NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal – have your say

The Civil and Administrative Tribunal has been operating for more than 5 years! In that time hundreds of thousands of tenancy, social housing, residential land lease communities and boarding house renters have attended hearings. The Justice Department is now conducting a review of the Tribunal. Check out the details here.

If you have had an experience there and would like to tell them about we encourage you to participate. You need to send your response by July 10th. It is very important that the review hears from regular tenants as well as larger groups representing landlords and real estate agents. It is a very easy process to have your input to as well - it does not have to be long - just a couple of paragraphs is fine! You can either email: policy@justice.nsw.gov.au

or mail: NCAT Statutory Review
Director, Courts Strategy
Department of Justice
GPO Box 5341
Sydney NSW 2001

You should be aware that submissions will generally be made public. You should avoid making statements about individual people, but focus on the system. Submissions can be made on any issue relating to the operation of NCAT, however questions to consider might include:

• Was it easy or difficult for you to work out whether NCAT is the right body to resolve your legal issue?
• Was NCAT accessible and responsive to you?
• Are there things that NCAT could do to make it easier for you when appearing in the Tribunal to understand the process and participate?
• Does NCAT resolve legal disputes quickly, cheaply and fairly?
• Should NCAT resolve some matters just by looking at the documents submitted by the parties, without a hearing in person?
• Does NCAT need additional powers to be able to enforce its decisions?

The Tenants' Union of NSW is putting in a submission representing the experiences of the thousands of tenants who we, the Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Services and our networks of advocates in the community have assisted over the last 5 years. Some of our main points will be:

• Raising the cost of eviction applications, and making it easier for parties to make agreements for rent repayment plans. Eviction applications constitute the bulk of Tribunal applications, are heavily subsidised by the tenants of NSW and mostly lead to repayment plans. Moving away from them as the first instance will save tenants, the Tribunal and landlords and agents time and money.
• Improving the data publication of the Tribunal to allow for better planning and advice for people going to the Tribunal.
• Ensuring the availability of Tenant Advocates for people who need advice and assistance at the Tribunal.
• Improving the enforcement of Tribunal orders to ensure that when disputes are resolved at the Tribunal they stay resolved.

 We will make our full submission available as soon as we can on our Submissions page.