Tenant behaviour

Everyone has the right to enjoy reasonable peace, comfort and privacy in their home.

Your responsibilities as a tenant are outlined in the State tenancy agreement you signed at the start of your tenancy.

As a tenant, you must:

• pay the rent as stated in the tenancy agreement
• tell us within 28 days when anyone moves in or moves out of your home
• keep the home you rent as clean, as it was at the start of the tenancy
• not maliciously damage, or allow someone else to maliciously damage the home
• not use your home for illegal purposes
• not cause a nuisance to other tenants and neighbours while in your home
• not interfere with or disrupt the reasonable peace, comfort and privacy of your neighbours.

You are responsible for ensuring that your behaviour and the behaviour of the people who live with you, your visitors and anyone you let onto the property, does not disturb the peace and privacy of other tenants and your neighbours.

Antisocial behaviour

Most public housing tenants do the right thing, however, sometimes people engage in antisocial behaviour that disrupts  the peace in their neighbourhood.

We receive complaints about general/nuisance neighbourhood concerns through to more serious complaints that involve other agencies such as the police.

We will work pro-actively with tenants and other government and community support services to resolve concerns early, where this is possible.

The department has zero tolerance for severe and dangerous behaviours, with immediate action taken to end these tenancies.

Sever and dangerous behaviours are those that:

• put the safety of others at risk
• cause injury to others
• damage the home
• involve illegal or criminal activity.

If there are 3 confirmed incidents of nuisance and/or serious antisocial behaviour in 12 months, and no reasonable explanations or mitigating factors which would prevent the policy being applied, the department may take action to end the tenancy.

Examples of mitigating factors could include:

• mental health
• intellectual disability
• experiencing domestic violence.

There are many ways we will work with you to address behaviour so you can keep your tenancy and live in harmony with your neighbours. These include:

• reminding you about your tenancy obligations and discussing the consequences of your behaviour on your tenancy
• issuing Warnings and/or a Notice to remedy breach
• requiring you to enter into an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement
• connecting you with a network of other government and community support services to help you address your behaviour.

We respect your choice about whether to engage with support services, or not, however, if the antisocial behaviour continues, your tenancy will be at risk and we'll take further tenancy action.

Everyone has a right to feel safe. If we receive reports about domestic, family or sexual violence, we'll act and offer support to the household, including referrals to support services.

Severe and dangerous behaviour that puts others at risk or illegal activities will not be tolerated, and we can take immediate steps to evict anyone engaged in those activities.

Antisocial behaviour

There are 3 categories of antisocial behaviour.

General nuisance behaviours

These are activities which could reasonably be expected to occur on occasion in a household, but which disturb the peace, comfort or privacy of other tenants, neighbours, or persons living in the vicinity of the premises.

Serious behaviours

These are activities that:

• intentionally or recklessly cause disturbance to other tenants, neighbours or community, or could reasonably be expected to cause serious concern, fear harm, or pose a risk to the safety or security of other tenants or household members, neighbours or their property
• cause moderate but intentional or reckless damage to the department’s property, for example
  • harassing neighbours
  • intentional disturbances, including using aggressive, abusive or obscene language
  • damaging the home.

Dangerous/severe behaviours

These are activities which pose a risk to the safety and security of other tenants or neighbours, or cause injury or harm to others, or are illegal/criminal activities, or which caused significant deliberate or reckless damage to a departmental property, for example

• illegal or alleged illegal activity at the property, such as
  • drug production supply or trafficking
• physical assault or acts of violence against other tenants, neighbours or departmental staff
• extensive malicious damage to the home.

Warnings or Warnings with a Notice to remedy breach requiring you to stop the behaviour can be issued for any confirmed incident of these types of behaviours.

Where there are 3 confirmed incidents of general nuisance and/or serious antisocial behaviour within 12 months, we will consider ending your tenancy.

We will take immediate action to end your tenancy where there is dangerous/severe antisocial behaviour by issuing a 'Notice to leave' or immediately applying to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to end your tenancy.

Warnings

A warning is issued when there is a confirmed incident of antisocial behaviour and will clearly indicate that your tenancy is at risk, if the behaviour continues.

Under the Antisocial Behaviour Policy, tenants are given 2 warnings about their behaviour and the risk to their tenancy, with tenancies ended on a third incident

Depending on the circumstances and severity of the behaviour, the impact on neighbours and any other contributing factors, the warning can be issued with a Form 11—Notice to Remedy Breach under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

We will contact you to discuss the behaviour, your tenancy obligations, what steps you can take to change the behaviour and the consequences of this behaviour on your tenancy. We will connect you with government and community support services who can support you to meet your tenancy responsibilities.

If you disagree with a warning being issued, please contact your nearest Housing Service Centre to discuss the matter. If you still disagree with this decision, you can lodge a complaint about our actions or service.

We may also require you to enter into an 'Acceptable Behaviour Agreement' that outlines the behaviours we expect of you and your household and how you can stop the antisocial behaviour and keep your tenancy.

What happens if the antisocial behaviour continues

You may be issued with additional Warnings and Notices to remedy breach up to a maximum of two warnings.  Upon the third confirmed incident of general nuisance and/or serious antisocial behaviour within twelve months, we will consider ending your tenancy.

We may require you to enter into a 12-month Acceptable Behaviour Agreement that outlines the expected behaviours during the tenancy and how we will work with you and support services to stop the antisocial behaviour.

If you refuse to engage with us about your behaviour or refuse to sign an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement or breach the terms of the Acceptable Behaviour Agreement, we may take action to end your tenancy.

What happens if the antisocial behaviour is dangerous or severe

We'll take immediate action to end your tenancy without issuing you with any prior warnings or breach notices.

We'll issue you with a 'Notice to leave' or apply directly to Queensland Civil and Administration Tribunal (QCAT) to end your tenancy.

If you don’t agree with the action taken by the department against your tenancy

If you disagree with the action taken by us, please contact your nearest Housing Service Centre to discuss the matter.

If after you have spoken to our staff you still disagree with this decision, you can lodge a complaint about our actions or service.

Help for tenants who are evicted

If you are evicted from public housing, we can help you to find alternative housing in the private market, for example, through a bond loan or our RentConnect service. We will provide you with details of emergency accommodation and other housing and support services and notify your support services.

The Homeless Hotline may also be able to assist – 1800 47 47 53.

If you seek further social housing assistance after being evicted for antisocial behaviour, you can’t apply for social housing:

• for 12 months if your tenancy ended due to serious antisocial behaviour
• 2 years if your tenancy ended due to dangerous/severe behaviour.

Before being considered for an offer of offered another tenancy, you need to demonstrate a successfully 6-month tenancy in the private market and, if offered social housing, must first sign an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement. Your tenancy will be closely monitored.

How complaints are investigated

We investigate complaints about antisocial behaviour that may be a breach of your State tenancy agreement or your tenancy obligations under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

If someone makes a complaint about you, a member of your household or visitor, we will:

• identify if the complaint falls within the department’s authority to investigate and action or should be directed to another agency (for example, Council or the police)
• let you know a complaint has been made and is being investigated and give you the opportunity to tell your side of the story
• if required investigate the issues raised by gathering relevant information and evidence about the complaint from other sources including police, neighbours, witnesses, and support services where there is authority to contact
• decide whether the behaviour is a breach of your tenancy agreement and what action should be taken
• let you know the outcome of the investigation, for example, whether the complaint was dismissed or whether further action will be taken and what that action will be.

To protect your right to privacy under the Information Privacy Act 2009, we will not tell the person who made the complaint about the specific details of any action taken. The personal information of the person who made the complaint is also treated as confidential wherever possible.

How I am protected from being wrongly accused of antisocial behaviour

We investigate all complaints of antisocial behaviour thoroughly, ensuring that only factual, accurate, truthful, and relevant information is considered.

When we receive a complaint, we consider the information provided and decide whether more information or investigation is required.

We'll also contact you to talk about the complaint and get your side of the story. For alleged illegal or criminal activity, we may also ask the police for information about the matter.

We won't investigate complaints that aren't based on statements of fact or have been made in bad faith.

We'll also not investigate if further complaints are received about the same issue and where no new evidence or material has been provided.

If I don't agree with the complaint

When investigating a complaint about antisocial behaviour, we will ensure you are given an opportunity to tell your side of the story.

You can tell your side of events either by talking to staff at your Housing Service Centre or in writing, including information about anything you think contributed to the incident and prevented you from meeting your tenancy obligations.

When talking to staff, you can have a support person with you. You can also provide your own evidence to dispute the claim, including witness statements and contact or letters from your support services.

We'll then send you a letter detailing your response to the complaint and give you the opportunity to let us know if any information is incorrect or you want to provide more information.

If needed, we can help you respond to a complaint of antisocial behaviour at your home. Interpreter services are available for tenants from a non-English speaking background and tenants with a hearing and/or sight impairment.

If you have a disability or medical condition and have a formal or informal decision maker, support provider or advocate in place, we will contact the support/s in place to assist in obtaining your response to the complaint.

If you have difficulty communicating your response due to a disability or medical condition and have no support in place, we can arrange an advocacy service for you if you agree.