Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 (Vic)

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

ts	Act No. 93/2003
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m	TABLE OF PROVISIONS

u Section Page

c	1.	Purpose	1
o	2.	Commencement	2
D	3.	Principal Act	2
ry	4.	Definition of "Director of Housing voucher"	2
5.	Bond lodgment form	3
ta	6.	Receipt for bond	3
7.	Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing voucher or
n	money order	3
e	8.	Payment out of bonds	3
m	9.	New section 411A inserted	4

ia	411A.	Payment out of certain Director of Housing bonds held
rl	on 30 June 2003 4

10. Payment out by agreement 5

a	11.	Payment to Director of Housing or landlord by agreement	5
P	12.	New section 413A inserted	6

413A. Authority to notify Director of Housing on receipt of

d new bond 6

n	13.	Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director of Housing	6
a	14.	Bond paid by Director of Housing	6
n	15.	Authority to record names	7
o	16.	Functions of Authority	7

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la	ENDNOTES	8
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c
o	Victoria
D
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n	No. 93 of 2003
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ia	Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act
rl	†
a	2003
P

[Assented to 25 November 2003]

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ti	The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:
la
is	1. Purpose
g
e	The purpose of this Act is to amend the
L	Residential Tenancies Act 1997—
n	(a) to provide that the Director of Housing may pay amounts of bonds on behalf of tenants by means of Director of Housing vouchers;
a
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

s. 2

Act No. 93/2003

(b) to enable the Authority to refund amounts of certain bonds paid by the Director of Housing and held by the Authority on

ts	30 June 2003 to the Director of Housing; and
n
e	(c) to provide that it is a function of the
m	Authority to collect certain information and
u	to disclose that information to the Director of
c	Housing.
o	2. Commencement
D

(1) Subject to sub-section (2), this Act comes into

ry	operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
ta	(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into
n	operation before 30 June 2004, it comes into
e	operation on that day.
m
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3. Principal Act

See:	In this Act, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997
Act No.
a	109/1997.	is called the Principal Act.
P	Reprint No. 3 as at
d	1 July 2003.
n	LawToday:
	a	dpc.vic.
gov.au
n
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ti	4. Definition of "Director of Housing voucher"
la
is	In section 404 of the Principal Act insert the
following definition—
g
e	' "Director of Housing voucher" means a
L	voucher issued by the Director of Housing or
n	an agent of the Director of Housing for
a	payment of an amount of bond on behalf of a
ri	tenant;'.
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

s. 5

Act No. 93/2003

5. Bond lodgment form

In section 405(2) of the Principal Act, for "paid

ts	the" substitute "paid an amount of".
n	6. Receipt for bond
e

In section 407(1)(c) of the Principal Act, for "the

m

u	bond" insert "an amount of bond".
c	7. Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing
o	voucher or money order
D
(1) In the heading to section 410A of the Principal
ry	Act, after "cheque" insert ", Director of
ta	Housing voucher".
n	(2) For section 410A(1) of the Principal Act
e	substitute—
m
ia	"(1) Without limiting any manner in which a
rl	bond may be paid, for the purposes of this
a	Division, a landlord receives a bond from a
P	tenant if the tenant gives the landlord the amount of the bond—
d
n	(a) in the form of a cheque made payable
a	to the Authority; or
n	(b) in the form of a money order made
o
ti	payable to the Authority; or

la	(c)	in the form of a Director of Housing
is	voucher; or

g	(d) in a combination of 2 or more forms
e	specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and
L	(c).".
n	8. Payment out of bonds
a
ri	In section 411 of the Principal Act—
to	(a) in paragraph (c), for "court." substitute
ic	"court; or";
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

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Act No. 93/2003

(b) after paragraph (c) insert—

"(d) in the case of an amount of bond paid

ts	by the Director of Housing or an agent
n	of the Director of Housing on behalf of
e	a tenant, in accordance with—
m	(i) paragraph (b) or (c); or
u
c	(ii) section 411A; or
o	(iii) section 413(1) or (1A).".
D

9. New section 411A inserted

ry

ta After section 411 of the Principal Act insert—

"411A. Payment out of certain Director of

n

e	Housing bonds held on 30 June 2003
m	(1) This section applies if—
ia
rl	(a) the Authority, on 30 June 2003, holds

an amount of bond paid by the Director

a	of Housing or an agent of the Director
P	of Housing on behalf of a tenant; and
d
n	(b) the Authority receives a new bond
a	(whether before, on or after the
n	commencement of section 9 of the
o	Residential Tenancies (Amendment)
ti	Act 2003) in relation to a tenancy
la	agreement for the same premises to
is	which the amount of bond referred to in
g	paragraph (a) relates; and
e	(c) no application for a refund of the
L	amount of bond referred to in
n	paragraph (a) is made in accordance
a
ri	with section 413(1) or 413(1A) within
12 months of the date on which the
to	Authority receives the new bond
ic	referred to in paragraph (b).
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

s. 10

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(2) The Authority may pay to the Director of

Housing the amount of bond referred to in

ts	sub-section (1)(a).
n	(3) If, after the Authority pays an amount under
e	sub-section (2), the Authority holds a
m	remaining amount of bond in relation to the
u	tenancy agreement for which the amount of
c	bond referred to in sub-section (1)(a) was
o	paid, the Authority may pay to the tenant the
D	remaining amount of bond.".
ry	10. Payment out by agreement
ta	In section 412(6) of the Principal Act, before
n	"bond" insert "amount of".
e	11. Payment to Director of Housing or landlord by
m	agreement
ia
rl	(1) After section 413(1) of the Principal Act insert—
a	"(1A) A landlord and the Director of Housing may
P	apply jointly to the Authority for a refund to
d	the Director of Housing of the amount of
n	bond paid by the Director of Housing or an
a	agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of
n	a tenant if the landlord is unable to obtain the
o	tenant's agreement to make an application to
ti	the Authority under sub-section (1).".
la	(2) After section 413(2) of the Principal Act insert—
is	"(3) If any part of the amount of bond is to be
g
e	paid to the landlord, the application must not
L	be made earlier than 7 days before the
n	termination date in respect of the tenancy
a	agreement.".
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12. New section 413A inserted

After section 413 of the Principal Act insert—

ts	"413A. Authority to notify Director of Housing on
n	receipt of new bond
e
As soon as practicable after receiving a new
m
u	bond from a landlord in respect of a tenancy
c	agreement for the same premises for which
o	the Authority already holds an amount of
D	bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of
ry	a tenant, the Authority must notify the
ta	Director of Housing that the Authority has
n	received a new bond in respect of a tenancy
e	agreement for those premises.".
m	13. Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director of
ia
rl	Housing
a	(1) Insert the following heading to section 416 of the
P	Principal Act—
d	"Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director
n	of Housing".
a

(2) In section 416(3) of the Principal Act, for "the

n	bond" insert "an amount of bond".
o
ti	14. Bond paid by Director of Housing
la	(1) In section 421(1) of the Principal Act, for "a
is	bond" substitute "an amount of bond".
g
e	(2) In section 421(3)(a) of the Principal Act, for
L	"bond was" substitute "amount of bond was".
n	(3) In section 421(3)(b) of the Principal Act, before
a
ri	"bond" insert "amount of".
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

s. 15

Act No. 93/2003

15. Authority to record names

After section 427(1)(a) of the Principal Act

ts	insert—
n	"(aa) in the case of a bond lodgment form that
e	states that an amount of bond has been paid
m	by the Director of Housing or an agent of the
u	Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant—
c
o	(i) the fact that the amount of bond has
D	been so paid; and

ry	(ii)	the amount of the bond that has been so
ta	paid; and".

n	16. Functions of Authority
e	After section 431(c) of the Principal Act insert—
m
ia	"(ca) to collect the information contained in bond
rl	lodgment forms given to the Authority and
a	other information kept by the Authority in
P	relation to bonds held by the Authority;
d	(cb) to disclose the information (other than
n	persons' names) referred to in paragraph (ca),
a	whether it was collected before, on or after
n	the commencement of section 16 of the
o	Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act
ti	2003, to the Director of Housing for the
la	purpose of the use of that information by the
is	Director of Housing in research, compiling
g	statistics and public education;".
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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

Endnotes

Act No. 93/2003

ENDNOTES

ts †

Minister's second reading speech—

n	Legislative Assembly: 9 October 2003
e
Legislative Council: 6 November 2003
m
u	The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Residential
c	Tenancies Act 1997 to make provision for the Director of Housing to pay
o	amounts of bonds on behalf of tenants by means of vouchers, to enable
D	the refund of amounts of certain bonds to the Director of Housing, to provide that it is a function of the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority
ry	to collect certain information and to disclose that information to the
ta	Director of Housing and for other purposes."
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