No holiday cheer for social housing

Hear ye, hear ye! By proclamation, and just in time for the holiday season, the NSW government's antisocial behaviour laws have commenced.

You can read more about the substance of the changes in our previous briefings, and see them as written in the Residential Tenancies Act 2010.

If you are approached by your social housing provider about anti-social behaviour, don't hesitate to get in touch with your local Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service. This is a new process for your landlord, and there is a lot to keep an eye on.

There are no more hearings set down for 2015, but these laws can potentially affect all undecided social housing cases that are in the Tribunal at the moment as well as any new matters that may arise in the new year. FACS- Housing NSW has not yet published their policies concerning the use of these new laws for public housing residents, and we also haven't yet seen any policies from community housing providers.

We'll keep you updated as these laws are implemented in the new year.

In the meantime some holiday reading for us all from the Queensland Mental Health Commissioner who commissioned a report on the impact of the three strikes policy implemented in that state in 2013.
The summary of its key recommendations are:

• Better planning to meet social housing needs, provision of alternative housing solutions and monitoring outcomes for tenants with complex needs
• Improved communication with tenants about the anti-social behaviour policy and consideration of additional steps to reduce confusion between “strike” and “breach” processes
• Combining enforcement with prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation support
• Adopting a more systemic approach to supporting tenants with complex needs and integrating with other support services.