Healthy Homes for Renters
Sometimes climate change shows up in our lives in extraordinary ways, such as with extreme weather events. But most of the time living with climate change comes down to the most ordinary of moments, like trying to sleep through the night during the heat of summer. This is one of the reasons Healthy Homes for Renters – a community of renters working together for stable, affordable, and healthy homes – recently won a Groundswell grant even though they aren’t a climate organisation. In advocating for policies to ensure renters have better access to climate-resilient housing and benefit from the renewable energy transition, they’re also building a case for how acting on climate change can simultaneously create a more just and better society.
Healthy Homes for Renters is a 2023 Groundswell grant winner. In this interview, we speak to Executive Director Joel Dignam.
A recent meeting that NSW renter researchers organised and undertook with the new NSW Renting Commissioner, Trina Jones
You’re not a climate organisation, which makes you pretty special as far as a Groundswell grant winner goes. But there’s some very important overlap. Can you talk about that?
Absolutely – the link between housing and climate is more critical than ever. Renters in substandard and energy inefficient housing are on the front lines of climate impacts like heatwaves and they also have the least power to make a difference to the home they live in. So we're pushing for reforms that will make rental homes resilient to these challenges. But it's not just about coping – it's about reducing our carbon footprint too. Better housing means less energy waste and fewer emissions. And as we transition to cleaner energy we have a chance to lower bills and improve living conditions. So, it's a win-win—better homes and a healthier planet.
Through your work, you’re having conversations about climate change and building awareness in ways that very personal and relatable – how are you building broader support for climate action in your community?
We find that climate change is already on renters' minds. They're feeling the heat of harsher summers and are concerned about issues like bushfires and the resulting indoor smoke pollution. So, we don't have to bring the climate angle with all renters —it's already a lived reality for many and they raise it with us. But there are some renters who know that their homes are hot and uncomfortable and they have worries about the cost of their energy bills and haven’t joined the dots yet, so our role is to help make that connection with energy efficiency and climate change. People are also becoming more conscious of the environmental impact of heating inefficient homes as well – they want comfort without the guilt. That's why our focus is on creating homes that are not just healthy and comfortable but also benefiting from energy efficiency and clean energy. It resonates with what people are already thinking about and connects with people who are worried about affordability of energy prices.
When it comes to the intersection of climate and housing, what's at stake now and into the future?
The health and wellbeing of renters - heatwaves are more deadly than any other natural disaster in Australia and renters aren’t being protected from the outdoor elements by the homes they live in. We can reduce the number of people dying as a result of heatwaves by improving the energy efficiency of rental homes.
This will only become more of an issue as the impacts of climate change continue to worsen. As our lives become impacted, the least we can do is make sure our homes offer us safety and sanctuary.
Energy efficiency standards and new policies like no gas connections in new builds are coming more into the conversation – what does this mean for your work?
There is definitely a growing interest in the energy efficiency and performance of homes – the national energy performance strategy is a good example of this. We are seeing electrification getting more attention as a policy solution, which is really positive, and it’s also good to see the conversation evolve to include households that have so far been missing out on the benefits of electrification, like renters.
But we want to make sure renters’ homes aren’t just seen as a means to reduce carbon emissions and reach decarbonisation goals. That they should be decent and liveable on all fronts should be an independent outcome of the transition process.
What are some of the wins you’ve had with your work this year?
We’re really proud that this year the ACT introduced their very first minimum energy efficiency standard for rental homes, which means rental homes in the ACT are now required to have a minimum standard of ceiling insulation. If you’ve ever experienced a winter in Canberra you will know this is a massive win! It comes after many years of campaigning to keep the issue on the public agenda and help decision-makers understand the policy benefits to both climate change and health.
We’ve also made really strong inroads in SA with broad rental reforms taking place and energy efficiency being pushed by more and more organisations than ever before, including in a joint statement signed by more than 40 organisations in SA.
Prior to the state election in NSW we had both the Labor and Liberal party Treasurers commit to consultation on minimum energy efficiency standards and have seen announcements made about banning no-cause eviction which will make these other reforms stronger.
At a federal level, we also saw the government announce $300m for social housing upgrades under the Household Energy Upgrade Fund and we’ll be partnering with other organisations to put pressure on states and territories to make the most of this by contributing co-funding the upgrades in each jurisdiction.
What about the challenges?
A big part of the work we do is connected to a piece of work the federal government has been working on – a ‘Trajectory for Low Energy Buildings’ plan. This is a national framework for minimum energy efficiency requirement for rental homes and is intended to work as a guide for state and territory governments to implement. The draft framework is more than a year overdue and the delays have been a bit of a challenge for us as the state and territory governments we are working with keep pointing to this delayed federal framework as the reason for their lack of action. This has meant that a lot of our focus has been compelling governments to get started before the framework is released so that they’re ahead of the curve!
What’s next for Healthy Homes for Renters?
There are some big things coming up in Australian politics with a federal election on the horizon, so we’ll be gearing up our work at the federal level to make the most of this. We want to make sure renters are feeling empowered to ask for what they need - homes that keep them healthy and safe.
As part of this, we want to help connect the issues we’re working on with more renters by highlighting the financial burden renters face because of their inefficient homes. Renters are not only dealing with endless rent increases, they’re also stuck with rising energy bills because their homes are so expensive to run - we want to focus on this cost of living issue renters are facing.
We’ll focus this work in key electorates and will also be working on some broader actions to get renters mobilised. With cost of living, aged care, health and climate change the top four priorities of Australian voters, Healthy Homes are playing a unique and important role connecting the dots for MPs and voters alike.