Moved by Councillor Ellsmore, seconded by the Chair (the Lord Mayor) –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
Australia
has among the highest rates of pet ownership in the world. Pet ownership has
increased in NSW to 60 per cent of households;
(ii)
research
from the RSPCA found that pet ownership has many benefits, including
improvements to mental health and wellbeing;
(iii)
the
majority of people living in the City of Sydney are now renters. Households
renting in the City increased from 46.7 per cent in 2016, to 53.7 per cent in
2021;
(iv)
the
Council has previously advocated to the NSW Government to introduce legislation
to offer better protection to renters, including by prohibiting no-grounds
evictions, punitive and discriminatory practices, rent bidding by landlords,
and ‘no pets’ clauses;
(v)
in NSW,
tenancy laws still allow for blanket ‘no pets’ clauses. This allows landlords
to refuse requests from renters to have a pet without providing a reason
(unless it is an assistance animal);
(vi)
in
other states and territories, rules have recently changed to make it easier for
tenants to keep pets in rental homes by, for example, requiring the landlord to
provide a reason to refuse a pet;
(vii)
the NSW
Government is currently consulting about changing tenancy rules, to make it
easier for renters to have pets; and
(viii)
there
is strong community campaigning by Make Renting Fair and the Tenants’ Union NSW
to change NSW tenancy laws to end blanket 'no pets' clauses in NSW;
(B)
Council
expresses its strong support for law reforms which would make it easier for
renters to have pets in NSW; and
(C)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
provide
a submission to the NSW Government in support of reform to support pet
ownership in rentals, by the deadline of Friday, 2 December 2022; and
(ii)
send a
copy of this motion and the City of Sydney Council submission to the Minister
for Fair Trading Victor Dominello, the relevant opposition Shadow Minister, and
the NSW Tenants Union.
Carried
unanimously.
X086659