High Court strikes down remote NT public housing rent rises
Laramba residents Asher Badari, Ricane Galaminda and Lofty Nadjamerrek, along with Carmelena Tilmouth from Gunbalanya, took the fight all the way to Australia's highest court. (ABC News: Isaac Nowroozi)
In short:
A controversial Northern Territory remote rent policy that led to some residents facing hikes in the hundreds of dollars has been struck out by the High Court.
The successful appeal follows earlier wins for the government in the NT Supreme Court, after four Gunbalanya and Laramba residents challenged the scheme.
What's next?
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the NT government should stop collecting rent under the policy and "consult with tenants about developing some alternative".
Four public housing tenants in remote Northern Territory communities have successfully overturned a controversial government rent policy in an appeal to the High Court.
Gunbalanya and Laramba residents Asher Badari, Ricane Galaminda, Lofty Nadjamerrek and Carmelena Tilmouth previously launched unsuccessful Supreme Court challenges to the NT's Remote Rent Framework (RRF), arguing they were not given the opportunity to be heard on how the policy would affect them.
But on Wednesday the High Court overturned the earlier rulings on appeal.
In 2023, the NT's then-Labor government began calculating rent for thousands of remote tenants based on the number of bedrooms in each house, rather than by the standard income test applied to renters in urban areas.
Renters in Gunbalanya argued they should have been able to have a say on the policy that affected them differently to other public housing tenants. (ABC News: Margaret Burin)
Remote tenants were told that regardless of their home's actual occupancy rate, condition, or proximity to essential services, they would be charged a weekly fee of $70 per bedroom.
Some residents faced rent hikes of up to $300 a fortnight under the scheme, with a report finding 80 per cent of public housing tenants in Central Australia would experience rent increases.
In Wednesday's decision, five High Court judges unanimously sided with the plaintiffs, who argued they should have been given an opportunity to provide input on the policy.
"Not only did the [rent] determinations substantially affect the tenants in a way that was different from the public at large, they also affected each tenant differently from each other," the court found.
"The appellants here could have had something to say about the per bedroom rent fixed in each determination, the timing of the introduction of the new model, whether their communities should or should not have been included, and the future application of the safety net.
"Submissions received in relation to these topics could realistically have affected the reasoning of the [department] and thus influenced the content of each determination, and the timing of each determination's application."
'Back to the drawing board'
Solicitor Dan Kelly, who represented the group of plaintiffs, said the NT government would "need to reconsider its position" on the RRF and "consult with tenants about developing some alternative".
"They shouldn't be collecting rents under these determinations — they need to go back to the drawing board and consult with tenants," he said.
"That's a call the Northern Territory will have to make on the next day rent is payable."
The small Indigenous community of Laramba, which was subject to the remote rent policy, has limited access to essential services. (ABC News: Chris Taylor)
Mr Kelly said the decision meant tenants had overpaid up to $9.7 million a year, while "the rent records that the territory holds are really in disarray".
"There will, we say, need to be some sort of accounting exercise to rectify that over-collection of rent," he said.
"They've previously had to wipe off millions in rent debt that couldn't be supported by the records, and there needs to be wholesale accounting of what's going on with rent in the Northern Territory."
Aboriginal Housing NT chief executive Leeanne Caton welcomed the court's ruling and called on the government to abandon the RRF in favour of an evidence-based model.
Ms Caton said it it was "always unrealistic" to expect disadvantaged remote residents "who are already experiencing some of the highest costs of living nationally" to pay higher rents.
Gunbalanya, in West Arnhem Land, is a four-hour drive from Katherine. (ABC News: Sara Everingham)
"Aboriginal tenants and households in remote communities are already being forced to pay inconceivably high prices for basic goods, essential groceries, fuel and standard day-to-day items," she said.
NT Housing Minister Steve Edgington said the government acknowledged the decision, while maintaining that "all public housing tenants, remote and urban, are still required to pay rent".
"The Northern Territory government is considering options to ensure a valid rental framework is in place for remote tenants," he said.