Aboriginal Housing NT (AHNT), Anindilyakwa Land Council, Central Land Council, Northern Land Council, Tiwi Land Council, and the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) are appalled by the CLP Government’s latest attack on Territorians’ basic rights, with a Bill introduced today to amend the Housing Act 1982 (NT) to deny public housing tenants the right to procedural fairness.
Procedural fairness is a safeguard that protects every Territorian. It is about making sure government decisions that affect people’s lives are made properly and fairly. Procedural fairness doesn’t control decision-making outcomes, but it does protect the way decisions are made. It says that people must be told when the Government is making a decision that will affect them and then be given an opportunity to have a say, and that decision must be made by someone who is neutral. Procedural fairness had been described by the High Court as a matter of “fundamental justice”. It is a legal protection built into Government decision-making, to make sure that there is a minimum level of fairness in government decisions. All Territorians have an expectation that government decisions that have major impacts on our lives should be made in a fair and transparent way.
NAAJA CEO Ben Grimes says “Removing procedural fairness requirements is an admission of failure by the NT Government. Fundamentally, this means that the government does not believe that it is capable of making these decisions in a fair way, so it is introducing legislation to allow it to make decisions in ways that it knows will be unfair.”
These amendments are proposed in response to the High Court decision in December 2025 that found the current NT Remote Rent Framework (the Framework) was invalid because remote tenants were denied procedural fairness when the Framework was introduced in 2021. The Framework introduced significant changes to the amount of rent paid by tenants, and the way the rent was calculated. The Framework treats remote tenants differently than urban tenants, and calculates rent based on the number of bedrooms rather than on income. Remote tenants were not given any opportunity to have any input into this significant change, and as a result the High Court decided that the NT Government had failed to provide procedural fairness.
Legally and practically, today’s amendment is not required by the High Court’s decision. All that is required is that the Government speak with tenants on decisions which directly affect them. The High Court decision provided the Government a direction to work with tenants and stakeholders to reform the deeply flawed Framework. Instead, the Government is using the decision as a false excuse to abolish procedural fairness completely – a dangerous move and slippery slope which erodes the fundamental rights of the Territory community. This should be of deep concern to all Territorians.
The Government is once again passing this legislation on urgency. This will be the 10th bill passed on urgency in this parliamentary term. In the past, urgency was only used in significant emergencies. Now, the Government repeatedly uses this process to silence opposition and avoid scrutiny over rushed and dangerous laws. This process is undemocratic and risks creating bad law which could be exposed to further scrutiny in the courts, at significant cost to the taxpayer.
This challenge to the Framework has been working its way through the courts since 2022. The Government has had plenty of time to develop an appropriate response, and to consult with tenants and stakeholders to develop a suitable alternative. They’ve chosen not to do so, instead legislating unfairness in a way that almost exclusively affects Aboriginal Territorians. The decision to push these changes through on urgency either reflects an inability by government to plan for predictable legal outcomes or is another excuse to avoid democratic accountability.
NLC Chairperson Matthew Ryan calls on Minister Edgington to do better. Mr Ryan has expressed deep disappointment at the lack of notice and procedural fairness in both the legislation, and the speed that it is being pushed through NT Parliament. “This is yet another attack on Aboriginal Territorians, particularly those of us living in remote communities in public housing. This is racist legislation. Our people should have the same rights as all Territorians.”
Aboriginal Housing NT CEO Leanne Caton states, “Aboriginal Housing NT is the Peak Body for Aboriginal Community Housing providers throughout the NT.
“We were established and funded by the NTG and yet we have not been consulted in any way in relation to the amendment of the Housing Act 1982 (NT). We are also members of the Joint Steering Committee on Remote Housing, along with the four Land Councils and two tiers of Government. The Aboriginal Housing Caucus of the JSC are supposed to be genuine and equal partners and yet have had no consultation on this matter.”
“For any reform to be meaningful, the Government must work with tenants and stakeholders to address the systemic issues that are entrenching Territorians in homelessness. This means implementing affordable housing strategies such as income-based rent, reducing overcrowding and addressing the rising cost of living to ease financial burdens on tenants,” says NAAJA Chairperson, Theresa Roe.
This comes off the back of Minister Edgington boasting about evicting public housing tenants. Public housing exists to protect our most vulnerable. A significant proportion of public housing tenants already experience poverty and significant disadvantage. Instead of working with families to address their concerns, this government boasts about making vulnerable people homeless. These appalling actions are sending vulnerable families – including children – into a decade or more of homelessness. Creating homelessness creates an enormous financial burden on the Territory through flow-on impacts in the health, social services and criminal justice systems. Creating and then celebrating homelessness is bad for the NT socially and is also bad economic management.
We call on the NT Government and Minister Edgington to meet with remote housing experts including AHNT, NT Land Councils, and the legal and broader housing sector to develop a new, evidence-based social housing model that is fair and equitable for tenants and that does not repeat the mistakes of the Remote Rent Framework.
There is no excuse to remove basic rights of fairness.
Media contact
Emily Murphy-O’Neill
Media Strategy and Communications Officer
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
Email: media@naaja.org.au
Phone: +61 8 7943 2774 | Mob: 0455 556 412