Brisbane Renters Alliance acknowledges that we live and work on the unceded sovereign lands of the Jagera, Yugarapul and Turrbal peoples. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
The British invasion introduced private property and landlords to this continent through the genocide and dispossesion of First Nations people. There is no housing justice without truth telling, treaties and #LandBack
We place ourselves within the broader movements for social, economic, and political justice and oppose colonialism, racism, capitalism, and all other forms of domination.
Policy changes:
We want the Queensland Government to introduce a ‘right to remain’ for renters, a rule against rents increasing more than once every two years, a rule against rents rising faster than people can afford, and minimum standards for rental properties. Read our core policy demands.
Socio-political changes:
We want to empower renters to feel that they have the right to housing security.
We want to build stronger connections between different marginalised and disenfranchised groups, redefine renters rights as a key political issue, and make real estate agents more nervous about exploiting or mistreating tenants.
Strategies:
Brisbane Renters Alliance will organise community forums, engage in civil disobedience, and name-and-shame dodgy landlords. We want to put pressure on the State Government and the property industry through organised, direct action.
Strategies:
Eviction defenders:
Resisting evictions is mutual aid, which means supporting our neighbours through a difficult period in their lives; it also builds community power within a broader campaign for housing justice.
Anti-eviction actions can generate media coverage and raise the profile of housing justice, drawing attention to how extreme housing stress, inequalities and abuses of power are driving a wedge through society.
Naming-and-shaming:
We will be publicly outing the most exploitative real estate agents, with the caveat that we need to be very certain that our public criticisms are legitimate and fair.
We will put the word out through various channels to see if other tenants have had similar bad experiences with that agent, then once we have enough stories about bad behaviour (e.g. at least five), we go public.
Social Connection:
We will work to foster social connections between renters through our shared experiences and foster a collective identity as renters.
By building solidarity we will support and empower renters, those in social and pension housing and those sleeping rough, to demand change and improve their lives.