National Homelessness Week – Jason’s Story

Homelessness Week 2025 will be held from Monday 4 August to Sunday 10 August, with the theme “Homelessness Action Now.”

Hosted annually by Homelessness Australia, the week aims to build community support and drive government action to end homelessness.

Throughout the week, homelessness services and community groups raise awareness of its impacts, highlight solutions, and advocate for change through events, media, and social media campaigns across the country.

Jason’s story highlights how timely legal support can prevent homelessness and restore housing stability. During Homelessness Week, we’re reminded that preventing homelessness requires not just services but systemic change. Advocacy, like that provided in Jason’s case, is key to achieving fairer housing outcomes and pushing for policies that make “Homelessness Action Now” a reality.

Jason* was at court facing termination by a public/community housing provider. Jason did not have much detail from the housing provider as to why they were terminating the agreement, or what basis he might have to dispute the termination. Jason just knew he did not want to have the agreement terminated as he would be homeless. 

The duty lawyer first spoke with the housing provider (with the consent of Jason) and confirmed that the tenancy was being terminated because of a failure to keep the property clean. The duty lawyer was then able to provide some more detailed advice to Jason as to his prospects of success. The duty lawyer believed the issues were relatively minor and would be unlikely to justify termination of the tenancy but was concerned that Jason may not be able to present the arguments clearly and there was a risk of termination orders being made. The duty lawyer negotiated with the housing provider to seek an alternative to termination as Jason really wanted to sustain the tenancy.  

The duty lawyer was able to negotiate with the housing provider to reach an agreement to adjourn the matter for a period of three weeks, and appeared before the Registrar to ensure this agreement was made into Court orders. Jason was confident with the issues raised that he could get these things addressed and would prioritise doing so before the next court date. 

Without assistance from the duty lawyer, Jason would have been entirely unprepared to go before the Registrar for his hearing. The consequences of a tenant being uninformed and unrepresented in proceedings, particularly where there is a significant power imbalance with their landlord as an institutional housing provider, can mean orders are made that are contrary to their best interests. We often hear of tenants who are unrepresented feeling like they were forced to agree to termination orders by either housing providers or even by Registrars themselves. Being able to provide a duty lawyer service means we can provide practical assistance to clients right up to the time of their hearing, and often get far more favourable outcomes for these tenants, as well as this resulting in a far more effective use of the Court’s time. Additionally, by helping Jason communicate with his housing provider, we helped Jason understand exactly what issues he needed to fix to sustain his tenancy, resulting in a more satisfactory outcome for all parties and an improved relationship between Jason and his housing provider moving forward. 

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*Real name and photo have not been used. We have withheld identifying details to protect and respect confidentiality.