legal issues Nicole Stobart and Rachana Rajan NAAJA, Civil Law - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Aboriginal housing in the NT: legal issues

Nicole Stobart and Rachana Rajan NAAJA, Civil Law Section

Housing issues impact:

• Mental and physical health
• Employment
• School attendance
• CDP (work for the dole) participation
• Domestic violence
• Child protection concerns
• Criminal justice involvement

Regulatory framework

• Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”)
• Housing Act
• Policies of the Department of Housing and Community

Development (“the Department”)

Common issues seen by NAAJA

• Debt
• Repairs
• Antisocial behaviour
• Housing applications
• Limited awareness of legal rights

Debts

What tenants tell us:

• “I have a debt for repairs and maintenance at my last house”
• “I have a debt for something in my house that Housing fixed up”
• “I owe Housing money for not paying rent”
• “I have a really big debt and I don’t know why”
• “I am being evicted because Housing says I owe them money”
• “Housing is asking me to pay for something

that was already broken when I moved in

Debts – repairs and maintenance

What we do:

• Use the Residential Tenancies Act
• Ask for review of the debt according to initial state of the

premises, reasonable wear and tear and damage that was not intentional or negligent

• Argue that they are statute-barred
• Complain to the NT Ombudsman

Debts – repairs and maintenance

Issues we face:

• Wear and tear and prior condition not initially considered by the

Department

• Tenants not knowing rights in relation to inspections
• Inadequate records
• Proving damage was not intentional or negligent

Debts – repairs and maintenance

What we would like to see:

• Education from the Department at the start of a tenancy
• The Department consistently applying fair wear and tear and

existing damage before issuing debts

• Tenants being referred for legal advice when a debt is alleged
• Tenants being referred for legal advice before an exit

inspection

• Best practice with record keeping

Debts – unpaid rent

What we do:

• Ask them to be reconciled
• Argue that they are statute-barred
• Complain to the NT Ombudsman

Debts – unpaid rent

Issues we face:

• Unreconciled debts being alleged
• Tenants advised of debts late
• Department pursuing old debts
• Complexity of how rent works
• Department not backdating rebates

Debts – unpaid rent

What we would like to see:

• Policy not to pursue debts that are more than 3 years old
• Policy around advising tenants that they have a debt
• A proactive, communicative approach to rent policy
• Review of the way rent works
• Less onerous rebate system
• Communication with Centrelink for rebates

Remote housing repairs

What tenants tell us:

• “I have told Housing about repairs for months”
• “Contractors were fixing up other houses but they didn’t come

to mine”

Remote housing repairs

What we do:

• Give advice on the Residential Tenancies Act
• Apply to NTCAT for the repairs and/or compensation
• Complain to the NT Ombudsman

Remote housing repairs

Issues we face:

• Barriers to written repair requests
• Department assuming tenant responsibility
• Inadequate records
• Cross-claims for large, unrelated debts previously unknown to

the tenant

Remote housing repairs

What we would like to see:

• Proactive maintenance by the Department
• Support to write notices of repair
• Skills building in remote communities
• The Department acting as a model litigant

Antisocial behaviour

What tenants tell us:

• “I’m getting kicked out of my house for having people around”
• “I signed some papers about behaviour that I don’t

understand”

• “Housing is evicting me because I got too many points”

Antisocial behaviour

What we do:

• Consider what is antisocial
• Advise on and challenge notices of direction, Acceptable

Behaviour Agreements (“ABAs”), the Red Card Policy

• Advise whether conduct of Public Housing Safety Officers or

police is lawful

Antisocial behaviour

Issues we face:

• Tenants see us when they are getting evicted
• Unclear processes and policies around use of interpreters and

legal referrals

• Unsure if tenancy support programs used enough

Antisocial behaviour

What we would like to see:

• A homelessness prevention approach
• Review of policies and practices about using interpreters and

early referrals to tenancy support services and lawyers

Housing applications

What tenants tell us:

• “There are too many people in my house”
• “I am homeless”
• “It’s taking a long time for me to get a house”
• “Housing lost my application”

Housing applications

What we do:

• Advise on application process and eligibility
• Help or refer for help with housing applications
• Ask for applications to be reinstated or backdated
• Complain to NT Ombudsman about systemic issues

Housing applications

Issues we face:

• Complex application process
• Difficulty of keeping in touch with the Department

Housing applications

What we would like to see:

• Better resources, particularly in community
• A proactive approach by the Department
• Outreach housing support programs

Awareness of legal rights

Limited due to:

• Department not properly considering low English literacy of

tenants

• Department not considering disadvantage of remoteness
• Lack of referrals to legal services
• Late engagement with legal services

See a lawyer if…

• The Department says you have a debt
• You receive an eviction notice
• The Department asks you to sign something
• You don’t understand the Department or their letters
• You need repairs done or your house is in bad condition
• There are problems with your application
• You are not happy with PHSOs or police
• Something “doesn’t feel right”
• You don’t like how housing in the NT works

Legal assistance

• NAAJA and most community legal centres help individual

people

• Most housing issues are legal issues
• Early legal advice is the best legal advice!
• NAAJA can deliver (some) education on tenants’ rights

NAAJA Darwin – 1800 898 251 NAAJA Katherine – 1800 897 728 NAAJA Alice Springs – 1800 636 079

Wish list

• Progress. These issues are not new.
• Compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act
• Practical policies with a homelessness prevention approach
• Focus on community knowledge and skills
• The Department as a model litigant

Resources

• NAAJA’s response to Housing strategies and issues paper,

2016 (www.naaja.org.au)

• Commonwealth Ombudsman report on remote housing

reforms in the NT, June 2012 (www.ombudsman.gov.au)

• “Let there be light” – Department and Power & Water

response to widespread damage to electricity meters in a remote community, June 2015 (www.ombudsman.nt.gov.au)

• NT Legislative Assembly report on repairs

and maintenance in town camps, May 2016 (www.parliament.nt.gov.au)

Q&A panel