By Garry Mallard, for the
Rimfire Review
During the National Tenant Support Network’s 17 years of operation, I
have successfully resisted the urge to use its reach to express
personal outrage. That is about to change….oh, how it is about to
change!
Upon returning from a brief trip to Sydney last Friday, I found in my
letterbox, the Housing NSW Christmas greeting for 2012, attached for
your information. It takes the form of an A4 sheet of paper bearing the
Family & Community Services – Housing NSW logo, beneath which there
appears a short message in blue, red and green; the traditional colours
of Christmas.
Although this blog is a few years old now, many of the discussions and policies are still applicable. The original OurHouseSwap website where tenants could register their desire to swap has now been closed down.
Monday, December 17, 2012
MERRY CHRISTMAS SCUMBAG
THE FESTIVE SEASON MESSAGE FROM HOUSING NSW
By Ross Smith, for the
Rimfire Review
The regular reminder that Christmas is imminent for NSW’s Public
Housing tenants has arrived in their letterboxes as per ordained
schedule, courtesy of their landlord. It takes the now standard form of
dire threats of eviction if the rent is not paid on time and solicits
payments in advance of the legislated timeframe.
This year Housing NSW has added a new tone to the Christmas message.
Friday, August 10, 2012
United we stand
There are many many comments on this blog about "banding together" and fighting "class actions".
Great ideas but as we all know, the time it takes to implement such processes and run them consistently with dedication, is often a burden upon one or two people.
To help spread the load and to address different concerns in the different states, three groups have set up on Facebook:
Friends of Public Housing Victoria
Friends of Public Housing NSW
Friends of Public Housing Queensland
Support them and learn from them and together we can attempt to change Public Housing in Australia.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Queensland - Call to Arms
Further to our story Something smelly in Queensland the case is going to court
From Helen Wedlake:
In a test case to reverse a common practice of putting the tenant at fault in disputes concerning the condition of housing, there is a Court Hearing on 29th March, 2012, in Court of Appeal, Supreme Court George Street Brisbane pertaining to the Matter of Underwood v Dept. of Communities. It is in the public interest and a matter of belief that all Landlords whether private or public have a duty of care towards their tenants. The premise for an Appeal to the Supreme Court relates to judgment in QCAT tenancy tribunal that did not consider that a structurally defective unit subjected to repeated inflows of storm-water mixed with raw sewerage should have an abatement of rent.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Case Study: Something smelly in Queensland
This is an Open Letter sent to OHS and reprinted with permission.
I am ... taking this opportunity to share with you Helen Underwood's circumstances and Helen's
sustained fight for answers to her placements in housing that was unfit or barely fit for habitation, conditions by no means an exception in the system.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Evictions increase under 3-strikes
Further to our story last year about the WA policy of evictions...
This story appeared in the The West online newspaper
The Department of Housing has almost doubled the number of evictions of public housing tenants under its three-strikes policy in the past 13 months.
An explosion at a clandestine drug laboratory in a suburban home in March prompted Housing Minister Troy Buswell to harden the rules.
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