Relief for renters amid coronavirus crisis: How to get help

The government has unveiled new measures aimed at helping Aussie renters struggling through the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a series of principles had been agreed upon at the latest national cabinet meeting, in a bid to manage the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis. The announcement will provide much-needed relief for thousands of Australians who have recently lost their job as a result of the unfolding disaster.

“States and Territories will be moving to put a moratorium on evictions of persons as a result of financial distress if they are unable to meet their commitments and so there would be a moratorium on evictions for the next six months,” he told a press conference. “We will be engaging with business and landlords and banks over the next couple of days to seek to get even stronger provisions in place.”

The prime minister advised landlords to work with their tenants and banks immediately to find a solution.

“There is a lot of work to be done here and my message to tenants, particularly commercial tenants, it’s a very straightforward one,” he said. “We need you to sit down, talk to each other and work this out.”

Admitting that the country was in “unchartered territory”, the prime minister also said: “The goal should be shared and that is a business can reopen on the other side, not weighed down by excessive debts because of rental arrears, a landlord has a tenant so that they can continue into the future to be able to support the investments that they have made and banks have clients”.

While Morrison said that the new measures were set to last for at least six months, more details will be announced in coming days on how the measures will function. “We will be engaging with business and landlords and banks over the next couple of days to get even stronger provisions in place so they can all sit down and get this sorted,” the prime minister said.

Addressing the issue this week, Adrian Kelly, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), said the body was working with financial institutions to ensure tenants who have been affected by the crisis would be taken care of.

“On behalf of the real estate industry I would like to communicate to our tenants that we absolutely understand the stress and anxiety that you may be feeling at this time,” he said. “We have a responsibility and a duty of care to look after the interests of both our tenants and also that of our property owners.

“We know many of our tenants live from paycheque to paycheque and this is particularly the case at the lower end of the market. With this in mind, I am in the process of writing to the larger banks and financial institutions to make them aware of these imminent situations.”