Tag Archives: savetaas

Tenant Advice Network Alive and Well in Queensland – Tenants’ Union

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Tenants’ Union of Queensland Media release September 3, 2013

The rebranded Tenant Advice Network Queensland (TANQ) today announced that independent tenant advice services are alive and well in the state.

Free tenancy advice continues to be available locally across the state, although services have now been sub-contracted by the Tenants’ Union of Queensland (TUQ) rather than the State government.

‘Whilst funding is still only secured until the end of December, all tenant advice locations have been retained despite a long thirteen month fight for the survival of our services,’ said TUQ spokesperson, Ms Penny Carr.

Tenants can access free advice services at the locations attached. The TUQ’s statewide advice service is available on 1300 744263

The commitment of workers and committees of management has been astounding according to the TUQ. Continue reading →

Amalgamations of Queensland community housing providers commence – Minister

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Media Release – Minister for Housing and Public Works, Hon Tim Mander

Housing merger to improve local services
Social housing in the Fraser Coast region will take a big step forward today thanks to a merger between locally based Fraser Coast Housing Limited and Community Housing Limited.

Housing Minister Tim Mander said the partnership was a smart move for the locally based organisation.

“We need to create a flexible, efficient and responsive housing system to help our most vulnerable Queenslanders,” Mr Mander said.

“Community Housing Limited is a major player in the social housing sector with more than 4000 dwellings throughout the country.

“I am pleased to see two great organisations working together to boost services to the community.

“By 2020, we want to see up to 90 per cent of all social housing managed by the community housing sector so I wish the new organisation all the best as it responds to the important issues ahead.” Continue reading →

(WA) Housing group pushes for hardline eviction rules to be scrapped

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Reprinted from ABC News online Thu 22 Aug 2013

Western Australia’s peak housing advocacy organisation wants the State Government to scrap its policy of evicting public housing tenants for minor disturbances.

Shelter WA is urging the Housing Minister Bill Marmion to abandon the policy of evicting tenants for minor disturbances such as excessive noise, minor property damage or domestic disputes.

More than 120 tenants have been evicted under the so-called ‘three-strikes’ policy since its introduction in 2011.

Shelter’s executive officer Chantal Roberts says councils can resolve noise disputes, but by threatening people living in public housing with eviction, tenants are being held to an unreasonable standard.

She says many of the complaints do not justify eviction.

“What our report is asking for is those minor criteria – such as children being overly noisy – to be removed, because they don’t exist in the private sector,” she said. Continue reading →

Better Deal for Renters – Greens release policy

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Today the Greens release their better deal for renters policy.  We thought we’d post the extract below because of it’s relevance to our situation.  The full policy is available at this link.  By the way, we’re happy to publish rental market policies released by any political party.  However, this is the only one we’ve seen so far.

A STRONGER VOICE FOR TENANTS

The Greens Rental Health Survey found there is strong need and support for tenant’s advocacy services, with 53% of respondents have needed to contact a tenant’s advocacy service for issues with their rental property in the past.

85% think renters need better representation in Australia and 92% support a nationally consistent model of consumer protection for renters that includes legal advice, dispute resolution and advocacy.

The Greens will provide an additional $3 million per year to existing tenants advocacy services to help them provide a stronger voice for tenants and a new national model of ‘consumer protection’ for renters.

This would mean better funding for legal advice, dispute resolution, and advocacy for tenants. This is a crucial part of a national approach to preventing homelessness. The Greens’ package would also provide more funding for specialist Indigenous tenants advice services or Indigenous advocates.

Landlords enjoy considerable power over the tenant particularly in Australia’s tight rental market, and are able to offer rental housing to prospective tenants on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. The Greens don’t want to take away any protections for landlords, but want to set a level playing field that is fair to both parties and nationally consistent and enforceable.

The Greens propose a model that is based on the same body that administers similar programs such as the Universal Design standard for housing policy, which supports the implementation of liveable housing designs for those with disabilities. The body would research, consult and set the standards, and oversee their implementation.

Baby Grace calls for re-funding of Tenant Services in Qld!!

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Baby GraceWe’d like to introduce you to our newest recruit.  Baby Grace says she’s happy to live with her family for now but one day she’s going to want to move out into a place of her own.  The chances are, that’ll be into the private rental market.  And she wants to have a fair market to live in – one that includes services which can help her understand her rights and responsibilities and assist her to act on them in order achieve the best outcomes for her.

Baby Grace really wants Tenant Services in Queensland to be re-funded by the State government (all it would take is a small percentage of the interest generated on tenants’ own bonds) before the current funding ends on December 31, 2013.

Help SAVE TENANT SERVICES beyond 2013!  Keep an eye out – we’ll be updating this site in the very near future and moving back into campaign gear.

(Note – names have been changed to protect the young!)

 

Minister calls on PM to reinstate long-term funding for homelessness

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We think there is more than a hint of hypocrisy in this media statement issued today by Minister Mander. The Queensland government has failed to fund tenant advice and advocacy services which we understand is a requirement of them under the current National Partnership Agreement on  Homelessness.
 
Minister Mander’s Housing statement aims to divert 250,000 people from social housing into the private rental market (PRM) between now and 2020. The services being expanded by the Minister, like the government-run RentConnect, help people enter the PRM but don’t help to keep people more safely and securely housed while they live there. And they don’t advocate changes to tenancy law to make sure the market works for tenants and mitigates against them slipping out of it and onto social housing waitlists.
 
Come on Queensland government, re-fund tenant advisory services before December 31 this year. It only takes a small percentage of the interest generated on tenants’ bonds.

Tenants being offered TVs, iPads and cash to rent properties as mine job losses empty out Mackay

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Reprinted from Perthnow – read directly from their site here.

TENANTS are being offered free TVs, iPads, gift vouchers and $2000 cash to rent in Mackay as the effects of mining jobs losses hit the economy.

The city that is the gateway to the Bowen Basin once had one of the tightest rental markets in Queensland, with people forced to live in dongas and garages.

But it now has the highest vacancy rate, with landlords forced to slash rents by up to $100 and offer enticing deals.

One agency has been offering $2000 or $1000 towards the cost of moving (but the money can be spent on anything) plus two weeks’ free rent.

Another advertised a free iPad or 81cm flatscreen TV for a limited period while another was giving away $500 Coles-Meyer vouchers.

Many new four-bedroom, brick-and-tile houses are advertised with one or two weeks’ free rent or promoting the fact that ”We are doing deals”. Continue reading →

A commentary on the Minister’s budget estimates statements on TAAS

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For rent sign with houseWe’re not sure if you noticed the following comments made by the State Housing Minister during budget estimates hearings.  We posted this as part of a larger post a few days ago.  Today we repost in order to respond; here’s what the Minister said in response to a question from an LNP colleague on July 24:

We made the very hard decision, but I believe the right decision, to stop the funding to TAS because we believe there was a duplication of services………. It is very important to note that, amongst the services that TAS provided, only 10 per cent were related to advocacy. The majority of services are already offered by the RTA and other organisations. Seventy-five per cent of TAS services were over the telephone. We believe that we have made a good decision in this area. We have streamlined the processes and we have more money available now for our housing and homelessness strategies.

We’re not sure how the Minister determined that 10% of TAAS services were related to advocacy but we do know that in the last full year of funding, 35% of all the advice provided by TAAS services was related to advocacy.  This equates to just short of 19,000 hours of advocacy services to Queensland tenants. Where will Queensland tenants gain access to these services when the Commonwealth emergency funding ends on December 31 this year? Continue reading →

Are you looking for tenancy advice?

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Tenants'rights (2)Are you a tenant looking for advice?  We just noticed that the Tenants’ Union has updated the contact details for local tenancy advice services across the state – click here.

Services are still available thanks to six months’ emergency funding from the Federal government. Once we’ve had the chance to update our campaign we’ll be coming back to you to ask for your support to achieve on-going funding.

Minister Mander understanding of TAAS still misconceived – budget estimates

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New Qld Parliament 2012It seems like the State Housing Minister has plans to expand the role of the RTA.  Last Thursday State Housing Minister Mander was asked several questions at the budget estimates hearings. Expand they might, but the RTA will never be able to do the job the TAASs do – advise tenants.

The following extract from Hansard was a question from LNP representative for Nudgee, Mr Jason Woodforth to the Minister.

Mr WOODFORTH:”Minister, I refer to page 38 with regard to the provision of the tenant advisory services in Queensland. Can you advise how you are ensuring services are delivered in an economically efficient way? “

Mr MANDER:”Yes, and thank you for that question. It is important that we do provide good advisory services for tenants. We need to also make sure that we do it in the most cost-effective way and not duplicate any services. What I have been trying to do there is provide a more strategic approach to this. We have a number of services that we provide to help people stay in their tenancies. I have already mentioned today the Home Assist Secure program. I have mentioned also RentConnect. Currently we are reviewing the RTA and the services it provides. Continue reading →

Housing 2020 Strategy to renew social housing – State

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State Housing Minister Mander yesterday released a his 2020 Housing Strategy (see the media release below) which in part says the government will be looking to move people out, or through, social housing and into the private rental market.  But who will help to keep tenants more safely and securely housed in that market given the absense of an independent program of tenant advice in Queensland? Tenant advice services have only beeen able to remain open due to the Federal government’s second commitment of emergency funding.  However, that runs out at the end of the calendar year.

Media Release Thursday July 25
The Hon Tim Mander   Minister for Housing and Public Works

The Newman Government has announced sweeping reforms to the social housing system under what Housing Minister Tim Mander has described as the biggest shakeup in decades.

Mr Mander said the new Housing 2020 Strategy would establish a flexible, regionally based, integrated system that will deliver at least 12,000 additional social and affordable housing dwellings and see at least 90 per cent of all social housing managed by community housing providers by 2020.
“This Strategy is about bringing Queensland’s social housing system into the 21st Century,” he said. Continue reading →

Queensland Premier should restore tenancy services funding – Feds

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Media Release 25 July 2013
THE HON JULIE COLLINS MP
Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness

A year after the Queensland Government cut funding to the state’s Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Services (TAAS), the Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness Julie Collins has called on State Premier Campbell Newman to restore funding as part of his commitment to tackle homelessness under the transitional National Partnership on Homelessness.

In July 2012 when the Newman Government announced it would no longer fund the tenancy services, the Australian Government stepped in with $3.3 million to allow TAAS to continue operating. In June, the Government provided an additional $2.5 million to fund TAAS for a further six months.

Minister Collins said the injection of emergency funding had kept the organisation’s doors open and helped around 80,000 people.

“The most effective way to reduce homelessness is to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place, and services like these are critical to keep vulnerable people falling into the cycle of homelessness. Continue reading →

Tenant Advice Services still open for business in Qld!

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Amazingly most services have managed to survive. It is truly a credit to their resilience and commitment to the work they do.

“Amazingly most services have managed to survive. It is truly a credit to their resilience and commitment to the work they do”.

It was twelve months’ ago yesterday that 23 services then funded through the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services (TAAS) Program received an unexpected fax informing them that the funding program would be completely discontinued.  The funding was being withdrawn despite the lion’s share of it coming from the interest generated on tenants’ own bonds.  The fax provided three months’ notice of funding withdrawal, ending their contracts almost two years early.

Today we wanted to pay homage to resilience of these services and acknowledge their commitment (their workers and committees) to continuing to deliver services to tenants in their communities.

The last year has been an exceptionally difficult time for the TAAS services.  As many of you will know, after a huge outpouring of support for the services and a campaign to raise people’s awareness of the changes, the Commonwealth government announced on October 3 – three weeks before the end of the State funding – that services would be provided with one-off funding from 1 November to 30 June.

These funding arrangements were hurriedly put in place – the State agreed to administer them for the Commonwealth – as services turned around their closure plans and continued on.  The services were in the odd situation of having to wrap up and finalise the funding originating from the State under one contract and sign up new contracts with the same area of government in order to deliver the same, albeit a slightly reduced level of, services.

In the meantime they kept providing those services and supporting tenants in their communities.

The next few months were still followed by the lack of long term security for the services.  Tenants and supporters across the state contacted the State government seeking a review of the decision and thousands of letters and postcards were received by government on the issue.  In the meantime, negotiations between the Commonwealth and State governments on the National Partnership on Homelessness (NPAH) were underway, under which the Commonwealth sought to bind the State to funding tenant advice and advocacy services. Continue reading →

Are tenants people……..?

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This is a long, well written piece (see link below) not directly about tenants or tenants’ rights. It’s a piece about a mine encroaching on a small town and a legal case to stop it coming closer.

However, during the court case, proponents argued that the town would not be gutted by the mine having to buy up the houses in the noise zone because they could tenant the properties. To quote the article,

“The judge began pressing an uncomfortable point; why was it acceptable for mine-worker tenants to be put into houses deemed too exposed to noise for their original owners to live in?”

If you want to go straight to the section on tenants, see Chapter 4, starting the 7th paragraph. There is a very interesting interchange between the Judge and the Government Barrister. The interchange touches on an issue that many tenants and their supporters will be familiar with – the trade off many households are forced to make between maintaining affordable rent costs and accepting conditions which do not meet community standards. The last paragraph in this section quoting the Judge is well worth reading!   Read the article from the Global Mail here.

Senator Nick Xenophon joins Brighton Caravan Park tenants’ fight against Holdfast Bay Council

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News from Holdfast Bay, South Australia and reprinted from news.com.au – we think this might be a story to watch!  Read directly from here.

Holdfast Bay SASen Xenophon also plans to arrange for one of Australia’s leading voices on social justice, Tim Costello, to headline a public meeting later this month to help raise money for a residents’ fighting fund.

“I’ve retained the services of a legal counsel to give advice to the residents,” Sen Xenophon told the Guardian Messenger.

“A legal team is being assembled to represent the residents, with a view to have legal proceedings issued on their behalf against the council.”

He said he had been advised by a barrister that the residents could pursue a civil action in the District Court.Senator Xenophon said residents had produced evidence that led them to believe permanent tenants would always be accommodated at the park despite them signing yearly leases. Those representations encouraged tenants to invest their entire savings, in some cases up to $120,000, to purchase homes at the park and make improvements, he said.

The council is planning a $3 million revamp of the seafront park, adding up to 20 cabins, 12 eco-style tents, a leisure area and an upgraded kiosk. The redevelopment plan includes new up-market cabins on the site where the residents live. Continue reading →