Tenants in Australia do not have it easy. They fear eviction and rent increases, and have to put their privacy on hold for quarterly inspections by their landlord. We have heard these stories by the hundreds through our advice line, drop in service and at court. The report Unsettled. Life in Australia’s private rental market, jointly published by CHOICE, National Shelter and the National […]
The following Community Legal Education sessions are open to the public: 11 April 2018 Rosebery Community House 11:30 am 12 April 2018 Burnie Linc 10 am 12 April 2018 George Town Neighbourhood House 2 pm 18 April 2018 Multicultural Hub Moonah 6 pm (semi-public, please contact MHM) 4 May 2018 Pittwater Neighbourhood House 10:30 […]
This week is National Volunteer Week and here at the Tenants’ Union we are pretty lucky to have some amazing people donating their wisdom and time to our cause. Volunteers run our advice line and I mean RUN not walk. Every day we receive about 20 calls from people seeking our advice. Within 24 hours […]
Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 (the Act) have been coming into practice over the past few years and will continue to change until August 2018. The variations in time frames are to allow landlords the opportunity to ensure their rental properties meet the required standards without placing too much of a financial burden […]
Smoking is banned in Tasmania from all public indoor areas. You can even be fined for smoking in your car when a minor is also present. But, what about smoking in rental properties? Is there a general ban on smoking in your home if you are renting? Reviewing the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, which lays […]
Want to know the median rent for 2 bedroom properties in Burnie? 3 bedroom properties in the Huonville area? What about the change in rents in Inner Launceston in the last three months? They are answered in Tasmanian Rents, a new quarterly publication compiled by the Tenants’ Union using data from the Rental Deposit Authority. […]
Questions about repairs and what tenants can do when a landlord refuses to carry them out are the most dealt with issues by the our advice line volunteers and our lawyers conducting face to face advice. With the amendments of the Residential Tenancy Act of October 2014 a central part of the procedure of dealing […]
In July 2014 the Tenants’ Union introduced a new Online Membership and Training with the aim to broaden Tasmanian community participation in and knowledge about tenancy matters. The online training seeks to get Tasmanians conversant with the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 (Tas), including recent amendments and upcoming changes. In seven lessons trainees get a broad […]
In our Don’t Panic booklet we stated that tenants facing unreasonable rent increases could seek a review with the Residential Tenancy Commissioner instead of, as previously, with the Magistrates Court. This information unfortunately failed to mention the transitional period, which is prescribed in the Act and led to a number of reviews being sought from […]
A raft of new tenancy laws came into effect from October 1st and our factsheets have been updated to reflect this. Arguably of greatest benefit to tenants is the 42 day (6 week) notice period for an eviction at the end of a fixed term lease, up from a minimum of 14 days. This change […]
