Teacher housing – the basics
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 1, 14 February 2025, page no 14.
As you begin or continue tenancy in teacher housing, it is important to be mindful of your rights, responsibilities, and where you can find information and support.
The provision of teacher housing is a state government commitment to rural and remote Queensland to ensure schools are staffed by a capable teacher workforce. It is covered by the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2008-073), and since September 2023, minimum housing standards have applied, ensuring safe, secure and functional properties.
The property should be free from mould. If it is present, report it and ask for it to be remedied, don’t just accept it. As an ongoing tenant, if mould is regularly growing (and not caused by your actions) then it remains the responsibility of the lessor to manage. The legislation states (www.rta.qld.gov.au/during-a-tenancy/maintenance-and-repairs/emergency-repairs) that repairs required to make the property minimum standard compliant are emergency repairs and need to follow the emergency repair process.
Members with teacher housing issues should contact their local accommodation officer (LAO) or elected local accommodation committee (LAC) representative in the first instance. If further advice, assistance or support is required, members can contact the QTU’s Queensland Teachers’ Assist Desk (QTAD) (www.qtu.asn.au/seek-advice).
The department’s “Managing teacher housing in your location” guide, developed to support LACs, can and should be accessed by anyone in or managing teacher housing, as it explains the processes associated with being a tenant. The department plans to review the policy and procedure in 2025. Until then, please note that in some cases they may not appropriately capture changes to the act, especially those concerning pets and the minimum standards.
Forming/renewing the LAC
The local accommodation committee (LAC) is an elected committee, mainly comprised of tenants, charged with the local management of teacher housing. The LAC should reflect the characteristics of its tenants and be of a manageable size, while minimising the time and workload impact of performing these voluntary roles. Each year, as per the Teacher Housing Procedure, a principal, LAO or QTU Rep should call for a general meeting to consider the composition of the new LAC and then call for elections. The QTU recommends that at least one member of the LAC is a Union Rep, as supported in the procedure.
The elected LAO and the committee members are volunteers who take on the role in addition to their school-based work. LACs have extremely limited funded LAC administration assistant (LACAA) time. While generally very knowledgeable, LAC-AAs are not decision-makers, have limited agency over processes, and no control over the increasing complexity that engaging in the private rental market has meant for most LACs. If there are ongoing matters, work through your local school LAC rep, the LAO and the committee. If it is not reasonably resolved in a timely way, consider the dispute processes contained in the Rental Tenancy Act or contact the QTU. The QTU continues to strongly advocate for significant additional resourcing to support the management of teacher housing through local accommodation committees. In particular, the QTU is calling for tenancy specialists and online property maintenance and tenancy management programs.
New tenants
The Teacher Housing Procedure outlines a number of things you need to do at the start of your tenancy, one of which is the entry inspection and report. Many issues that arise during and at the end of a tenancy can be avoided if a comprehensive entry condition report is conducted. The QTU recommends taking photographs of any pre-existing damage or issues, no matter how minor, as part of the report, as well as of anything left behind by the previous tenant. If the act’s minimum standards are not met, the QTU strongly recommends that, where appropriate, you request alternative accommodation through your LAO until the issues are resolved. The tenant can also request that rent is stopped until the breaches are remedied. Contact QTAD for further advice or support.