A coalition of community organisations gathered at Parliament House today to call on the WA government to end no-grounds evictions, backed by new polling showing overwhelming public support for the change.

The Make Renting Fair Alliance is a 35-member coalition representing more than 700,000 Western Australian renters.

Principle Lawyer at Circle Green Community Legal and spokesperson for Make Renting Fair, Alice Pennycott, alongside front-line service providers, University guilds and unions, addressed the public today to reveal data from their recent polling.

Ms Pennycott says there is now overwhelming support for stronger protection for renters, in particular, for ending no-ground evictions.

“There is eighty percent support from survey responders, and that’s not just support from renters.

“We also have seventy-two percent support from property investors and landlords, making sure to tenants are can only be evicted if there’s a good reason.”

Ms Pennycott said the reforms were long overdue, with the alliance having pushed for change over many years.

A young renter who has lived experience of no-grounds evictions, Alicia Keenan, says the experience of being a renter is a complete mess.

“No-grounds evictions are the cherry on top, in fact it’s the whole cake,” they say.

“Even though I received my eviction 3 years ago, I can still remember what it felt like and how quickly my life turned upside down.

“From finding a stable place to live that was meant to be my security and a place I can call home, to suddenly a place that I had to leave.”

Alicia says no one deserves to experience the same feeling of uncertainty.

“That long term security should be definite, there should be no reason that someone can just decide that I can’t live in a home, because they don’t want to give a reason.”

UnionsWA Secretary Rikki Hendon says our communities need people who work across all different fields.

“Everybody from cleaners, care workers to teachers and tradies, to make our communities function.

“We need everybody. But more and more too many workers who are renters are afraid that they won’t be able to keep a roof over their in the places where they live and work.”

She says if we want people to contribute in all ways of life, they need stability if they rent and what that means is fairer rules.

Debra Zanella, CEO of Ruah Community services, says one of the areas she works in family and domestic violence.

“One of the issues of no-grounds evictions is that often renters are silenced or fear that if they say something there’s a risk their tendency can be ended.”

“For woman and children escaping homeless their voices are already silenced.

“They already live in fear and something that actually amends that by saying if they are renting, they have a voice that can be heard, they can be safe, and they can be stable, is really critical,” she says.

President of the Curtin University Student Guild Dylan Storer says this recent poll will allow students to speak out.

“I know it’s not going to fix everything, but it is an important step to start to rebalance the housing debate here in WA.

“Making sure students can afford to study, and as they graduate and move into the workforce, that we can hopefully have somewhere to live moving forward. There is this really radical idea that everyone should have a roof over their head.”

Mr Storer discusses the next steps which is calling the government to act.

“The government need to commit and legislate it hopefully this year and we can start to protect renters more.”

“It shouldn’t be this hard.”

Story by Emily Vajs and Olivia Furderer