- Published:
- Thursday 10 December 2015
All rooming house operators in Victoria will have to pass a ‘fit and proper person’ test under new Bill introduced in Parliament this week.
The Minister for Consumer Affairs Jane Garrett said the legislation would better protect vulnerable tenants by ensuring dodgy operators were not granted licences.
A rooming house is a building where one or more rooms are available to rent and has four or more tenants. Currently, there are no restrictions on who can and cannot operate a rooming house.
The Rooming House Operators Bill 2015 means all operators, new and existing, will be required to demonstrate they are a fit and proper person in order to obtain a licence.
Applicants will not be granted a licence if they have been convicted of serious crimes in the past ten years. These include offences relating to violence, dishonesty, drug trafficking, sexual or child pornography crimes.
An applicant will also be refused if have been bankrupt or insolvent in the past decade or if a court has found they breached rooming house laws in the past five years.
The Business Licensing Authority (BLA) will be responsible for issuing licenses to rooming house operators and Consumer Affairs Victoria will regulate the enforcement of the new laws.
It will be an offence to operate a rooming house without a licence and any unlicensed operators will face harsh penalties of up to $36,000 for individuals or $180,000 for body corporates.
The law will protect vulnerable tenants from being exploited by rogue operators using bullying or harassing tactics. It will also help to stamp out operators who try to charge excessive rent, overcrowd rooms or do not meeting basic hygienic, safety or security standards.
The ‘fit and proper person test’ forms part of the Andrews Labor Government’s Plan for Fairer, Safer Housing.
The Government has also ramped up the number of inspections at registered rooming houses to 1,100 in 2015-16 to ensure they meet basic standards of living, such as adequate security, privacy and safety.
Quotes attributable to Consumer Affairs Minister Jane Garrett
“The Andrews Labor Government is strengthening the legislation for rooming house operators to protect residents.”
“In a Victorian first, people who operate rooming houses will need to pass a 'fit and proper person test' before they can get a licence to run these properties."
“Rooming house residents are some of the most vulnerable members of our community and they deserve to feel safe and secure where they live.”