South West Sydney Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service (SWSTAAS) provides advice to tenants, duty advocacy in the Tribunal, and community education to frontline workers as well as tenants. Also, as appropriate, SWSTAAS provides advocacy referral, and representation in the Tribunal - conciliation and/or formal hearing. We also engage in systemic advocacy work and participate in policy and law reform work concerning housing law in general.
We’ve been fighting for decades to strengthen renters' rights by changing law in NSW. Now it's finally happening. The reforms cap rent increases at once yearly, will end no-grounds evictions and make it easier to have pets in your home. Find out more...
If you rent part of a house or unit from another tenant, it is very important that you have a separate written agreement with your head-tenant. Without a written agreement, you will not have the…
The Tenants' Union was invited to comment on FACS Housing’s Tenancy Bonds for Public Housing Policy and Operational Framework (Draft for consultation). We raised four objections.
The public housing tenants at Todd and Bent Street have been working hard to create a vibrant community and a luscious community garden. Thanks to their love and care, a permaculture garden now…
Julie Foreman, Tenants' Union of NSW Executive Officer reflects on the TU's 40 years of working for tenants rights and housing justice. She introduces a compilation of stories which…
At the launch of the Tenants' Union 40th anniversary celebrations at the Northcott estate in Surry Hills in February 2016, we asked the three Members of Parliament who attended about their…
Carol Carter is an Aboriginal woman living in public housing in Bankstown in Sydney. In September 2014, Carol received a letter from the Department of Housing in relation to relocating her to…
My family and I had been living in our place for three years. It wasn’t a a bad property – there’s a nice view over Budgewoi Lake (although the lake can get a bit smelly!). Then there was a…
Firstly, to introduce us, I am Carol (on the left in the picture) and my sister is Vivian (on the right). We are social housing residents living in Riverwood and have lived here since 1984.…
In 1990 I bought a manufactured home in a residential park (now called a ‘residential community’). I knew there was an element of risk in using my meagre retirement funds to become the owner of…
Sharon Callaghan, former Tenant Advocate in the Illawarra, reflects on the fight for tenants' rights in the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 1980s Sharon was a community worker at the…
Home means security for me – this is where I feel safe. My home is like my castle, even though it's one room at the back of my landlord's house. I also like to go out, but I value my…
