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Speaker 1: Well, some different legislation being introduced into Parliament yesterday, and

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Speaker 1: we know that reforms to the Tenancies Act have been

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Speaker 1: introduced to Northern Territory Parliament, aiming to bring the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory in line with the rest of the country. It's

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Speaker 1: understood that the bill provides greater protections for tenants when

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Speaker 1: it comes to security as well as termination of tenancy,

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Speaker 1: privacy and domestic violence, and outlaws rent bidding as well. Now,

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Speaker 1: the Darwen Community Legal Service has long been advocating for

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Speaker 1: changes to tenancy laws and Matt Gardner joins me on

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Speaker 1: the line right now here is indeed Darwin Community Legal

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Speaker 1: Services Tenants Advice Service Team Leader. Good morning to you, Matt,

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Speaker 1: Good morning Coaty, Thanks so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: What are the key changes here that you've been pushing for.

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Speaker 2: Look, one of the things that's come up is the

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Speaker 2: outlawing of rent bidding, the situation where a realf agent

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Speaker 2: or a prospective renter can actually go above what's being

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Speaker 2: advertised to try and snag this hard to get part

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Speaker 2: of a tendancy. This is actually a really good thing

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Speaker 2: because it stops driving up the prices of rent and

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Speaker 2: it means the price advertised is the price paid?

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Speaker 1: And so is this something that we've seen happening in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: It's something that has been reported to us where people

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Speaker 2: have gone through where there might be fifty or sixty

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Speaker 2: people looking at a tenancy and then someone that has

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Speaker 2: actually come forward and said, look, I'll pay fifty dollars

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Speaker 2: a week more than what it's being advertised. And they're

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Speaker 2: strange enough, the ones who are successful this new change,

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Speaker 2: I actually mean, they can't be done. And as I

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Speaker 2: said before, it is the price of the rent is

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Speaker 2: the price advertised, is the price paid?

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Speaker 1: Well, and then you know you can understand if people

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Speaker 1: are then you know, like they're going through and making

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Speaker 1: sure that they find the best tenant. But you're right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, if it's the price advertised, you would hope that,

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Speaker 1: you know, the highest bid or isn't the one sort

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Speaker 1: of getting the rental unit, because it just takes it

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Speaker 1: and makes it so much harder for everybody else trying to.

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Speaker 3: Get in there.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it is that thing. It's just driving up

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Speaker 2: the prices higher than what they currently are. So this

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Speaker 2: is a really good reformance being it brings in line

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Speaker 2: with the rest of Australia and bringing our residential pempties

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Speaker 2: up here, making it more attractive to stay in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Now, tell me what safeguards are in the bill when

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Speaker 1: it comes to domestic violence.

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Speaker 3: I seem to have just somehow lost Matt from the

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Speaker 3: phone line.

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Speaker 1: There. I'm not too sure what's gone on. We'll try

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Speaker 1: and getting back on. I don't know why that has happened.

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Speaker 1: Just bear with me a moment, Matt. Have I got

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Speaker 1: you there again?

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Speaker 3: Sorry?

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Speaker 1: Mate, I'm not too sure what happened then with that

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Speaker 1: phone line? Tell us what safeguards are in this bill

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Speaker 1: when it comes to domestic violence? All right, I seem

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Speaker 1: to have lost Matt again. There, let's try one last time, Matt.

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Speaker 1: I do apologize. We seem to be having some issues

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Speaker 1: with our phone line. Have I got you there?

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Speaker 3: I'm now mate?

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Speaker 1: Tell us I'll ask you once more what safeguards are

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Speaker 1: in the bill when it comes to domestic violence.

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Speaker 2: Well, one of the problems we have with the current

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Speaker 2: legislation is that if damage was done for the property

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Speaker 2: during an act of domestic violence, it means the victim

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Speaker 2: may be actually charged for that damage. One of the

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Speaker 2: things I've actually done with this is separating it out,

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Speaker 2: so the perpetrator is the person that's responsible for the

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Speaker 2: damage and the cost of those repairs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, right, is that going to like will it be

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Speaker 3: a difficult one?

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Speaker 1: Do you think to sort of prosecute in the sense

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Speaker 1: that sometimes those cases would have to go through court

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Speaker 1: first and then being able to identify who the person

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Speaker 1: is that does need to pay.

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Speaker 2: No, Because one of the good things about this is

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Speaker 2: that it actually allows for the acts to actually have

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Speaker 2: a certificate that's given by selective people. And these people

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Speaker 2: are normally involved in the issues of domestic violence, like

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Speaker 2: the police, lawyers, people who run domestic violence centers, who

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Speaker 2: can actually sign these things to say this person is

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Speaker 2: experiencing domestic violence, which would then automatically be recognized by

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Speaker 2: the tribunal as a person who is a victim not

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Speaker 2: a perpetrator.

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Speaker 3: Now tell me, do the reforms go far enough?

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Speaker 1: Like, right across the board when you look at this legislation,

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Speaker 1: does it go far enough? Or is there different things

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Speaker 1: that still need to be looked at.

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Speaker 2: Look, he's a really good start. This is actually bringing

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Speaker 2: the territory legislation up to speed with a lot of

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Speaker 2: the country. However, there's still some paths where are slightly

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Speaker 2: behind everyone else. One of those things that we're really

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Speaker 2: pushing for is a bond board, an independent bond board,

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Speaker 2: a board that would actually hold the money for the bonds,

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Speaker 2: because currently the land bord or the roost age and

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Speaker 2: physically hold your money. And I like to say it's

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Speaker 2: a little bit like Lord of the Rings when it

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Speaker 2: comes to the end of the r tennity. It's their precious

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Speaker 2: and no one wants to give it up. Yeah, an

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Speaker 2: independent bond board, what would happen is the bond would

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Speaker 2: automatically we return to the tenant if there was no

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Speaker 2: claim against it. Currently, what the part is if your

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Speaker 2: bond is in return, it's up to the tenant to

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Speaker 2: take action to get that bond back.

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Speaker 1: How often are you dealing with issues or with tenancy

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Speaker 1: issues not only like that, but you know some of

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Speaker 1: the various things that when you look at the changes

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Speaker 1: that are coming into play, how often would you say

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Speaker 1: that you're dealing with those kinds of issues.

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Speaker 2: Look, I must say bond is one of our biggest issue.

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Speaker 2: We put the received between two and a half to

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Speaker 2: three thousand inquiries a year through our Time's Advice Service,

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Speaker 2: and I'd say over half of those are just for bonds.

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Speaker 2: Speaking from personal experience, I know when I moved over

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Speaker 2: Tennancy not too long ago, my bond was kept and

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Speaker 2: they knew I was a tendency lawyer. So the thing

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Speaker 2: is is that if it's going to happen to me,

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Speaker 2: it's going to happen to everyone. Changes like having a

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Speaker 2: bondboard will remove those issues.

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Speaker 1: And so with that bond board, like, is it something

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Speaker 1: that the government seems open to it?

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Speaker 2: Is this something that the minister actually talked about yesterday

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Speaker 2: and we're positive some of these changes will happen in

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Speaker 2: the future. As yet we haven't got a timeframe, but

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Speaker 2: we'd like to see it happen as we are the

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Speaker 2: last jurisdiction Australian not to have a bondboard.

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Speaker 1: Well, Matt Gardner, I really appreciate your time this morning

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Speaker 1: and talking us through some of what is being proposed

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Speaker 1: and introduced obviously yesterday to Parliament from the Darwin Community

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Speaker 1: Legal Service, the Tenants Advice Service team leader.

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Speaker 3: Thanks so much for your time, Thanks all, Thank you