Will I be asked to leave if I complain?

This is commonly asked of advice workers at the Tenants' Union of Queensland. Alongside obligations, tenants have a range of rights under current laws, but they are sometimes hard to enforce because of tenants' (well-founded) fear of eviction in retaliation. It is time for changes to minimise these fears.

Government is currently calling for public submissions on the Residential Tenancies Act Review paper. In the 15 years since these laws were written, the housing market has changed significantly. Unlike the transitional tenure it once was, some households have no other choice but to remain within the private rental market long-term and permanently.

To give Queensland tenants a fair go, key changes are required. We need reasons for being evicted, the ability to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and a specialised tribunal to hear disputes, recording decisions and making them publicly available. In coordination, these three areas of change will achieve much in creating a level playing field between tenants and lessors.

It seems only fair for every eviction to have a just and sound reason. Tenancy laws should set these reasons out and evictions only take place when one applies. Such reasons would incorporate tenants not meeting their obligations as well as situations where lessors reasonably require the property back, e.g., if they or their family wish to move in or carry out significant repairs or renovations.

Alongside not being given reasons for evictions, many tenants must move within two weeks if evicted at the end of a fixed term agreement. Could you find a new home and move your family in that time? This review provides an opportunity to significantly increase the notice time for all evictions where tenants are not at fault, unless this creates significant hardship to the lessor.

Removing the ability to evict tenants without reason will immeasurably assist them to pursue their other rights. Many tenants trade off rights, e.g., getting repairs attended to, against not being considered troublesome and potentially facing eviction in retaliation. The availability to evict without reason places the balance of power squarely away from the tenant.

Changes are also needed around rent increase processes, to remove current anomalies as well as to support the above proposal. Large rent increases are sometimes used in a deliberate fashion to force tenants to leave. We propose to extend and standardise the notice required to increase rent (to 3 months), and allow all tenants who consider an increase unreasonable to request adjudication by the Tribunal (which essentially applies a market test). Proving 'reasonableness' should rest with lessors/agents who deal with the market daily and have information more available to them.

Finally, Queensland needs significant reform to the process of tenancy dispute resolution. Currently, disputes end up in a jurisdiction with little specialisation in tenancy matters, written reasons for decisions are rarely given and decisions are not published. Neither tenants nor lessors/agents can see determinations in previous matters to assess the merits of their own case and how the law was interpreted. There is also no way to correct decisions erring in law. With almost 90 separate tribunals hearing disputes statewide, different outcomes sometimes result from similar cases. Such inconsistency is not good for any party to tenancies or for engendering faith in the system.

These changes are required to make Queensland tenancy laws relevant to the contemporary environment. Without them, tenants will continue to negotiate agreements from a position of relative powerlessness, forcing them to agree to things contrary to their interests and possibly the law.

Are there really any good arguments against all evictions having a sound reason? After all, if the law outlines and makes eviction available for sound reasons, the only reasons left are unsound such as retaliation and discrimination.

These proposals are not aimed at the many judicious lessors and agents. Rather, they aim to set a minimum standard for those who will not otherwise act reasonably.

Public submissions are due on June 22.

If you want to have your say, you can comment on a single issue, a range of issues or all the issues considered in the Paper. You may find that a topic of interest to you has been overlooked and you can make a submission on that as well. Submissions can short or long, in dot point or letter form, or more formally set out - however it suits you.

Click here for a copy of the Discussion Paper

When the review of the legislation was announced, the Government called for submissions as to what should be in the new legislation. The Tenants' Union provided the Government with a submission for that stage of the process. The TU will do another submission in response the paper just released.Tenants can have input into this process by making their own submissions or contacting the TU to incorporate their views with the TU submission.

Click here for a copy of the Tenants' Union previous submission from April 2006

The Tenants' Union advises approximately 6 000 tenants annually and runs a free full time telephone advice service for tenants available on 07-3257 1108 (or 1800 177 761 outside Brisbane).