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Rosalie Rendu Forum discusses rental reform
Renting has traditionally been seen as a step on the path towards the Australian Dream of home ownership.
Today, that aspiration is increasingly becoming out of reach as people rent in greater numbers and for longer periods of time.
With over 30% of people nationwide now renting, a growing awareness of the need for renting to be a viable long-term option has prompted calls for reforms, particularly on the issue of no-grounds evictions.
The NSW Government pledged to reform rental laws as part of its 2023 state election pitch and introduced legislation in October 2024 to end no-grounds evictions in order to provide people with greater housing security.
The proposed laws will also limit rent increases to one a year, allow tenants greater freedom to own pets – based on the suitability of the property – and outlaw landlords from requesting prospective tenants to pay for background checks as part of rental applications.
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Each Anti-Poverty Week, the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW holds the Rosalie Rendu Forum, a discussion bringing together a panel of distinguished women, named in recognition of Sister Rosalie Rendu’s contribution to the Society, to offer insights into pressing social justice issues.
The 2024 Rosalie Rendu Forum put the focus on rental reform by proposing the question, “is ending no grounds evictions the end of the story?”
We were delighted to have Trina Jones (NSW Rental Commissioner), Dr Jemima Mowbray (Tenants’ Union of NSW), Dr Penelope Bowyer-Pont (Macquarie University) and Anna Scott (Vinnies Services) join us for an online discussion moderated by Solange Frost (Vinnies South Regional Director).
Issues raised during the evening included the experiences of people supported by the Society in navigating the rental market, the impact of the government’s proposed reforms, examples of rent regulation from around the world, the need to improve the quality of rental housing and giving renters the confidence to exercise their rights.
The panel also fielded questions from close to 100 attendees watching online and at viewing events on topics such as fair limits for rent increases, offering tenants longer-term leases, reforms for boarding houses and the role of the NSW Rental Commissioner.
The evening concluded with each of the panelists offering hopes for the future:
““I personally would like to see a cap on rents that is controlled between tenancies, not resetting at the beginning of each new tenancy.””
““[We’d] like to see further protections from discrimination in the rental assessment process… by the nature of [people] experiencing homelessness or accessing our support or using a rental bond loan, people feel and experience discrimination in accessing rental properties.””
““The next big tranche of reforms is around privacy and transparency. We’re going to standardise application forms to eliminate as much as possible discrimination in the rental application process and ensure that we can protect renters’ data and reduce risk of identity theft, fraud and use of that data that could put them at risk.””
““I love that renters are standing up and the community is standing up with us to say, ‘actually, let’s see change here. Let’s make every home a decent home to live in, let’s make every home affordable, let’s make sure everyone has a home.’””
St Vincent de Paul Society NSW thanks Ms Jones, Dr Mowbray, Dr Bowyer-Pont, Ms Scott, Ms Frost and Leonie Duck, who delivered a reflection on the legacy of Sister Rosalie Rendu, for their involvement in an enlightening Rosalie Rendu Forum.
The Society believes that everyone should have stable, healthy and affordable housing that feels like home. Our latest Social Justice Statement affirms that renting should be, ‘a genuine, secure and sustainable alternative to home ownership for diverse groups of people and families, including those on low incomes.’
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