Residential Tenancies (Protection of Prospective Tenants) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

Consideration in committee of the Legislative Council's amendment.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS: I move:

That the Legislative Council's amendment be agreed to.

I rise to advise the committee that the government supports the amendment that was made in the other place on 13 June. It was an amendment moved by the Hon. Robert Simms to the residential tenancies immediate priorities bill. The reason for that is that section 101 of the Residential Tenancies Act already allows for the Residential Tenancies Fund to be used for the purposes that are in the Greens' amendment from the other place.

More specifically, section 101 of the Residential Tenancies Act already provides for income derived from the fund to be applied towards a range of purposes, including education, certain research, more specifically for the benefit of landlords, tenants, rooming house proprietors, rooming house residents and park owners, and residents of residential parks in such ways approved by the commissioner and, more broadly, for any other purposes connected with, or arising under, the Residential Tenancies Act or the Residential Parks Act approved by the commissioner.

My advice is that the existing provisions of section 101, for which the fund may be applied, are already quite broad and could be applied towards tenant advocacy and representation, and the government is actually currently doing that. For example, AnglicareSA already receives funding for the resolution of tenancy disputes to provide financial counselling and also for advocacy services for vulnerable tenants.

I would like to put on record what a fantastic job Anglicare does to support tenants and many other services that Anglicare provides for vulnerable members of our community. I also want to put on record our recognition of the wonderful work done by other advocacy groups like RentRight, SACOSS, Shelter SA, Uniting Communities and other organisations that do already support tenants already and many vulnerable members of our community.

I also want to thank a number of organisations that provide advice and support to landlords and property managers, including the Landlords' Association and the Real Estate Institute of South Australia. As the minister, I will continue to support the great work that these organisations do and will continue to work with the commissioner as part of the broader review on the Residential Tenancies Act to ensure we are supporting these organisations to provide support, advice and advocacy to both tenants and landlords.

Speaking of landlords, I do want to note for the record of this place the position of the opposition and I want to acknowledge the opposition's support for the Greens amendment. I for one welcome the opposition's support for the creation of a union. I note that when the opposition spokesperson in the other place, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, spoke on this amendment she strongly advocated for the passing of this amendment that has the primary purpose that specifically called for using the Residential Tenancies Fund to support an industry association, that is, a union.

It is good to see that the government and the opposition can both agree on the importance of unions and using the Residential Tenancies Fund to support and advocate for tenants. However, we believe it is important that we use the Residential Tenancies Fund to support landlords and tenants and it is important we get that balance right.

That is why, as part of the broader reforms of the Residential Tenancies Act, which I will touch on briefly, the government will also be including in the draft bill a requirement that landlords distribute a prescribed fact sheet to tenants at the start of their tenancy. The aim of that fact sheet is for it to be drafted in plain language and very clearly articulate the rights and obligations of landlords, as well as the rights and obligations of tenants in moving into a new tenancy arrangement.

As members may be aware, the Premier and I recently announced that the government is now responding to the broader review of the Residential Tenancies Act with a draft bill, which is in progress at the moment, and taking greater action to support renters while also supporting landlords.

Some of the reforms we have announced include making it easier to have a pet in a rental; ending unfair evictions, by requiring landlords to provide tenants with a prescribed reason in order to end a periodic tenancy or not renew a fixed-term agreement; and, given the record low vacancy rates in the residential market in South Australia at the moment, we are proposing to increase the minimum notice period required from 28 days to 60 days to end a fixed-term tenancy. They are just some of the broader reforms we will be including in the broader bill that is being drafted at the moment and I will introduce to the house at a later stage.

With that, I want to thank this house and those in the other place for the swift progress of this bill and we look forward to implementing the outcomes, which include, of course, banning rent bidding, prescribing the type of information a tenant is required to disclose on a rental application form and better protecting tenant information. I commend this bill as amended to the house.

Mr TEAGUE: I just briefly rise and note the minister's contribution. Clearly, the application of the income of the fund is appropriately directed as is set out in (a) and (b) respectively towards the cost of administering and enforcing the act and the operation of the tribunal—clear enough.

As we see in the paragraphs through to paragraph (f), they are really directed in principle towards education, projects that are directed for relevant purposes, research and for the benefit of those stakeholders. The amendment in what will be (ab) is directed more specifically than is currently set out to those associations and organisations that the commissioner is going to need to be satisfied are, as their primary purpose, doing the sorts of things that are contemplated in paragraphs (c) through (f), essentially.

To the extent it is observed that there might be a covering of the same ground, that is noted. Hopefully, the focus on the possibility more specifically to direct it towards an organisation is one that will provide us with opportunities in the future to reflect on the good work of Anglicare and others that are doing substantial work in this space and have done for a long time. I endorse the contribution of the minister in that way and otherwise indicate the opposition's support for the amendment as it has been returned to us in this place.

Motion carried.