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Staff Reporter
The NSW Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) has taken over agricultural tenancy disputes from the state Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
New legislation, announced by NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts, should give people an improved, lower cost and easy to access dispute resolution service.
“The CTTT has 10 years of experience in dealing with residential tenancy disputes and in the past year has helped 100,000 tenants and landlords resolve disputes. It is therefore well placed to offer a great service to the agricultural sector,” Mr Roberts said.
Agricultural tenancy disputes often involve conflicting views about the use of and access to property, compensation, rent and the termination of a tenancy.
“From today, landowners, tenants and sharefarmers can lodge their application at a CTTT Registry or at any one of the NSW Government’s one stop shops around the state,” he said. “The new process reduces the costs for parties to a dispute and will be faster and more accessible in rural and regional areas.”
The DPI will provide the Tribunal with assistance and expert advice on technical agricultural matters.
CEO of the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, Andy Madigan, welcomed the new arrangements.
“This make good sense and will give farmers an effective avenue for speedy resolution when problems arise,” he said.
NSW Farmers’ Association President Fiona Simson welcomed the transfer of responsibilities for agricultural tenancy disputes from the DPI to the CTTT.
“This will provide farmers with a cheaper resolution process,” she said. “We are also pleased there is a Memorandum of Understanding between the DPI and the CTTT setting out the liaison role to ensure access to expertise and knowledge of agricultural tenancy disputes.”
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