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Steven Cross
The NSW government has developed an information DVD for tenants in 17 different languages to aid the increasing number of non-English speakers in the country.
The new DVD, titled Renting a home: A tenant’s guide to rights and responsibilities, was developed following consultation with service providers, the community and government agency Think Smart partners.
“Renting is an ongoing issue of concern among community members from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds,” Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe said.
“People from diverse backgrounds often suffer because of a lack of understanding of their tenancy rights due to language barriers, and in some cases, isolation from the mainstream community.
“The NSW government wants to help non-English speaking tenants understand their rights and responsibilities when renting a home,” Mr Stowe said.
According to the 2011 Census, 23.2 per cent of households speak a language other than English, up from 21.5 per cent in 2006.
The DVD kit covers 10 topics presented as informative and accessible short videos, covering areas such as finding a place to live, signing a lease and ending a tenancy.
It also includes a CD-Rom that contains scripts in 17 languages, 10 checklists and useful contacts.
The commissioner said the DVD is available in English and 16 other languages – Arabic, Assyrian, Burmese, Cantonese, Dari, Dinka, Farsi, Hazaragi, Indonesian, Korean, Kirundi, Mandarin, Nepalese, Swahili, Tamil and Vietnamese.
“We want to ensure the DVD is widely accessible to those most in need of the information,” he said.
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