Boarding House Act 2012 Parliamentary review
BOARDING HOUSES

In October 2012, the Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) passed the Boarding Houses Act 2012 (NSW), as a central part of its bid to strengthen and regulate boarding houses in NSW. In 2019 a review board collected feedback about the boarding house sector and the influence the 2012 Act has had upon it, with the intention that the feedback be used in a report that will be put before the NSW Parliament in 2020. This Boarding House Act review paper will put forward recommendations for reform of the Act.

Newtown Neighbourhood Centre was a partner in a five year evaluation study of the Act with  two Universities- initially, the University of Western Sydney, and subsequently the Australian Catholic University.  The Evaluation study project objectives were to:

• assess the effect of the Act on the well-being of residents of boarding houses;
• assess whether the rights of residents are better protected;
• determine the effect of the Act on the sustainability of the boarding house sector;  and
• determine levels of collaboration between departments, agencies and community organisations that work with the boarding house sector.

The final phase of the evaluation was undertaken and was published in early 2018. The findings from this report directed and influenced submissions made to the review board in October 2019.

To learn about the Act, there is a detailed guide in the form of a Discussion Paper in the right column. The Easy English Discussion Paper covers the same material, in an easier-to-access format. Both of these papers provide points that are intended to stimulate discussion and ideas. 

Feedback and Suggestions
The period for feedback and suggestions on the Act closed on October 8th 2019, and in 2020 the final report, influenced by the feedback received prior to this, will be presented to the NSW Parliament.

Boarding Houses Act Review Discussion Paper

Boarding Houses Act Review Discussion Paper (Easy English)

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For further reading

Shelter NSW - Boarding Houses Report,​ July 2019

Boarding Houses Research Report 2019

Final Report on the Boarding Houses Evaluation Project 

Boarding House Evaluation Project Final Report

​Please contact us on 9509 1800 or admin@newtowncentre.org