e-Bulletin | December 2018
Dislocation/Relocation: From Millers Point to Waterloo...
Residents across Sydney are facing upheaval and displacement in the face of public housing redevelopment. Our December e-Bulletin looks at the heartbreaking impact of redevelopment and relocation, highlighting community resistance and the work of RLC's Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice & Advocacy Service to support tenants.
Our observations are drawn from the experiences of our Millers Point Relocation Tenants' Advice Service, which advised every tenant evicted from Millers Point, and our new Waterloo Relocation Tenants' Service. Both these services were funded by City of Sydney.
Case study
Jan’s story: fractured community
Jan* was a public housing resident from Millers Point, whose family had lived in the area for generations. She was a passionate community advocate, always on the lookout for her neighbours, her friends, and the wider community.
Jan regularly attended community meetings and social groups. She was widely known in her community as a pillar of support for anyone experiencing problems or trouble of any kind.
When the social housing relocation program bulldozed its way through Millers Point, Jan saw immediately that it would do nothing but fracture and destroy the community she had worked so hard to protect and nurture all these years.
The dislocation and relocation of Jan's community wreaked havoc on people’s lives.
Moving residents to a ‘similar area’, or even within the same postcode did nothing to overcome the deep sense of grief and alienation the fractured community now faced.
Jan now lives in a new area, among a set of new houses. She has no community and no sense of purpose.
Jan, who had always been a vibrant person, now rarely leaves the house. Some days she struggles to get out of bed and her health has deteriorated. This is a sad and tragic outcome, both for Jan and her irrevocably fractured former community.
* Name and identifying details have been changed.
Working for Change
Waterloo redevelopment:
New RLC service
With the help of funding from the City of Sydney, Redfern Legal Centre has established an outreach service in the Waterloo community to provide legal advice to tenants.
Relocation/dislocation: The catastrophic loss of community
The Millers Point community was built up over generations and withstood many attempts at dispersal over the years, before being ripped apart by public housing redevelopment. Could this be happening again in Waterloo?
Public housing tenants fight for their place in the city
Public housing tenants in areas like Waterloo and Redfern are facing upheaval and uncertainty as a result of redevelopment projects. Residents say these projects are aimed squarely at pushing communities out of the city.
"To solve the city's housing crisis, they are picking on public housing tenants, those on the second rung of the housing ladder," Waterloo resident Karyn Brown says.
Local filmmakers reflect on public housing policy and community resistance
Two groundbreaking new Australian documentaries are exploring the impact of public housing redevelopment on local communities and the future of our city.
Sign the petition to restore support for Redfern and Waterloo tenant services
Redfern Waterloo tenants have been supported for over two decades by the FACS’ funded Housing Communities Program (HCP) a place-based community development project run from Counterpoint Community Services and a regional Tenants Participation Resource Service (TPRS) run from Inner Sydney Voice.
REDWatch is supporting Redfern and Waterloo public housing tenants who will lose the locally based tenant support services provided by Counterpoint Community Services (HCP) and Inner Sydney Voice (TPRS) that the community has benefited from over the last 23 years.
Petition the Head of Family and Community Services, Minister Goward and the NSW Premier over this loss of crucial services.
Position Paper: Residential Tenancies Amendment (Review) Bill 2018
RLC is calling for a better balancing of renters' and landlords' rights by ending no grounds and retaliatory evictions, and ensuring that share housing tenants without written agreements can access the same legal protections under the Act as other renters.
RLC's Inner Sydney Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service (ISTAAS) responds to the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and Amendment (Review) Bill 2018.
RLC in Hansard
Response to the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Review) Bill 2018
On 26 September, Mr Alex Greenwich MP delivered a powerful speech calling for an end to no-ground evictions, and highlighting the need for increased funding to tenants' advocacy services.
Mr Greenwich’s Second Reading speech on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Review) Bill 2018 referenced key points also raised in RLC’s position paper.
“Landlords will always have unchecked power over tenants if they can evict for no reason," Mr Greenwich said.
READ MORE>
Image: Wikipedia Commons
Modern Slavery Bill 2018
On 12 September, Mr Chris Hayes MP outlined his support for the Modern Slavery Bill 2018, citing RLC's submission to the 2017 Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia.
The bill, which was passed into law in 2018, will force approximately 3,000 Australian commercial organisations with a turnover of 100 million dollars or more to report on slavery in their global supply chains.
RLC In the Media
Tenancy reforms fail to address 'no grounds' eviction
Reforms introduced by NSW Government have failed to address 'no-grounds' terminations, leaving renters vulnerable to unfair evictions.
Speaking to City Hub, RLC Tenancy Coordinator, Nicole Kennedy explains why this will have dire consequences for people in social housing.
“Social housing is designed as a safety net for the most vulnerable tenants in our society," Nicole Kennedy said.
"When renters in these properties face sudden eviction, inevitably they are ejected straight into homelessness."
READ MORE>
Wage theft in Silence
A landmark study from UNSW and UTS has found endemic levels of underpayment among migrant workers, with fewer than one in ten taking action to recover unpaid wages.
RLC's Employment Solicitor Sharmilla Bargon speaks to The Sydney Morning Herald about the findings from the Wage Theft in Silence report.
LECC investigation into strip searches in NSW
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) is holding an inquiry in response to allegations that the New South Wales Police Force are abusing strip-search powers.
RLC's Police Powers solicitor, Sam Lee, speaks to ABC's The World Today about the sharp increase in police strip searches in NSW, describing a degrading incident involving a young woman strip-searched at a music festival.
RLC journal articles
Court of Conscience (Issue 12) – Community Legal Issues in Redfern
The 12th edition of UNSW Law Society’s social justice journal, Court of Conscience, considers a broad range of injustices affecting the Redfern community. The edition features a suite of articles from RLC staff and associates.
READ MORE>
Around the House (Issue 111) – Residential Tenancies Amendment: Mid-Tenancy Bond Demands
Nicole Kennedy and Kimberley McKenzie from RLC’s tenancy team unpack the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Social Housing) Bill.
Law Society of NSW Journal (Issue 50) – Changes to Australian Consumer Law
RLC's credit, debt and consumer law solicitor, Laura Bianchi discusses key amendments to the Australian Consumer Law Bill that will benefit vulnerable consumers.
Other News...
Fast-tracked adoption laws pass through NSW Parliament, despite widespread opposition
Controversial child protection laws have passed through the NSW Parliament, despite opposition from almost 80 CLCs and other organisations across the state.
The amendments will allow for forced adoptions in NSW, which experts warn will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, paving the way for another Stolen Generation.
2018 International Education Providers Forum
In November, RLC's international student solicitor Sean Stimson took part in the 2018 International Education Providers Forum at Sydney Town Hall. This year's forum focused on three broad areas: welcoming, wellbeing, and workforce issues.
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