Every human being has the inalienable right to live in safety and with dignity.

I am 38 years old, signed my first lease at 17 and currently live in my 10th rental home. In 21 years I have only had one landlord that took the maintenance and safety of my home seriously. As a renter, my house might be a landlords investment, but it is mine, my partner’s and my three children’s home. Home is a place that should be safe and support the thriving of its occupants. Our current rental is an approximately 50 year old house that got a good lick of paint and some cosmetic attention to be put on the rental market. The first day we moved in, we realised that every single window had been painted shut, after our range hood failed to extract smoke from cooking due to it not working and us trying to get air into the house. Our first energy bill stunned us. Double our last property in the same suburb. With gas cooking and water, and only one air conditioner in a 4 bedroom home (with 2 of the rooms vacant during the school week), how was our electricity bill $700 a quarter? We were told by our energy provider that ‘it’s not our fault, probably just old dodgy wiring in the house’. 6 months in we experienced mould that saw us throw out infested belongings, holes in our roofing that led to swelling and peeling of paint (birds made a home in there!), gaps in our flooring that show through to the outside, leaking plumbing, broken lighting, windows that can’t stay open, and steps with no safety railings.

All of which i was not able to assess in the 5 minute walk through inspection we were afforded prior to application.

I have often asked myself as a renter: ‘would my landlord live here with their family?’ And while I cannot answer that, I suspect that the answer would be ‘no’.

As good tenants, we pay our rent, are subject to frequent rent increases ($100 for us in 18 months), go through rigorous checks and inspections to prove we are worthy to live in substandard, unsafe, energy in efficient homes.

We live in these conditions out of fear that we may not have a next rental home to go to. With limited options, an over saturated and competitive tenant market, a fear of being ‘black listed’ by our agents for being troublesome and the reality that as a renter, you feel you need to live with the fact that substandard housing is part of the deal; ‘if you’re desperate you’ll live with it, right?’.

Renters deserve better.

Renters deserve healthy homes to live and thrive in.

Renters deserve for their commitment to paying their rent to be met with a commitment to supplying and maintaining homes that are safe and energy efficient.

We work bloody hard to pay our rent. For my family, it’s 40% of our income.

We are paying the equivalent of a mortgage but being treated like bottom feeders with no voice and no respect.

Not. Good. Enough.

Renters under occupancy agreements deserve rights too. Students shouldn’t have to put up with no means of cooling a 29 degree plus apartment that stays hot into the night even when the outdoor air cools. It causes headaches, disrupts sleep, disrupts study, disrupts work, disrupts life. Occupancy agreements currently offer occupants no right to a safe or healthy living environment, this needs to change.

Everyone deserves a healthy home. It’s ridiculous to think in this country people are living in sub standard conditions. There should be more regulation

My rental has been over 30’C every night for 5 months, with temperatures in bedroom (fibro walls & tin roof) reaching 50’C + daily between November and March. Heat fatigue illness.

My neighbour smokes so I cannot open my windows. My bedroom has western and northern walls. NDIS refused my application for Airconditioning because I rent. I suffer medical conditions from heat exhaustion and literally am driven out of the building as it’s like an oven. I rent from DOH and I need a heat monitor to prove this crisis.