29 June 2023
A Greens motion calling on the State Government to release the outcome of the public consultation and review of the Residential Tenancies Act that occurred last year has passed the Upper House today.
“We know that the Government received more than 5000 survey responses and over 150 written submissions, but when the Government introduced its bill to reform aspects of the Residential Tenancies Act into the Parliament for consideration last month, MPs didn’t even have the benefit of seeing the submissions that informed the bill or any report on the review’s findings”, said Greens SA Housing Spokesperson Robert Simms MLC.
“The State Government has a responsibility to be transparent about the feedback it receives so that the Parliament can understand the perspectives of the community. It’s disappointing that a motion like this is necessary to push the State Government to publish this information about the impacts of the rental crisis. Renters have been consistently overlooked by State Governments and their voices deserve to be heard”, he said.
The Greens moved a series of amendments to the Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, including to scrap no cause evictions, establish a presumption in favour of renting with pets, and establish a new independent advocate for renters.