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The program is set to receive funding beginning on 1 July 2024.
Details contained in the application guidelines for service providers who are bidding to establish South Australia’s new tenant advice service provides insight into what the government is aiming to achieve with the new program.
The state’s Consumer and Business Services (CBS) department has said that it is open to proposals that include, but are not limited to, a program that contains the following purposes:
- Educating and informing tenants.
- Advising and supporting tenants to resolve tenancy issues.
- Assisting tenants with completing tenancy forms or drafting tenancy-related letters.
- Supporting tenants at hearings before the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
- Providing a financial counselling service for tenants with low financial literacy.
- Undertaking policy development and advocacy.
The service should also be equipped to deal with residents who rent in residential parks, CBS noted.
Mandatory requirements include the hiring of a full-time qualified and accredited financial counsellor to assist tenants and residents who are in dispute with their landlord or who require financial literacy education.
The service must also provide access to at least one full-time advocate to represent tenants and residents with disputes and who are unable to advocate on their own behalf. An advocate must also be available on a full-time basis to assist at the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Additional staff or volunteers are also required to be able to respond to tenant and resident queries within one business day for assistance in completing forms or drafting tenancy-related letters.
The state is seeking applications from organisations that are either existing or service providers in the state or new entities, and it will accept proposals from two entities working in conjunction.
The successful applicant will be provided with a grant of $350,000 each year for four years to use in the development and implementation of the service, with total funding equating to $1.4 million.
Applications are set to be assessed by a panel of representatives from the Attorney-General’s department, with the ultimate decision to approve a successful applicant falling to the panel and the state’s commissioner for consumer affairs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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