Here’s a video review of just a few of the activities so far. Remember a focused DAY of ACTION is on Tuesday August 28! Show your support by taking action!
Tag Archives: qldpol
Call to reinstate on August 28
Hon Bruce Flegg MP
Ph – 3237 1832 Fax – 3012 9017
[email protected]
Hon Campbell Newman MP
Ph – 3224 4500 Fax – 3221 1809
[email protected]
Minister’s misinformed statements confound Logan service
Picture: Derrick Tonkin Source: Quest Newspapers
Logan workers are shocked that the Minister for Housing thinks the role of the tenant advice service could be filled by impartial government agency the Residential Tenancies Authority. Worker Wendy Clark also challenges the Minister’s veiw that cutting their funding will reduce the social housing waiting list.
To read the article click here.500,000 Queensland renting households, including those in the Logan area, will be left without any specialist service after October 31 unless the funding program – Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service – is reinstated.
Minister admits bolstering central government agency at expense of front line
In an interview about funding cuts to the Logan service, Housing Minister Flegg has acknowledged the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) will increase in size as a result of his decision to discontinue funding to the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service program (TAAS).
The RTA is a centralised government agency, unlike the 23 community based, regional and urban advice services which will close as a result of the Minister’s decision. Such a decision seems contrary to the government’s own stated aim of retaining front line services and bolstering the regions.
The withdrawal of funds to the TAAS program will leave the 500,000 Queensland households who rent without a specialist, tenant focused service.
The decision is extraordinary because much of the work of these services is assisting renters in the private rental market to retain their housing. This work reduces the incidents of homelessness and subsequently the demand for social housing. The fact that the lion’s share of the program funding is money generated on tenants’ bonds is another aspect of the decision which makes it unreasonable and unfair.
TAAS Cuts! Funding! Action! Address to UnCut Rally Brisbane by TUQ
At the UnCut Rally in Brisbane on August 28th in Brisbane the TUQ Coordinator Penny Carr explained the issues concerning the cuts to funding and calls for action to reinstate.
TUQ Coordinator Penny Carr addresses Uncut rally – Brisbane Aug 23 2012.
UnCut Rally Brisbane – TUQ Coordinator explains the Qld Government's withdrawal of funding of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services, a long standing service funded from the interest on tenants' bond monies.
Funding cuts – a heartfelt view from a management committee
Geoff Smiley, Chair of the Bayside Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service shares his heartfelt views about the withdrawal of funding to their service
The Government’s recent decision to close down Tenant Advice and Advocacy (TAAS) programs across Queensland is cruel in its blatant disregard for the disadvantaged. As chair of one of the management committees (Bayside TAAS) I can only infer from what has happened that the Government is incompetent in identifying where cuts should be made or wants to direct resources away from the disadvantaged. How else would they decide a self-funding; frontline; and community managed service (by volunteers!) be discontinued. Continue reading
Lytton MP mistaken thinking options for tenants covered after closure
The member for Lytton, Neil Symes, is mistaken when he says options for tenants are covered when their local advice service closes at the end of October. Tenant advice services are the only free specialised advice available for tenants in Queensland and the government has decided to withdraw funding from all 23 of them. That’s despite the fact they are virtually consumer funded because the lion’s share of money for the program is generated from the interest on tenants’ bonds.
Day of Action – Call to Reinstate on August 28
We need your help on Tuesday August 28th, a day of action calling for the complete reinstatement of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy (TAAS) Program. YOUR CALL!!
What you can do:
- CALL the Premier and the Housing Minister to seek complete reinstatement of the TAAS program. Keep it short so others can get through!
- If you can’t get through, fax or email but keep trying to CALL the Premier and the Housing Minister.
- In Brisbane, help us to deliver postcards to the Premier’s electorate office in Ashgrove. Meet at 12.15pm Corner of Stewarts Rd and Waterworks Rd, Ashgrove (Stewart Place – War Memorial). Please, bring all your family and friends.
- If you are in a regional area you can print out postcards and deliver them to your local MP.
If you want you can add some or all of the following pieces of information to your call:
- TAAS funding is mainly from tenant bond interest and it isn’t fair tenants are denied free access to tenancy advice
- The RTA doesn’t provide advice or advocacy services to tenants.
- 80,000 renting households every year will be denied access to tenancy advice which for some of them will result in homelessness.
We want to show the extent of concern for the funding cuts to tenant advice services on August 28 and need as many people as possible to join in! Come on, make the call!
For the Brisbane event we will be bright and organised. Please come along if you can.
Contact details:
HOUSING MINISTER PREMIER
Hon Bruce Flegg MP Hon Campbell Newman MP
Ph – 3237 1832 Ph – 3224 4500
Fax – 3012 9017 Fax – 3221 1809
[email protected] [email protected]
Ask for the Premier and Housing Minister. If they’re not available, their Chief of Staff or senior/policy advisor. If no one is available ask the person who answers to leave your message to reinstate the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Program and if you want, ask them to call you back.
Community legal service ‘in crisis’
Via The Wire – Independent current affairs from community radio around Australia
The nation’s community legal service is stretched and unable to meet a growing demand for services due to decades of underfunding. This is according latest survey released by the Australian Council of Social Service revealed today that 73% of legal service providers could not meet client demand. ACOSS says this is greatly affecting some of the most disadvantaged members of the Australian community. Many legal centers in Queensland and Victoria have experienced further budget cuts this year.
Listen to the broadcast here
Community responds to TAAS cuts
Via Whitsunday Times
SHOCKWAVES are still running through the Whitsunday community after last week’s announcement that the Proserpine-based Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service (TAAS) will close at the end of next month.
Read the full article here
Loss of Tenant Advocacy Services in QLD endangers people with disabilities
Via Pro Bono Australia:
QUI Executive Director, Ken Wade says the Housing Minister Dr Bruce Flegg announced the termination last week, and services are expected to cease operation from Wednesday 31 October 2012.
“Services all over the Queensland provide advocacy to people with high and complex needs, especially those in danger of losing their housing.
“The Tenancy Advice and Advocacy services are especially important to the thousands of people with disabilities living in Brisbane’s boarding houses and hostels,” Wade said.
“The Inner North and Inner South Brisbane tenancy advice services provide assistance and advice to many people with disabilities – people who may have an intellectual disability, cognitive disorders or mental health issues and who are often one step away from the streets.
Read full article here
Tenancy support cuts affect domestic violence victims
Via ABC Online:
A Queensland domestic violence service says victims seeking property advice will be left without an advocate due to funding cuts.
Domestic Violence Cairns currently refers people to the Tenancy Advice Service Queensland [TASQ] but the program will be cut by the State Government in late October.
Read full article here
Warning homeless numbers to rise
Via Qld Times:
STAFF and supporters of the Ipswich Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Service are pleading with the State Government to reconsider its decision to cut funding from October 31.
“We believe that homelessness will double because we won’t be here to sustain tenants in private rentals,” Ms Lewis said.
“We will be the only state without a tenancy service.”
Read article here