Episode Details

Renting in Australia is no longer just expensive. It is unstable, exhausting and quietly wearing people down.

In this episode of Navigating the Rental Market During Housing Crisis, I am joined by Alice Pennycott, Principal Lawyer (Tenancy) at Circle Green Community Legal in WA, and Leo Paterson-Ross, CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW and a representative of the National Association of Tenant Organisations.

This is an honest conversation about what renters are facing, beyond the headlines and the data:

• Why Australia’s rental system rewards profit while stability falls through the cracks
• How vacancy rates mask the reality of people being pushed out, not just priced up
• Why doing everything right no longer protects renters from serious mental and financial strain
• Why different eviction laws in NSW and WA still produce the same fear of losing home
• What we lost when housing stopped being a public good, and why rebuilding at scale matters
• Why rental or homelessness insurance won't solve this, and what actually would

This conversation names what renters know but rarely say out loud: the fear of being labelled difficult, the data you give up just to compete and the exhaustion of living on the edge.

Contrary to what we hear often, this is not a wicked or unsolvable crisis. It’s systemic, human-made and entirely fixable — not through personal resilience, but by changing a system broken by design.

What would it actually take to make renting stable, dignified again and humane again?

If you rent, work in housing or want to understand why so many people feel stuck despite doing everything right, this is a grounded and necessary discussion worth listening to.

#HousingAffordability #HousingInsecurity #HousingJustice #NSWRenters #TenancyRights #WArenters