ADVICE OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD

Tenants Advice & Advocacy Services have limited availability over the holiday period. The Tenants' Union will operate a Tenancy Advice Hotline from Wednesday 18/12/2024 until Wednesday 8/1/2025 (excluding weekends and public holidays). The hours of operation are 10am-1pm and 2-5pm.

Get advice on: (02) 8117 3750 or 1800 251 101

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Tenants' Union news

Also check out our blog, Tenant News archive, media appearances, and Housing News Digest.
For factsheets and sample letters, please see Tenancy info.

 

Transgender women and homelessness

Alyssa
Parental rejection and family violence based on gender identity have been cited as causes of homelessness for young trans people in Australia. The insecurity of homelessness can in turn have devastating effects on a person’s mental and physical health. Given that trans people are already four times more likely to have been diagnosed with depression than the general population, the compounding effects of homelessness on trans people can be dire. In this article Dylan Stanford discusses these issues, with insights from Alyssa, a young bisexual trans woman with lived experience of homelessness and housing.
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The relief of never having to go home

Broken window
"Fleeing an abusive relationship was the most frightening experience of my life. By the time we fled, it was already a game of life or death. Leaving often angers the abuser even more and my case was no exception. My husband needed absolute control and by the time we fled he was watching everything I did, every item I purchased, every train I took and every toll I drove through. He logged my phone location, read my emails, messages and files, and monitored my social media. How can you flee when the “modern day aids” of our digital lives are key weapons for control?"
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Ombudsman for retirees?

Amelia
In Victoria a number of advocacy groups are campaigning for a special Ombudsman to administer complaints against the retirement housing sector, including residential parks. The Consumer Law Action Centre (Victoria) has reported older people routinely calling for advice about unfair fees, complex contracts, bullying and intimidation. Sound familiar? Some of these issues are what we regularly hear about from park residents.
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RLC submission to the Review of the Residential Tenancies Act

Redfern Legal Centre's logo - a stylised building graphic
It has been five years since the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 came into force and it is now due for its five year statutory review. In October 2015, NSW Fair Trading released a discussion paper and Redfern Legal Centre provided input to the review that focused on the following main areas (as well as comments on other areas).
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Merry Christmas

Parks team
Paul, Jemima and Julie from the parks team at the Tenants' Union of NSW wish you - our Outasite Lite readers - a very Merry Christmas and Happy New year. We enjoyed sharing residential parks news with you in 2015 and hearing back from you about the stories and updates we send through. Thank you for the positive feedback you kindly send us.
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New laws for park residents

Paul and Len
On 1 November 2015 the laws governing the relationship between park owners and park residents changed. In fact, parks are not even called parks any more - the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 renames them “residential communities”. So, what does this mean for residents of these communities? Find out in the first Issue of Outasite!
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What is a special levy?

Outasite article
Under the new Act if home owners want a new facility or an improvement to the community and the operator refuses to fund it, the home owners can vote to pay for it. This is a special levy.
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Understanding the ins and outs of utility charges

Outasite article
In the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 electricity, gas, water and sewerage service are dealt with under the generic term ‘utility’.
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New rules for operators

Outasite article
During the review of the Residential Parks Act 1998 one of the key issues raised by residents was the conduct of operators. Many stories were told about interference with the sale of homes, harassment and intimidation by operators. The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 contains a number of new provisions in relation to operator behaviour, including new rules of conduct.
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New rules in communities

Gnome
Community rules (previously called park rules) are about the use, enjoyment, control and management of a community. Unlike the Residential Parks Act 1998, the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 does not set specific subject matter for rules so they can be about anything that fits into these general themes.
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