Older Persons Tenants Service

Tenants services existed as early as 1910 when the New South Wales Rent Payers Association acted as advocates for tenants in early cases before the Fair Rents Court.

Contemporary tenants' services only appeared in the 1970s due to the fillip provided by the Commission of Inquiry into Poverty. It recognised that landlord and tenant legislation was in many respects unfair to tenants, particularly the poor and disadvantaged. The Tenants' Union of NSW emerged in 1976 and has played a crucial role in lobbying for tenants. From its establishment it built up a network of tenants' services, initially relying on volunteers.

In 1986 the NSW Department of Housing funded a Housing Information and Tenancy Services (HITS) Program. Under this program Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association of NSW Inc. (CPSA) received funding for a Tenancy & Housing Information Unit. CPSA was founded in 1931. It is a non-profit, non-party-political association and strives for a fair deal for pensioners of all ages, superannuants and low income retirees within a fair and just society. The HITS Program has become the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Program (TAAP), now administered through the NSW Office of Fair Trading. The Tenancy & Housing Information Unit is now called 'Older Persons Tenants Service'.

The need for tenants' services is as great now as it was in 1910, as tenants get pushed from pillar to post, with a shrinking private rental market and landlords extracting very high rents. 'Affordability' and 'housing stress' are now words in our lexicon. Older persons, especially those in the private rental market, often are the most vulnerable.

What we do

What does Older Persons Tenants, Service do? Our staff provides a free service that:

• provides a case work service to persons 55 years and older, and all protected tenants;
• makes appropriate referrals, where appropriate;
• provides community education to older people on tenancy issues, including producing articles for 'THE VOICE of Pensioners and Superannuants of NSW' and other publications;
• provides advice and support to tenants' services and other service providers;
• runs workshops and training for tenants' services and other service providers on protected tenancy issues and general tenancy issues affecting older people;
• develops and distributes resources to tenants' services and other service providers, including fact sheets on protected tenancies and other useful resources.
• provides policy advice on protected tenancy issues and general tenancy issues affecting older people.