Page 212 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2020
Mr Ramsay, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (10.25): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to introduce the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2020. This bill follows the public exposure draft, which was then entitled the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2019 (No 2), that was tabled on 28 November 2019.
The government tabled the exposure draft in the Assembly so that we could engage relevant stakeholders and members of the public about reforms to two complex areas of residential tenancy law, namely occupancy law and the share housing framework. This process of public consultation, which ended on 24 January this year, provided a basis for a more detailed, thorough discussion about the reforms and has resulted in a bill that we are confident will make significant gains in improving the law for tenants, occupants, grantors and landlords.
Although the focus of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is the relationship between landlord and tenant under a residential tenancy agreement, part 5A of the act turns to the relationship between grantor and occupant under an occupancy agreement.
Occupancy agreements are a form of statutory licence or agreement for accommodation. They have fewer protections, processes and requirements than residential tenancy agreements. This makes occupancy agreements highly adaptable for a diverse range of purposes where the more rigid provisions of a residential tenancy agreement may be inappropriate. Occupancy agreements are regularly used in the crisis accommodation sector, in which some of the most vulnerable Canberrans are supported through difficult periods and provided with the opportunity to move into more long-term housing options. The student accommodation sector is also a significant user of occupancy agreements in the ACT. Other users of occupancy agreements include boarders and lodgers, people in supported housing programs and people residing in residential parks or caravan parks.
When the territory first began modernising its residential tenancy legislation back in the 1990s, the ACT community law reform committee observed that some principles should apply equally, regardless of the legal type of residential agreement. For example, both tenants and occupants need accommodation without arbitrary interference with their privacy.
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