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Also check out our blog, Tenant News archive, media appearances, and Housing News Digest.
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WESTS celebrates 10 years

WESTS team with Dr Geoff Lee
The Western Sydney Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Service (WESTS) recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary at Western Sydney Community Legal Centre (WSCLC). WESTS can be proud to have reached this milestone knowing that they have helped many thousands of renters over the years – last year alone they assisted over 3,000 new clients.
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Utilities hardship research

House lit by candles
Coming home to a house with no power or living with fear of not being able to afford power bills is something no one should have to do. But with rising costs it's something we hear of more and more. The Tenants' Union is supporting research looking at how people cope with their energy and water bills and the circumstances that may lead to people being disconnected, either now or in the future.
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Guide: Boarding Houses and the Law

Boarding Houses Guide
The Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service at Redfern Legal Centre has just published their updated legal guide for people living in boarding houses in NSW. The guide explains the ins and outs of the Boarding Houses Act 2012, as well as other laws that can apply to boarding houses.
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Tenant Advocates working together to support renters

Tenant Advocates at the TAAS Network Meeting
Last week, Tenant Advocates came together for the Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services (TAAS) Network meeting. Around 60 Advocates participated in the meeting over two days, representing almost all TAASs from across New South Wales.
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Everybody's Home – campaign to fix Australia's housing system

Everybody's home campaign
Everybody's Home is a new campaign by a coalition of organisations in the housing and community sectors. The campaign will bring national attention to reforms urgently needed to fix Australia’s housing system. The TU is happy to be supporting this campaign aimed at improving housing for everyone, including renters.
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TUNSW Report on 5 years of the Boarding Houses Act 2012

montage of boarding house residents and boarding houses
The Tenants' Union today released its report marking five years of the Boarding Houses Act 2012, the first legislation to give rights to boarding house residents in New South Wales. The report finds that while the Act was an historic step forward which has brought some improvement, it has not created the change needed for the residents of boarding houses in our state.
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Farewell Ned (see you soon)

Face of Ned Cutcher with waving and crying emojis
The Tenants' Union and friends farewell its Senior Policy Officer, Ned Cutcher, after 9 years working with the Tenants' Union and 16 years in the tenancy rights sector. During his time at the Tenants’ Union, we’ve seen significant changes in our renting laws, and in our public and community housing sector. Ned has guided the Tenants' Union’s response to these with thoughtfulness and dedication. He has played a significant role in opening up the public conversation about housing and renting issues, and the need for change.
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Is your apartment fire safe?

Building cladding
If you own, live in or manage an apartment, we encourage you to make sure your building is fire safe. Material that covers external walls, also known as cladding, can increase the intensity and speed a fire spreads if it’s the wrong type or not installed correctly. The NSW Government is working hard to address these fire safety risks and new laws have been introduced to ban unsafe building products in NSW. Read more about actions you can take and where to get further information.
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#MakeRentingFair campaign intro and update

preview image of video. two people sitting and talking
Now is a great time to get involved with the Make Renting Fair campaign. Jemima and Leo from the Tenants' Union provide a quick introduction and an update on where the campaign is up to, and how you can be involved!
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Stand your ground

House
When it comes to agreements, promises and contracts the advice is always the same – get it in writing. Why? Because if a dispute arises the terms, or even the existence, of a verbal agreement can be difficult to prove. In this edition of Outasite Lite we look at a recent case about whether a statement made by an agent amounted to a verbal agreement.
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