Happy anniversary, Residential Tenancies Act - part 4

Six years ago today the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 became part of the law of New South Wales.

Part of the deal was that it must be reviewed after five years, to see whether its policy objectives remain valid, and its terms remain appropriate.

This statutory review of the Act commenced in late October 2015, with NSW Fair Trading inviting interested parties to contribute via a public discussion paper. They received in excess of 200 submissions - many of them from tenants. We produced our own submission, and have discussed it quite a bit on the Brown Couch as well.

The review is required to conclude within a certain time. The responsible Minister must table a report in both Houses of Parliament by the sixth anniversary of the Act's date of assent. That means it's due today.

But there's a problem - Parliament is not sitting today.

Both Houses will sit for three days next week, before taking a break until early August. The Government of NSW will use these sitting days to deliver the 2016-17 State Budget, and will no doubt have much to discuss. Will they also have time to table a report on the state of our renting laws?

We sure hope so! Stay tuned, we'll keep you posted.