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Tenants' Union news

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Tenants' organisations concerned about forced rent payments proposal

calculator placed on paper
The National Association of Tenants Organisations has concerns about aspects of a Bill before Federal parliament which would enable social housing landlords to access tenants income support payments in order to pay various housing costs.
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NSW Labor's “FAIR GO FOR RENTERS” a Strong Step Towards Making Renting Fair

A coalition of 90 tenants, community organisations, unions and faith based groups called “Make Renting Fair” has welcomed NSW Labor’s new renters’ rights policy.
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Meet Jamie Love, Coordinator of WATAAS

WATAAS Tenant Advocates
This interview introduces Jamie Love, who recently started as Coordinator of the Western Aboriginal Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service (WATAAS). In the interview, Jamie talks about the challenges facing Aboriginal tenants and WATAAS, and some of the key things that need to change to get better service delivery for Aboriginal people.
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Redeveloping Waterloo housing

Inner Sydney Voice cover
Inner Sydney Voice have produced a special edition all about Waterloo and public housing renewal. It's really excellent - check it out.
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Tenants' Union Reconciliation Action Plan launched

Uncle Ivan Simon launching the RAP
The Tenants' Union of NSW was proud to launch our Reconciliation Action Plan on 13th September 2017 – the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Inspiring leader and friend of the TU, Uncle Ivan Simon gave a powerful speech to launch the RAP and singer songwriter Leah Flanagan brought stories of her people to life through her music.
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Illawarra and South Coast Tenants Service says: Make Renting Fair

Warren
Illawarra and South Coast Tenants Services team leader Warren Wheeler has featured in the Illawarra Mercury, calling for legislative changes to stop unfair evictions. "A landlord will give a no-grounds notice, they don’t have to justify why they’re evicting the tenant, and as long as the notice is given correctly the Civil and Administrative Tribunal must terminate the tenancy."
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Make Renting Fair – community support growing

Make Renting Fair
Make Renting Fair is a new community campaign to end unfair evictions. Bringing together a strong coalition of local community organisations, unions, and faith based organisations, the Tenants Union of NSW and Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services are calling on the NSW State Government to make renting fair, and ensure renters in New South Wales are protected against unfair evictions.
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Residents' committees

Committee
Residents’ committees are a common feature of residential land lease communities and they have an important role. They can be a voice for residents, a source of information and support and the conduit between the operator and residents of the community. Many committees carry out a number of functions and some have sub-committees for particular purposes, for example to organise social activities. The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act (the Act) sets the rules around residents’ committees.
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How site fees are increased

Outasite article
It feels like every time we write an article about site fee increases in land lease communities we refer back to the review of the legislation and the fact that this was the biggest issue raised by park residents at that time. The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 brought a new approach to site fee increases and new measures that the Government said would alleviate the pressure of constantly increasing site fees. In this article we will look at how site fees are being increased and the potential impact on home owners in the short and long term.
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The benefits of assignment

Outasite article
In the last two issues of Outasite we have written articles about the assignment of site agreements. We have talked about the value of the right to assign, the campaign to keep that right and why we think NCAT got it wrong in the Farraway case. However, there is still some confusion, so in this article we will unpick the law and unpack the issues.
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