Reduce homelessness and provide better protections for renters.
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4,696
Tasmanians are on the priority social housing wait list. Source: Home Tasmania, Housing Dashboard (January 2024)
TasCOSS’s election asks:
- Limit rent increases and restrict whole-homes being added to short-stay accommodation in local government areas where rental vacancy rates are below Homes Tasmania’s ‘sustainable vacancy rate’ of 3%.^
- Commit to reducing homelessness by 50% within five years and ending homelessness in ten years.*
- Immediate end to no-grounds evictions and commence a review of the Residential Tenancy Act in 2024.
^ “A sustainable vacancy rate of around 3% in the private rental market will help to stabilise rents and ultimately reduce pressure on household budgets.” Homes Tasmania, Tasmania’s Housing Strategy, p. 30.
* Ending homelessness = ensuring episodes of homelessness are rare, brief and non-recurring.
The information in the table below is gleaned from candidate and party responses and policy announcements during the campaign. Neither the Liberal or Labor parties chose to formerly respond to TasCOSS’s election platform, however we conducted our own analysis of their publicly available policies. Our election tracker is provided as a guide to inform members, and we encourage you to undertake your own research on candidate and party policy positions. All candidate and party responses received are available in full here:
- Tasmanian Greens
- Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN)
- Kristie Johnston MP (IND, Clark)
- David O’Byrne MP (IND, Franklin)
- John Tucker MP (IND, Lyons)
- Sue Hickey (IND, Clark)
- Tamar Cordover (IND, Franklin)
- Greg (Tubby) Quinn (IND, Bass)
| Policy Area | Key Announcement(s) | Source/Further Information |
|---|---|---|
| Limit rent increases | Liberal — No action Labor — No action Greens — Rent control laws modelled on the ACT (set a threshold of CPI + CPI/10, over which the onus is on landlords to prove the rent is reasonable) Kristie Johnston — Supports limiting rent increases | Liberal policy announcements Labor policy announcements Greens policy TasCOSS election platform responses |
| Restrict whole-homes being added to short-stay in areas of low rental vacancy | Liberal — No action Labor — Immediately pause the conversion of whole-homes into shorty-stay accommodation Greens — An immediate stop to new whole-home short-stay rentals Kristie Johnston — Supports restricting whole-homes being added to short-stay accommodation in areas of low rental vacancy David O’Byrne — Supports a short-stay accommodation levy with revenues directed to homelessness and crisis accommodation services | Liberal policy announcements Labor policy Greens policy TasCOSS election platform responses |
| Commit to five and ten year homelessness targets | Liberal — No targets announced Labor — No targets announced Greens — No targets announced Kristie Johnston — Supports targets of reducing homelessness by 50% within five years and ending homelessness in ten years | Liberal policy announcements Labor policy announcements Greens policy announcements TasCOSS election platform responses |
| End no-grounds evictions and immediate review of Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) | Liberal — No action on ending no-grounds evictions; no immediate review of RTA, but will amend to allow for pets Labor — Require genuine grounds for eviction; no immediate review of RTA announced, but will allow renters to hang pictures, plant veggie gardens, affix furniture to the walls for safety, put in child safety gates and mobility aids, have pets, carry over bonds from one rental to another, and make applying for rentals easier without losing privacy Greens — Remove provisions allowing tenants to be evicted solely on grounds of lease expiration; no review of RTA announced, but will allow pets, minor modifications, and introduce standard forms and tenancy agreements Kristie Johnston — Supports ending no-grounds evictions; supports an immediate review of the RTA David O’Byrne — Supports measures to end no-grounds evictions; supports an immediate review of the RTA Tamar Cordover — Supports renters’ rights; supports an immediate review of the RTA | Liberal policy Labor policy Greens policy TasCOSS election platform responses |
Check out a rundown of commitments in a different policy area: