One Strike, Three Strikes: Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in NSW Public Housing

Abstract

In October 2015, following an election promise by the NSW Coalition government to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour in public housing, the NSW Parliament passed the Residential Tenancies and Housing Legislation Amendment (Public Housing – Antisocial Behaviour) Act 2015 (NSW) (‘the PHAB amendments’). The main purpose of the PHAB amendments is to effect schemes for terminating social housing tenancies upon ‘three strikes’ (three instances of breach of the tenant’s obligations under their tenancy agreement) or ‘one strike’ (a single instance of serious criminal offending).

The PHAB amendments operate on the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which hears and determines termination proceedings under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) (‘the RT Act’), by restricting the Tribunal from considering certain factors and, in certain circumstances, mandatorily requiring it to make termination orders.

While ‘one strike’ and ‘three strikes’ slogans indicate a simplistic concept of justice, the schemes introduced by the PHAB amendments are complex. A review of the details of each scheme and past cases indicates that justice would be better done by allowing the Tribunal the discretion to treat each case according to its merits, than by devising complicated schemes that attempt to pre-empt and prescribe every response.

Keywords: Public Housing, Tenancy Law, Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime, New South Wales