really mean in the face of cutting funds to every tenant advocate in the state, including those engaged in housing policy and law reform.  Who will be at the table to ensure the changes really are targeted at the ‘worst of the worst’ as the Minister says? And who will help tenants to defend claims they think are unreasonable? Continue reading →

Unbalanced debates lead to an unbalanced market

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So the REIQ are discussing new property management laws with the government (read here).
At the end of the year, the Tenants’ Union of Queensland has been told it will lose its funding to engage in housing policy and law reform work with which it represents the interests of tenants in these processes. Cutting their funds will seriously impede the Tenants’ Union ability to do so.

With both a tenancy law and now property management legislative review upcoming, the government should rethink the withdrawal of the policy funding and ensure these law reform debates are even sided. Uneven debates lead to an unbalanced industry which benefits no one – definitely not tenants, but neither will it benefit fair minded landlords or agents.

No voice for community services sector?

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David Crosbie, CEO Community Council of Australia, writes an interesting opinion piece in today’s Courier Mail about Not for Profit organisations lack of voice for.  Two notable quotes which ring true for the tenant advice sector:  

“The major concern is not so much the reduction in funding, but the lack of a clear rationale for what is cut and what is not”.  

“The ignorant cuts of governments seeking short-term savings are deplorable. The undermining of the NFP sector and its capacity to advocate is even more concerning”. 

To read the whole piece click here