Page 1568 - Week 06 - Thursday, 2 July 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
COVID committee supported these proposals when they came from Legal Aid, I am really hopeful that they will be supported now, and I call upon the other four members of the COVID committee to support these amendments.
I am disappointed that it appears they have been unable to convince their colleagues about this. I understand that it is possible that we will adjourn debate after the in-principle stage, so I am very hopeful that this delay will lead to some further progress on trying to be fair and reasonable to tenants and landlords who have been affected by COVID-19. Talking to each other, in most cases, can provide a better way forward. I certainly think that before making a decision on this everyone should have a look at Legal Aid’s submission. I have, effectively, just tried to write down what the good lawyers in Legal Aid wrote as proposals. The Greens support the bill in principle.
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) (6.24), in reply: I am pleased to close the in-principle stage of the debate on this important piece of legislation which is the final stage of reforms arising out of the 2016 review of the Residential Tenancies Act. This review recommended a number of ways the act could be modernised to reflect community expectations and behaviours. The government has delivered these reforms in a staged and measured way which has benefited all of Canberra.
Certainty in housing laws is fundamental to the wellbeing of our community. The reforms being implemented to date have focused squarely on that policy objective, and this bill continues that same policy development. This final bill, which flows from the review, deals with three major issues where, historically, residential tenancy law has not kept pace with community behaviours. These include share housing, occupancy agreements and residential parks such as long-stay caravan parks. These more flexible and fluid forms of housing are often used by students, young people and those who are vulnerable in our community. This bill works to ensure that these types of living arrangements have adequate clarity and appropriate protections. The bill also ensures that occupancy agreements between students and education providers are appropriately included and specific measures are provided for.
In 2004 the territory took its first major step towards providing basic protections for occupants whose accommodation fell outside the definition of a residential tenancy agreement. These individuals had permission to be on the property, with little or no rights attached to that permission. We did this by introducing the concept of an occupancy agreement, setting out some basic principles for how these occupancy agreements should operate.
The ACT led the nation, through the introduction of those principles, and at the time they were at the cutting edge of property law. In the intervening 16 years, other jurisdictions have followed the ACT’s lead by introducing protections for occupants. They have built on the foundations that we have created, and in several cases they have innovated further, so our own occupancy principles now require adjustment to appropriately meet the growing demand and needs of the range of accommodation sectors in which they are used.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video