Tenants Victoria has responded to the call by the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System to make a submission on the interactions between homelessness, tenancy and mental health. The Commission has asked interested parties to make their submissions by providing answers to a series of questions. Tenants Victoria has confined our submission to partial answers to three questions: What makes it hard for people to experience good mental health and what can be done

The Board of Tenants Victoria is delighted to announce the appointment of Jennifer Beveridge as its new Chief Executive Officer. Jennifer comes to Tenants Victoria from Eating Disorders Victoria where she was CEO from 2012. She has extensive not for profit leadership experience including in the health, youth and community development areas. In 2016 her achievements and experience were recognised with the award of a Churchill Fellowship to explore how innovation and collaboration improve outcomes

For many people, water just comes out of a tap on demand and we don’t give it any thought. But what about houses that rely on tank water? After 30 years under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (‘the Act’), we are entitled to expect that all the issues between landlords and tenants have been litigated, the law is settled and it’s all cut and dried. Sadly, now that many regional areas of Victoria are facing

The Director of Housing is reviewing market rate rents for public housing properties. If you have received a letter and a Notice of Rent Increase from the Director of Housing, you can ask Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) to assess the increase if you think it is too high. This is a free service. Tenants Victoria recommends you do this even if your rent is currently rebated as you might be required to pay the market

The State Government has responded to questions about the $185 million redevelopment of public housing properties underway in metropolitan Melbourne. The Public Housing Renewal Program announced in December 2016, will redevelop 1100 low-rise properties on nine sites in Brunswick, North Melbourne, Heidelberg West, Clifton Hill, Brighton, Prahran, Hawthorn, Northcote and Ascot Vale. Under the scheme replacement housing will be a mix of apartments and townhouses with improved energy efficiency and an increase of at least