Perth Voice Interactive

We’re driving evictions down

I REFER to an advertisement in last week’s Herald, by independent candidate Kate Hulett promoting her policy on housing.

I want to put on the public record and with respect, there are a number of inaccuracies being peddled by Ms Hulett and it is important to correct them.

The assertion that ‘… state government… evicts hundreds of families every year without reason’ is false.

Given the current housing market, the Department of Communities does what it can to keep people within their tenancies, where appropriate, and unlike the previous Liberal-National government, we have driven evictions from public housing down.

In fact, the previous Liberal-National government had more than 300 bailiff evictions. To put in context, under our Government, in 2021-22 there were just 43 bailiff evictions, 2022-23, 47 and 2023-24, 44.

Clearly, the candidate’s claims are uninformed, at best.

Where a tenant is at risk of eviction, Communities will increase their contact with the client and link them with relevant support services to help address the issues impacting their tenancy and, in most cases, people remedy the issues impacting their tenancy.

Eviction is always a last resort. 

The department works with tenants to ensure they are given every opportunity to rectify the issues impacting on their tenancy. 

This includes making appropriate referrals to supports and programs such as Thrive, which provides support to public housing clients.

In most cases, where engagement occurs, clients can remedy their termination notice. 

Communities works with a range of services and supports including mental health services, community legal centres, Aboriginal medical services, disability support providers, and domestic violence support services to support tenants.

Termination action, including following the non-renewal of fixed term tenancies, is considered a measure of last resort, only to be taken when all other efforts to preserve the tenancy have failed.

‘Without grounds’ is a limited legal term and it does not mean there are not substantiated reasons for eviction. 

Without grounds terminations are rarely issued and are often the outcome of significant community safety concerns and where the tenant has failed to address or remedy these issues.

It is important to note, a decision to terminate a tenancy agreement ultimately sits with the magistrate, who will only grant an order for eviction if satisfied that there has been a breach of the tenancy agreement, and that the tenant has been given every opportunity to rectify the breach and has failed to do so.

Evictions from public housing have reduced substantially under our government, however sometimes despite all engagement and supports provided, termination action has to be undertaken to ensure the safety of the community, especially adjoining neighbours.

John Carey
Minister for Housing