South Australia Announces Plans To Amend Tenancy Laws To Assist Domestic Violence Victims
Wednesday 22 April 2015 @ 9.54 a.m. | Legal Research
The South Australian State Government has announced that it will make changes to tenancy laws to assist victims of domestic violence. Minister for the Status of Women, Gail Gago, released a statement last week saying that Cabinet had approved the drafting of a number of reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA). Ms Gago said:
“I want to ensure victims are not subject to ongoing undue hardship - whether financially or by having to deal with the perpetrator on matters such as lease arrangements and finalising bond.
Last year, the Premier released Taking a Stand – Responding to Domestic Violence. Since then, the State Government has embarked on a series of initiatives to address domestic violence in our community. To build on these initiatives we are now seeking to strengthen the level of protection afforded to victims of domestic violence in the tenancy sector.
One in six Australian women has experienced physical or sexual assault at the hand of a current or former partner. For more than 60 per cent of women who had experienced physical assault by a male perpetrator, the most recent incident was in their home.”
The proposed amendments would allow:
- Domestic violence victims who leave a property to have their name removed from a joint lease without the consent of the other party
- Victims to be protected from having to pay for property damage caused by the perpetrator of violence
- Personal information of tenants to be removed from a listing on a Residential Tenancy Database where domestic violence has occurred
- The Residential Tenancies Tribunal to make an order for compensation against a single tenant in a co-tenancy – effectively “splitting the bond”
- The Tribunal to have the power to terminate a tenancy and make a new tenancy agreement.
Ms Gago also noted that it was important that landlords maintained their rights and supported the proposals, saying the Government would “want to avoid situations where people can make false claims to avoid a rental agreement”.
News.com.au reported that “[l]andlords and property owners generally supported the moves when they were initially floated last year.”
The changes are the latest in a series of reforms the South Australian Government is undertaking that spring from the “Taking a Stand” report. The Government has already announced the establishment of a Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service and enhanced domestic violence training programs for police.
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