Building Tenancy Skills expansion

The Building Tenancy Skills Project received a significant boost with the announcement it will be promoted as part of a state government commitment to improve the provision of tenancy information to consumers and tenants living with disability.

Made as a commitment to mark International Day of People with Disability (Saturday, 3 December), the action plan stems from the first Empowering Consumers with Disability Forum, an initiative of Consumer Protection held in August.

Lived Experience presentation

This forum, attended by people with disability and a wide range of government and non-government disability advocates, included a 40 minute presentation by lived experience team members of the Building Tenancy Skills Project which showcased the tenancy resources that have been codesigned through the Project. Shelter WA, in partnership with People with Disabilities WA, has worked alongside a group of people with lived experience of disability to create practical solutions to make renting fair for the 111,000 people with disability who rent their home in WA.

Creating accessible tenancy resources

Early on, it was identified there was a need for plain English materials to be fully accessible to all tenants, including those with a disability. To create these, co-designers took their “shopping lists” to service providers to explore the resources they already have on topics such as evictions, getting behind in your rent, self-advocacy, property modifications, the rights of tenants with disability and managing on a low-income. Co-design was undertaken with Circle Green, Developmental Disability WA and the Financial Counsellors Association of WA. Expert advice was also provided by REIWA, Community Housing Providers and other members of the Project Advisory Group.

The commitment by the Minister for Commence furthers the work to develop and deploy plain English materials as part of the operation of the Residential Tenancies Act.

“Many people struggle to understand the legal language of rental forms,” Project Manager Dr Donna Turner said.

“Information about tenant rights and responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act can be difficult to make sense of. With this commitment by the Minister to put rental forms and information into plain English and Easy Read, many more tenants will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of their rights and their responsibilities.”

Extra assistance helps all tenants

Minister for Disability Services, Hon. Don Punch MLA welcomed the assistance.

“Often people with disability are dealing with a variety of serious consumer and tenancy issues, so I welcome the focus on providing extra assistance to help them resolve problems and address their concerns,” the Minister said.

“I commend Consumer Protection for making this commitment and I look forward to seeing this program of action having a real and beneficial impact on people living with disability in WA.”

Building Tenancy Skills

In addition to the development of the resources Consumer Protection will expand the reach of Shelter WA’s Building Tenancy Skills program.

“Working with Consumer Protection, as well as tenancy advocacy service, Circle Green, has allowed the Building Tenancy Skills project to reach out and provide additional support to service providers who are currently swamped trying to support tenants at a difficult time,” Dr Turner said.

“This collaboration extends the reach of the project and we look forward to providing support to both tenants and services in order to lessen some of the negative impacts of the current tight rental market.

Residential Tenancies Act

“We remain involved in the review of the Residential Tenancies Act by working with Consumer Protection in relation to the need for greater clarity on the rights of tenants in National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funded living arrangements.

“This is an area of growth in living arrangements and the hope is that the legislation will be able to adapt in order to ensure that tenants in these arrangements are provided with adequate protections.”

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.
Visit www.dss.gov.au for more information.

For further information visit the Building Tenancy Skills Project page.