General Updates
Legal Framework Review
The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is the industry regulator which administers the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA.) This legal instrument governs the residential tenancy framework in Western Australia.
The Department acknowledges that the current legislation does not address the substantial changes reflected in today’s economic, socio/cultural and demographic contexts.
As a result, the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA) is currently under review. In a bid to draft much-needed reforms to the legislation, the Department issued a comprehensive Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement in December 2019. This paper also contains compelling data about the industry standards of conduct such as –
- For the two financial years of 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2019, the Consumer Protection Division of the Department received approximately 3,114 complaints and 81,211 enquiries from tenants
- On average, there are more than 9,000 Form 12 applications lodged with Magistrates Court, annually, seeking orders for resolution of disputes (other than bonds issues) between tenants and their landlords or property management agencies.