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Tenants' Union news

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Funding cuts to Community Legal Centres reversed

Funding cuts to Community Legal Centres reversed
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Community Housing Transfers - What's It All About? - 2 New Forums

Community Housing Transfers - What's It All About? - 2 New Forums
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Escaping an unsafe and insecure rental nightmare

Kellie and her son Elijah
Kellie and her son Elijah are tenants on the Central Coast. At their previous place the landlord failed to abide by the agreement and renting laws in a number of ways. So Kellie got advice from Central Coast Tenants Advice and wrote to the landlord to assert her rights. She also went to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to seek compensation for the landlord’s failure to do repairs and an illegal lockout. Although she was unsuccessful at the Tribunal, Kellie did manage to get rehoused in a better place.
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Home ownership is falling - what needs to happen?

Leo from the Tenants' Union of NSW speak on ABC News 24
Our Advocacy and Research Officer Leo spoke to ABC News 24 about a new report which shows that Australia has one of the lowest rates of home ownership amongst 9 countries analysed by HSBC.
We point out that what people really want are homes they can rely on - watch now!
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Which agreement?

Papers
People who live in residential land lease communities do so under an agreement or contract. The Tenants’ Union and Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services are frequently asked questions about agreements. Since the laws changed in 2015 the number and variety of questions have increased. In this article we discuss the types of agreements used in land lease communities and how the laws apply to those agreements.
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Community Housing Transfers - What's It All About?

Want to know more about the transfer of public housing to community housing? Come to this Shelter NSW & Tenants' Union of NSW Forum.
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Big win for Aboriginal family in Northern NSW

NATAAS Tenant Advocates
Last year an Aboriginal family in Coffs Harbour with seven kids had their lives disrupted by building work. The family was renting a house on a large block in northern NSW. The landlord decided to redevelop the land by building another house on the block.

The tenants were annoyed enough to apply to the Tribunal for compensation and rent reduction. The Tribunal made directions for exchange of evidence. The tenants obtained some advice from an Aboriginal TAAS (Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service) about the evidence needed.
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Living in Residential Parks Workshop

Northern rivers
The Northern Rivers Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service (NORTAAS) is running a workshop about the legal rights and responsibility of home owners renting in residential parks.

The Workshop will be on Monday the 20th of March in Ballina.
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CHOICE research reveals renting crisis

Woman holding cat. List of statistics concerning text which reads "Discriminated against when renting? 50% of renters report discrimination when househunting. For having a pet (23%). For receiving government payments (17%). Age (14%). Having young children (10%)
Research finds renters facing insecurity, poor quality housing, and discrimination

CHOICE, the National Association of Tenants’ Organisations and National Shelter are calling for governments to prioritise rental security and quality issues, not just housing affordability, as a national study reveals widespread fear and discrimination faced by thousands of Australians.
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You can't do that! Operator Conduct in Land Lease Communities

Books
The Tenants’ Union regularly hears complaints from land lease community residents about the behaviour of operators. During the review of the Residential Parks Act 1998 the behaviour of park managers and owners was also a common theme. Many operators do the right thing but when an operator behaves badly residents can take action. The Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 (the Act) contains a number of provisions around operator behaviour, including Rules of Conduct. In this issue of Outasite Lite we will take a closer look at these provisions.
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