Rental discrimination still rife

ABORIGINAL people still face discrimination when searching for rental properties, the chairwoman of the Bundjalung Elders Council, Bertha Kapeen, says.

ABORIGINAL people still face discrimination when searching for rental properties, the chairwoman of the Bundjalung Elders Council, Bertha Kapeen, says.

Speaking at the Northern Rivers Housing Forum this week, Ms Kapeen said it was ‘very hard’ for Aboriginal people to get a home.

“Some real estate agents look at you and see that you are Aboriginal and they turn you away. They think you are going to be drunk and having parties all the time,” she said.

“But we are not all like that.

“I have a granddaughter who is in that predicament at the moment. She is trying to find a home for herself and her three-year-old son, but she is struggling.

“It’s time for that to stop. We are humans the same as everyone else.”

Northern NSW Aboriginal Tenants Service co-ordinator Janelle Brown agreed that finding, and keeping, a rental property was still a battle for many Aboriginal people.

“There are a couple of issues, including the affordability of rent,” she said.

“And there is still a lot of racism out there.

“We hear stories and we experience it.

“People will go into a real estate office. There are often times they are told that nothing is available.”

Originally published as Rental discrimination still rife