Tuesday, 28 October 2025

 Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (14:53): My question is for the Minister for Housing and Building, and my question is: in the context of supported or social housing, what rights and protections are available to people who have a neighbour with complex needs that are contributing to distressing or unsafe behaviour? I think many of us in this place know the very difficult situation where someone is enjoying their peaceful home and then, for whatever reason, they end up with a neighbour who can be very aggressive, who may be very loud, who keeps them awake at night, who keeps their children awake at night, who possibly makes threats and who generally makes their home life unbearable. People are often surprised to find that they have limited rights in that situation, and unfortunately we have seen some people who have simply had to move home as a result. But before they do that, they often ask the relevant landlord, if the neighbour is a renter, if they can take some responsibility for the situation, and in circumstances where that landlord might be the state government or a community housing operator, we ask our question in the hope that the minister can provide some advice on what that process would look like and how people may take some steps to ensure their families’ safety.