Santa Teresa is located near Alice Springs.

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard that the Department of Housing’s collection of rent under its Remote Rent Framework left unwitting Santa Teresa tenants with staggering rental debts.

A total of 70 tenants from the remote community first commenced legal action against the Department in the Northern Territory Civil Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) more than 18 months ago, seeking over 600 repairs to their housing.

In response, the Department counter-sued for unpaid rent, despite tenants never having been notified that they were in arrears. Documents obtained by lawyers for the tenants under the Information Act, show rental debts average more than $20,000 per household, and the community’s collective debt runs into the millions.

“These debts took years to build up, and the Department never told the tenants they were making incorrect payments” said Leeanne Caton, A/CEO of Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service.

“It wasn’t until the tenants took them to Court, demanding that their houses be repaired, that they tell them about all this debt. It’s disgraceful.”

With more than 6000 houses across the Territory operating under the same rental system, APONT is concerned that tenants elsewhere may be facing similar crippling debts, but have not been told by the Department.

“The government needs to come out and explain the situation, and make clear the status of these debts” said Ms Caton. “If tenants are looking at repaying ten or twenty thousand dollars, for many people in remote communities, who are already experiencing financial distress, which will be an insurmountable burden.”

The current policy, known as the Remote Rental Framework, was introduced in 2010 as part of a federal government program to place remote communities within a standard public housing model. However, in 2012 it was revealed that the Department held $1.39 million in an unreconciled rent account, and did not know who had paid the money, or for what housing.

Meanwhile, remote tenants who had consistently paid rent, were told they were in arrears.

Also in 2012, a Commonwealth Ombudsman report found that the Northern Territory government had “difficulties identifying whether people are paying rent when they should not or, conversely, not paying rent when they should”.

In the same year, the Northern Territory Ombudsman called for “every single” rental payment collected by Centrelink for remote housing to be reviewed, however no action was taken.

More recently, a 2016 report prepared by the Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency alleged that these problems were continuing, and that the Department had retained rental payments from people not living in houses and who had no liability to pay rent.

“We are obviously concerned about a Government pursuing vulnerable people through the courts to enforce debts from such a chaotic system,” said Ms Caton, “especially in circumstances where the housing provided is of such a poor standard and subject to chronic overcrowding.”

APONT is now calling on the government to conduct a review into the rental payment policy, and the accrual of rental debts in remote communities.