Young v Chief Executive Officer (Housing)

This case concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia by Ms Young, a tenant, against the Chief Executive Officer (Housing) ("the CEO"), her landlord. The dispute arose from the CEO's failure to provide a back door for the residential premises Ms Young occupied for 68 months. Ms Young sought compensation from the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of the Northern Territory for distress and disappointment caused by the insecurity she felt due to this breach of her tenancy agreement.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Tribunal had the power under s 122(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1999 (NT) to order a landlord to compensate a tenant for distress and disappointment resulting from the landlord's failure to comply with a statutorily imposed term requiring reasonable steps to ensure the premises were reasonably secure. This also involved considering whether common law principles of remoteness, which typically preclude recovery for mere distress and disappointment unless consequential upon physical inconvenience, applied to this statutory compensation scheme.

The High Court reasoned that the object of s 49(1) of the Act, which mandated landlords to provide and maintain security devices, was to protect both the physical and psychological well-being of tenants, aligning with the Act's broader aim of ensuring safe and habitable premises. The Court held that the statutory right to compensation under s 122(1) was not limited by common law remoteness principles in a way that would exclude compensation for distress and disappointment. The Court found that the CEO's breach of the obligation to provide a secure premises directly caused Ms Young's distress and disappointment, and therefore, compensation for this loss was permissible under the Act.

The High Court allowed the appeal, setting aside an order made by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. The Court also ordered the respondent to pay the appellants' costs of the appeal.