Pod off the press – Renting Bytes

25/07/2022

Charline — Charlie Wilde, Community Education Project Officer

The Tenants’ Union plunged into the world of podcasting roughly 12 months ago. Alongside co-producers Legal Aid NSW we planned and launched Renting Matters, a podcast series aimed for community workers. Renting Matters quickly became one of the most popular podcasts produced by Legal Aid. Now, as we wind up that series and publish our brand-new in-house podcast for renters, Renting Bytes, we take a moment to reflect on podcasting.

Podcasts were popular before COVID-19, but they reached new heights during the pandemic, with platforms like Spotify reporting double the number of listeners between January and July of 2020 (despite less commutes). The way people consume information is changing, and we realised podcasting would help us adapt to meet those preferences.

The Tenants' Union saw podcasting as an opportunity to both reach out to new listeners as well as connect more deeply with renters and community workers who are aware of our work. As a form of media we owned, we were able to tell the stories we thought needed to be heard as well as connecting listeners to some really useful tenancy information. Having the existing podcast channel also enabled us to respond quickly to events, creating a special disaster recovery episode of Renting Matters with Legal Aid to assist tenants in the wake of the NSW floods in 2022.

Bridget Barker, host of Renting Matters worked closely with the Tenants' Union to create the series:

"I’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the Renting Matters podcast with the Tenants’ Union,” Bridget said. "It’s given me the opportunity to collaborate with inspiring, interesting and dedicated people to share information with the public about their rights and obligations. I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy interviewing people!" – Bridget Barker, Legal Aid

We have two more Renting Matters podcasts set to be released; one dealing with social, community and Aboriginal housing and another discussing the extra barriers and discrimination faced by certain renters.

The Tenants’ Union is also excited to announce our own, in-house podcast, Renting Bytes. This podcast is for renters, providing helpful content to bridge the gap between legal information and the practicalities of renting in NSW. Our first episode on 'Negotiating with a landlord' is out now. Our next episode, a panel discussion giving advice to help renters navigate the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, will be released next month. Subscribe to keep updated on new episodes!

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