This is a sample for the HSC Legal Studies Shelter package by HSC Apps. Just click Download and it's all yours to do what you want with it! Order online from June 7th from www.hsclegalstudies.com/order. Even if you don't buy the package, please give this to your students in case it helps them understand how we now protect vulnerable boarders and lodgers in NSW.

1. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
BOARDERS
AND
LODGERS
OCCUPANCY
AGREEMENT
‘GUEST’
Has a non-exclusive right to occupy according
to a regular COMMON LAW contract
BoardersLodgers
In REGISTERED boarding houses
Occupy a room
+ meals and services
COMMON LAW + Consumer Claims Act 1998
+ the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) 2010
Boarding Houses Act 2012Boarding Houses Act 2012
CONTRACTUAL
LICENCE
‘RESIDENT’
Has basic rights according to the ‘occupancy
principles’ and has an occupancy agreement
BoardersLodgers
Occupy a room
In hotels, motels, private homes, share
houses, student accommodation, and
refuges and crisis accommodation

2. Leasing
-Protection for
tenants, landlords, boarders
and lodgers
‘Boarders’ and ‘Lodgers’ are like tenants (in that they
have a contract with a landlord for the right to
occupy premises), BUT their legal position is
different.
Some of these renters are amongst the most
vulnerable people in our community.
Boarders and Lodgers

3. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
PREVIOUS SYSTEM:
Until 2013, boarders and lodgers relied on regular common law
contracts (they didn’t have any special rights like tenants who rent – it
was more like the protection you’d get when you buy something from
a shop).
A lodger had a legal right to occupy premises, but not a right to
exclusive possession (the landlord kept control of the premises). The
landlord or a caretaker is usually physically present at the premises, so
they could set rules of conduct for anyone staying there.
‘Marginal Tenures’ in Australia
Parity Magazine, 2011
Boarders and Lodgers

4. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
PREVIOUS SYSTEM:
Boarders and lodgers weren’t covered by the RTA (or any special law
relating to boarders and lodgers).
They were only covered by regular common law and the Consumer
Claims Act 1998 and the Australian Consumer Law 2010).
They faced:
- eviction with little or no notice;
- rent increases with little or no notice;
- no effective way of resolving disputes
Boarders and Lodgers

5. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
PREVIOUS SYSTEM:
Boarders and Lodgers
‘Three reports from the NSW
Ombudsman have
highlighted the extent to
which boarding house
residents have been
exploited by dodgy
operators and forced to live
in filthy conditions.’
Crackdown on dodgy boarding houses, ABC News (2012)

6. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
LAW REFORM:
FINALLY, the NSW government saw
that this situation was unfair and
they passed the
Boarding Houses Act 2012
It includes new occupancy rights for
residents (but only for people in
registered boarding houses).
Boarders and Lodgers

7. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
Boarders and lodgers (in registered boarding
houses) now have special rights, like the rights
to:
- live in reasonably clean and secure accommodation
- know the rules of the boarding house before moving in
- 4 weeks' written notice of any rent increase
- KNOW: 1) why an occupancy may be terminated; and 2)
how much notice will be given before termination
- be given reasonable written notice of eviction
AND they’ll be able to enforce these rights at
the CTTT to enforce their housing rights (not like
before, where they could only go to the CTTT for
breach of a contract).
Boarders and Lodgers
More Protection for Boarding House Residents (SMH 2012)

8. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers Boarders and Lodgers
OCCUPANCY
AGREEMENT
‘GUEST’
Has a non-exclusive right to occupy according
to a regular COMMON LAW contract
BoardersLodgers
In REGISTERED boarding houses
Occupy a room
+ meals and services
COMMON LAW + Consumer Claims Act 1998
+ the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) 2010
Boarding Houses Act 2012Boarding Houses Act 2012
CONTRACTUAL
LICENCE
‘RESIDENT’
Has basic rights according to the ‘occupancy
principles’ and has an occupancy agreement
BoardersLodgers
Occupy a room
In hotels, motels, private homes, share
houses, student accommodation, and
refuges and crisis accommodation

9. Leasing
-Protection for
tenants, landlords, boarders
and lodgers
What about these people?
They are covered by the same laws that ALL boarders and
lodgers used to be covered by (before 2013).
1. Common law
2. The Consumer Claims Act 1998
3. The Australian Consumer Law 2010
Boarders and Lodgers
‘GUEST’
Has a non-exclusive right to occupy according
to a regular COMMON LAW contract
COMMON LAW + Consumer Claims Act 1998
+ the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) 2010CONTRACTUAL
LICENCE BoardersLodgers
In hotels, motels, private homes, share
houses, student accommodation, and
refuges and crisis accommodation
and

10. Leasing
-Protection for tenants,
landlords, boarders and
lodgers
A lodger’s legal right to occupy premises is called a ‘licence’.
Unlike an agreement under the RTA, a licence is a personal right and
does not give the renter a legal interest (i.e. ‘leasehold title’) in the
land, and therefore is not protected to the same extent.
The terms contained in a licence are limited to whatever the lodger and
landlord BARGAIN FOR (which means, in reality, that the terms are
decided by the landlord, because they have all the bargaining power).
Boarders and Lodgers
‘GUEST’
Has a non-exclusive right to occupy according
to a regular COMMON LAW contract
COMMON LAW + Consumer Claims Act 1998
+ the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) 2010CONTRACTUAL
LICENCE BoardersLodgers
In hotels, motels, private homes, share
houses, student accommodation, and
refuges and crisis accommodation
and