The State Government is tightening rules for public housing which could see some tenants paying up to an extra $7.50 a week in rent.
Housing Minister Tim Mander said than since 2005 public housing tenants had been required to pay 25 per cent of their assessable household income in rent.
However, he said some “bizarre rules” introduced by the former Labor Government determined that certain kinds of income weren’t really income.
Under the old rules, payments like Family Tax Benefit Part A or child support payments were assessed at 15 per cent, instead of the full 25 per cent. Other payments, like Family Tax Benefit Part B and the Large Family Supplement were not assessed at all.
Mr Mander said the old rules were “completely unfair” because they meant tenants paid different rates of rent depending on where their income came from.
“On one hand we had people receiving hundreds of dollars each week off the books, and on the other we had people on the Aged Pension or singles working low-income jobs who weren’t getting the same privilege,” he said.
“On top of that it was costing around $100 million on foregone rent, money that should be going back into public housing to revitalise frontline services and help more families.”
Mr Mander said under the new rules, everyone would have their rent calculated in the same way.
“At the end of the day, income is income, and we need to make sure the system is fair for everyone,” he said.
Tenants will still pay no more than 25 per cent of income in rent and a cap of $7.50 per week will be placed on any rental increase as a result of the new policy to ensure tenants don’t get a nasty surprise at their next rent review.
“While there are people out there who are paying significantly less than they would be if they were paying the full 25 per cent, we know that any change will have to be managed carefully so people have time to adjust,” Mr Mander said.
