The Victorian government is set to extend the ban on evictions until early next year, creating the longest-ever moratorium on evictions in Australia.
The ban was first introduced in back in April to stop renters being thrown out during the pandemic, and was later extended to December.
Today, Consumer Affairs Minister Melissa Horne introduced legislation to once again extend the moratorium on evictions until at least March 28, and possibly even further to April 26 if need be.
“Unfortunately, we are not yet out of the woods,” Horne said in state parliament.
“In light of the ongoing challenges, this Bill extends some of these temporary support measures for a period of up to a further six months.
“The measures to be extended by this Bill are the support measures for tenants and landlords – both residential and commercial – which include a moratorium on evictions, a freeze on rent increases and government-supported dispute resolution mechanisms.”
Jennifer Beveridge, chief executive of renters’ rights group Tenants Victoria, said the extension was much-needed relief.
“It’s a recognition by the state government of the intense pressures tenants are facing in Victoria with compounding issues of a national recession and the impact of hard lockdowns in Melbourne,” she told Domain.
“We know renters are over-represented in vulnerable economic sectors such as tourism, retail and hospitality.
“They need the continued protections in a very complex scenario in our state with the continuing health threat from COVID-19.”
So there’s some good news for renters in Victoria. The only downside is that these measures are temporary, meaning they could very likely be scrapped as soon as the pandemic is over.
Fingers crossed the momentum isn’t lost.
