South Australian Housing Trust v Pawelzik; South Australian Housing Trust v Popczynski

The South Australian Housing Trust (the Trust) appealed to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia against decisions concerning its right to charge tenants for water consumption. The dispute arose from tenancy agreements where the Trust sought to recover costs for water supplied to multiple tenancies, often through shared meters, after water authorities changed their charging structures. The core of the disagreement involved the interpretation of the Trust's Act, relevant regulations, and the specific clauses within the tenancy agreements regarding water charges.

The court was required to determine several legal issues. These included whether a specific regulation was invalid for not fixing a water quantity limit, and if so, whether a clause in the tenancy agreements entitled the Trust to charge for the full consumption cost of water. Further questions concerned whether the regulation "covered the field" of water charges, thereby excluding the tenancy agreement clause, and if not, how the clause should be interpreted in light of the regulation, particularly concerning the apportionment of costs for water supplied via shared meters or when individual meter readings were unavailable. The court also had to consider the proper construction of another regulation regarding the Trust's entitlement to charge for water.

The Full Court allowed the appeal in part. It declared that for the period from July 2008 to August 2010, the Trust was entitled to charge each respondent a fair and equitable proportion of the water consumption costs supplied via shared meters. For the period from September 2010 onwards, the Trust was similarly entitled to charge a proportion of the consumption costs, to be ascertained in accordance with the principles governing the statutory power conferred by regulation 9. The court directed the Trust to recalculate the amounts owed by the respondents for the periods under appeal on this basis and to issue fresh invoices.