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Tenants Queensland Inc Annual Report 2014-2015

Tenants Queensland Annual Report 2014 - 2015

Table of Contents

Steering Committee Report .........................................................3

Statewide service coordination ....................................................4

Services for tenants - advice & advocacy ...................................... 8

Tenants Queensland Staff .............................................................. 6

Services for tenants - legal services..............................................9

Training & Volunteer Program .................................................. 11

Treasurer’s report ..................................................................... 13

Financial reports ....................................................................... 14

TQ Vision

A society where renting is a secure and respected housing tenure.

TQ Purpose

To unequivocally advocate for and empower tenants to protect and improve their rights through access to effective information, advice and representation.

TQ Focus

All Queenslanders who rent their home, including tenants in private rental, community housing, public housing, caravan parks, boarding houses and hostels.

Aims and Objectives • To improve conditions for residential tenants

• To enhance and protect the rights of residential tenants • To organise about common issues affecting tenants • To educate the community about tenancy law and tenant rights

TQ SC Convenor Peter See

Steering Committee Report

Message from the Convenor

Tenants Queensland (TQ) has continued to deliver quality advisory services to tenants statewide throughout the year despite some on-going challenges.

The volume of people seeking advice continued at record levels during the second half of 2014, however our small but committed staff team continued to assist as many people as possible. These months saw TQ consolidate its re-invigorated volunteer program.

In December 2014, almost 16 years to the day in our Fortitude Valley office, TQ moved into a new office in Spring Hill. Moving is never easy but our tight budgetary circumstances certainly provided challenges in finding an appropriate property. Downsizing was inevitable. Happily TQ surmounted these challenges and is now fully set up, settled in and remains located in the outskirts of Brisbane City.

Early in 2015 TQ forged a new partnership with the University of Queensland’s Pro Bono Centre in the School of Law resulting in our first structured student clinic commencing in March. I want to thank UQ as well as the Ian Potter Foundation who have funded this exciting program for three years.

Following the change of government early in 2015 and fulfilling a pre-election promise, a new statewide Tenant Advisory Program is currently subject to tender by the Palaszczuk government. In the meantime TQ was approached to deliver an interim service, expanding our statewide telephone advice opening hours and the number of lines available. This provided immediate relief to the large numbers of renters seeking independent advice and who were previously unable to get through to our advice workers.

Our interim service commenced on June 1 and we anticipate the new program will commence on October 1. I want to thank the new government for its commitment to tenant advisory services and its recog- nition of TQ’s work and approach regarding interim services.

The official opening of the Spring Hill office by Minister Enoch was both a milestone and a highlight for the year.

I also wish to thank the state and federal governments for their continued support through funding under the Community Legal Services Program, allowing TQ to continue our specialised residential tenancies community legal practice.

Throughout the year we have continued to be supported by our staff, new and established volunteers, law students, pro bono law firms and workers, members and supporters. I sincerely thank everyone for their efforts and acknowledge the voluntary work of many supporters. Whilst our unmet demand remained high for most of the year, our volunteers made a positive difference to our capacity.

I particularly wish to thank Clayton Utz for their support with the commercial lease negotiations and Herbert Smith Freehills for their help with contract negotiations on the interim service. Both firms provided pro bono assistance which was invaluable.

Finally I would like to thank my fellow Steering Committee members who despite their busy lives continually commit their time and effort to developing TQ’s strategic directions and delivering good governance.

Peter See | Tenants Queensland Convenor

Tenants Queensland Inc | Annual Report 14-15 3

Statewide service coordination

It has been a challenging yet satisfying year for our relatively small staff team, pro bono partners and volunteers.

Record levels of demand from across the state for tenancy advice and assistance continued, massively outstripping our capacity to deliver. To expand this ability, TQ continued to develop its volunteer program; pursued new relationships with pro bono firms and universities and worked as creatively as possible to meet needs.

TQ also entered the year informing our stakeholders of our recent name change. Within our limited resources, TQ sent the word out and slowly updated our products. This work was done in-house and given the tight resource situation, up to date community education products branded with our old name are still being utilised.

Given the resources we had to work with, regular newsletters and member communications were at a minimum over the year. We thank all our members for their continued support and understanding of our resource constraints.

TQ still managed to deliver a new series of factsheets for sharehouse renters and renters experiencing violence, funded by the Gaming Community Benefit Fund whom we thank. The series of three: Share Housing – Your legal status; Terminating Co-tenancies When Not All Tenants Leave; and, When Violence Affects Your Tenancy - were finalised late in 2014 and fill an information gap.

We also worked closely with our peak body, the Queensland Association of Independent Legal Services (QAILS) to deliver research on the impact of the cuts to tenancy advice services on homelessness. The project, which included a survey of numerous community organisations, indicated the benefits of having access to early intervention tenancy advice and that a decrease in access to free advice impacted negatively on the number of people who become homeless.

We sincerely thank StreetSmart for funding and the UQ Pro Bono Centre and Murphy Schmidt Lawyers for their pro bono research assistance.

We also commenced an exciting project to research ways in which we can deepen our practice in tenant engagement and participation. We are working closely with community housing tenants and two partner organisations to understand this area better. To date

we have learnt a lot but we have more to do. The outcomes from this energising and thought provoking project will be delivered during the next year.

Despite these projects TQ’s clear focus for the year was direct service delivery. The demand for tenancy advice and assistance continued at record levels with only a small staff team assisted by volunteers and students who attempted to assist as many people as possible. Despite this, the vast majority of people seeking assistance, until the commencement of the interim service on June 1, 2015, went unassisted. Throughout the 2014/2015 year, 95,000 calls were attempted to the telephone advice service.

An interim telephone advice service was commenced on June 1 with the support of the newly elected Palaszczuk government. This allowed services to expand six-fold and provided relief to many renters seeking independent advice as well as the hard working TQ staff and volunteers.

The interim advice service will operate for four months. During this time the Palaszczuk government will develop and put out to tender a new statewide program of tenant advice and support. We thank the Queensland government for providing support for the interim advice service and look forward to assisting wherever we can in the development of the new program.

Despite the extremely difficult service delivery environment following the significant loss of funding at the end of 2013, TQ can be proud of what it’s achieved during the year. These achievements have only been made possible by the dedication and hard work of all our staff, volunteers and students and we sincerely thank them all for their generosity and commitment.

4 Tenants Queensland Inc | Annual Report 14-15

Statewide service coordination cont

Tenants Queensland was honoured to have the Hon Leeanne Enoch, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for

Science and Innovation, officially open our new premises at Spring Hill.

We were also heartened by the support of longstanding supporters and

organisations attending the opening.

Staff and Committee join with Hon Leeanne Enoch and Grace Grace to

cut the ribbon

Grace Grace, Member for Brisbane with Peter See L-R: Joe Hurley, BHC; Ray Rapinette, CEO Delegate RTA;

Janet Arber, RTA; Martin Winney; Robin Zakharov


Tenants Queensland staff

Staffing at Tenants Queensland was, for most of the year, restricted to a small crew of long term staff juggling all roles and tasks from governance to data input.

The announcement of the interim telephone service lead to the recruitment of additional staff late in the year, bringing , much to the relief of the staff and volunteers who had carried

Earlier Camielle Donaghey and Wendy Herman further refined TQ’s volunteer program and in late July inducted 13 volunteer students. Most student volunteers worked in groups of 3 on different days to allow supervision.

The volunteer program also continued to allow the further development of individual skills with some volunteers accepting offers of paid employment with TQ later in the year.

In August we had assistance from marketing students who volunteered to assist TQ develop strategies for promoting the organization through social media. This led to updates for the website and also eventually the launching of our face book page.

Our hard working committee members once again made their determined contribution to the organization during what was a demanding period of restricted funding.

Ex Staff member Jean Budden catching up with Advice

worker Mandy Hillyar

Steering Committee

Peter See (Convenor) Damian Eckersley (Secretary)

Maria Leebeek (Treasurer)

Members: Peter Young; Rohan Tate; Catherine Laherty

Thank you to all the staff who contributed to the Tenants Queensland vision during 2014/15


Staff members 2015-2015

Jacinta Arnold Julie Bartlett Rose Brown

Jean Budden

Penny Carr

Judith Clarkin

Lurline Comerford

Simon Dilly Camielle Donaghey Janet Dunn

Katherine Fenwick Wendy Herman Mandy Hillyar Tracey-Lee Lewis Janice McDonald Frank Stinson Sally Watson Ron Whittington Vikki Wilkes

Tenants Queensland staff cont

TCAM

TCAM evolved within TQ during the 2014 year to replace the Caravan and Manufactured Home Residents Association (CAMRA) which had been a specialist TAAS service for residents of caravan and manufactured home parks.

Following the closure of the TAAS services it has been evident that there remains a need for residents of these parks to have access to free and reliable advice, assistance and advocacy. PAVIL at Caxton Legal Service has been funded to deliver outcomes in the Manufactured Homes sector and TQ continues to achieve good outcomes for residents in caravan parks.

During the year TQ continued to provide caravan park related telephone advice as well as legal casework assistance for disputes involving issues impacting on caravan park residents. These cases, by virtue of their

inherent complexity, may involve QCAT applications with industry wide implications.

Another role for TCAM has been that of systemic advocacy. Over the course of the year TQ participated in the Qld Government’s review of the Manufactured Homes (Residential Parks) Act as a member of the Ministerial Working Party.

The role of the Working Party is to examine the issues indentified in the community survey and develop a Consultative Regulatory Impact Statement. The end game from TQ’s perspective is to achieve notable enhancement to resident’s legislative protection and rights.

This year has been challenging due to the loss of targeted funding. However the election result in January has produced a renewed optimism.


L-R: Jim Ballard, Eric Bonwick from Sapphire Gardens with Jesse Rutherford, Social Work Student and Ron Whittington, TCAM Worker.

Julie Bartlett, TQ Solicitor with Rohan Tate, TQ Committee Member

“

Services for tenants - advice and advocacy

Tenants Queensland provides a range of services to assist tenants to understand and exercise their legal rights and maintain secure residential tenancies.

Over the last 12 months services for tenants have included:-

• Statewide phone advice services for tenants across Queensland

• Appointments for face-to-face advice for tenants with high support needs

• Advocacy support for tenants where required

• Assistance with preparing documents

• Preparation for tenancy tribunal hearings in QCAT

• Specialised legal services for complex tenancy matters

• Tenancy law publications online, via email or via post

• Tenancy videos to help tenants resolve disputes

• Community education and aware- ness activities

Advice services 2014-2015 Tenancy advices provided by paralegal staff are checked by TQ solicitors or their nominated persons.

Over the entire year, 3260 advices to approximately 2750 households were delivered. These figures are significantly less than the previous year due to our reduced capacity to provide a full time advice service. Without funding we operated a part time telephone advice service staffed by volunteers.

Following the State election in January the Queensland Government made good on their promise to reinstate a tenant advice service for Queensland tenants. TQ has been funded to provide an interim,

Problem Type by risk of homelessness

QCAT Appeals QCAT Represent

QCAT Prep QCAT Info

fulltime advice service since 1 June this year. Consequently the amount of advice provided in the last 2 months of this financial year is approximately 25% of the total

Lessor Inquiry Mortgagee in Possession

Pets Tenancy Databases

Tenancy Other Rooming Accommodation

DoH Policies & Procedures Share accomm

Ending tenancy Warrant of Possession Terminationby lessor

Break lease Terminationby tenant

Compliance with the Act Tenancy Disputes

Tenancy notice Tenancy repairs

Tenancy security Tenancy access

Tenancy privacy Fees & other charges

Rent Arrears Rent increases Tenancy rent Tenancy bond

Water Tenancy services

Applications Tenancy agreement

Natural Disasters Sale of Premises

Rights and responsibilities

Yes

No

Not Applic

0 100 200 300 400 500

amount.

The chart on left shows the types of problems which renters sought advice on and how many of those renters were at risk of homelessness.

Referrals to TQ

• Most of our referrals came from: • Self, family, friends 36% • Residential Tenancies Authority

21% • Community Organisations 7% • Other Community Legal Centres 8%

The advice worker gave me step-by-step

advice on what to do and as a result I

am happy to report I received a full refund

of my bond


Services for tenants - legal services

TQ provides advice and supports renters across the state.

Origin of calls to Tenants Qld Advice Service Total 10,244

Mackay & Surrounds 342

Rockhampton 153

Toowoomba &

Surrounds 309 Ipswich & Surrounds 97

Townsville 397

Cairns & Surrounds 1165

Fraser Coast 547

Greater Brisbane &

Surrounds 4358

Sun Coast & Surround

1157

GoldCoast & Surrounds

1719

Greater Brisbane & Surrounds GoldCoast & Surrounds Sun Coast & Surround

Fraser Coast Cairns & Surrounds Townsville

Mackay & Surrounds Rockhampton Toowoomba & Surrounds

Ipswich & Surrounds

Legal Services

The Legal Service undertakes case work for tenancy matters that meet the TQ casework guidelines, including test cases where the outcome has potential to advance tenants’ rights or clarify aspects of tenancy law.

The Legal Service also provides specialised legal support to TQ’s advice service and training services on the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and the Queensland Administrative and Civil Tribunal. The Legal Service provides legal-checks of all telephone advice sheets to ensure that advices are consistent and in compliance with the tenancy laws. This year, the Legal Service provided telephone 1228 advices, and 125 help desk advices. The Legal Service checked 3261 advices and opened 20 case files.

In addition, all TQ publications are scrutinised by the Legal Service to ensure compliance with the law.

This year TQ provided 3260 advices. TQ Legal Services

provided 1228 of these advices


Case 1 The client was a single mother of two very young girls, she lived in a caravan on a site at the back of a storage yard. The caravan had little electricity and no water, the tenant lived there for two years because she could not get housing due to a tenancy database listing. The client was listed incorrectly and contrary to the provisions contained in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 by the letting agent.

The client had initially applied to QCAT to have the listing removed as the TAAS service defunding had affected her ability to obtain assistance. QCAT dismissed the tenant’s application as the agent had written a letter to the tribunal, stating that she should not be removed and that she owed them money, but had failed to provide any evidence to support their allegations.

The tenant contacted TQ seeking assistance, she then obtained housing with a Community Housing provider, after receiving some information and forms from our service. The tenant was also successful in her application to have the TICA listing removed.

Services for tenants - legal services

UQ Law Student Clinic

Semester 1 of February 2015 marked the commencement of the UQ Law Student Clinic made possible through a grant of funding from the Ian Potter Foundation. The clinic is made up of six students and the principal solicitor, who supervises all their advices and case work. The law students opened 3 minor casework files but assisted 40 tenants write letters, draft initiating application and complete QCAT and RTA forms.

The students reported that they found the client contact rewarding. The clinic will run for two semesters per year over three years. Clients found the work of the clinic valuable and Tenants Queensland would like to thank the Ian Potter Foundation for their contribution.

L-R Volunteer Hannah Bowcock with Clinic Students Will Isdale, Jane Brouwers & Libby Carmichael

Case 2 The Legal Service opened two cases involving the same lessor but different tenants. The first tenant terminated the agreement within three months of moving in due to the lessor’s failure to repair. Shortly afterwards the second tenant moved in and then sought advice from TQ regarding terminating for similar repair issues. The lessor is a notorious Brisbane Real Estate Agent who manages his own rental properties. These properties have obvious repair and maintenance issues which has brought this lessor to the attention of the Brisbane City Council. The lessor had been operating since the early 1990s and TQ had been involved in many complaints against the lessor to both the Office of Fair Trading and to the RTA’s Legal Investigation Unit. Both tenants reported similar issues which included the non-lodgement of rental bonds, failure to repair and maintain the rental premises, special terms which appear to contract out of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and breaches to their quiet enjoyment with the lessor living next door in a similarly run down premises.

The first tenants terminated their tenancy due to repair and maintenance issues, the lessor then proceeded to pursue them in the Magistrates Court for a Minor Debt, alleging they terminated without valid grounds and owed him $1800.00 TQ assisted on having the matter transferred to QCAT and with a defence to the lessor’s claim. The lessor increased his claim to just over $3000.00 to include costs and legal fees. The tenant succeeding in having most of the lessor’s claim dismissed however the two JP’s who heard the matter had erroneously awarded the lessor $150.00 for gutter cleaning, clearly the lessors obligation. The tenant is yet to decide whether or not to appeal.

The second case involved the tenants who took over the premises within weeks of the first tenants leaving. The tenants sought to terminate due to the lessor’s failure to repair or maintain the premises. The lessor had also failed to lodge their bond with the Residential Tenancies Authority and included a term in the tenancy agreement which required the tenants to clean the gutters of his premises.

The tenants were successful in their QCAT application for termination and they are now seeking to claim compensation frrm the lessor for his breaches of his obligation under the Tenancy Agreement.


Training and Volunteer Program

Training

Tenants Queensland provides tenancy law training, professional development and tenancy law resources for community advocates. Since the demise of the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service and the withdrawal of funding for our training programme, Tenants Qld continued to offer this training on a fee for service basis.

These courses continued due to the increasing need of community workers and community legal centres who were now assisting tenants.

Our partnership with Tenants Union New South Wales, a registered training organisation, enables us to offer two accredited courses: Queensland Residential Training for Tenant Advocates and Tribunal Preparation and Hearings. These accredited courses form the backbone of the training for tenant advocates and provide an opportunity to obtain nationally recognised certificates of competency in four units of the CHC41012 Certificate IV in Community Services (Advocacy):

• Use relevant legislation in response to client needs (CHCLEG411A)

• Advocate for Clients (CHCAD401D) • Work within a relevant legal and ethical framework

(CHCCS400A) • Represent clients in court (CHCAD505A) To meet the skills and knowledge demands of the increasing complex role of tenant advocate we have continued to enhance our range of professional development workshops. Training is delivered face to face, via phone and online.

During 2014-2015 TQ has conducted the following training:

3 x Accredited Residential Training (3 days) – 25 participants

5 x Tailored workshops including targeted Domestic Violence in tenancies – 62 participants

3 x Online webinars

Participant Satisfaction

“Relevant to my work. I am better equipped to support tenants with my developed understanding of tenancy law”

“Excellent trainer, very engaging, ap- proachable, natural style and knowl- edgeable! Thank you very much.”

“Really made the legislation much clearer for me & how it can be used in my work to make tenancies better for my clients from migrant back- grounds.”

“Excellent, flexible, clear – easy to understand. Clarified well where nec- essary”

Clinic Students in training in our Phone Advice Service


Training and Volunteer Program

Volunteers

During 2014-2015 TQ advice services were supported by the TQ volunteer program. This program was established at the beginning of 2014. During 2014- 2015 around 40 volunteers attended TQ volunteer induction activities with over half going on to provide weekly volunteer advice shifts.

The TQ volunteer program aims to enhance TQ advice services for tenants and promote TQ community engagement.

During 2014-2015 volunteers provided 587 advices for tenants (an average of 48 advices each month). All volunteer advices are supervised by experienced advice workers and the TQ solicitor. TQ advice volunteers have increased TQ advice capacity by around 20%.

Volunteers further enhanced TQ capacity by assisting TQ to deliver community education activities, develop resources, and carry out administrative tasks, such as CLSIS data entry.

In 2014-2015 the TQ volunteer program has included:

• Three volunteer induction training sessions and ongoing volunteer supervision;

• An informal 12 week volunteer law student clinic run between July and Dec 2014; and

• Volunteer advice contributions from individual law students, qualified solicitors, law graduates and experienced former TQ and tenant advice workers.

With a focus on enhancing our tenancy law advice services, TQ has mainly sought to recruit volunteers from law students, graduates and practicing solicitors.

When recruiting volunteers TQ seeks an initial 6 month commitment. However TQ has also responded to volunteer needs for flexible options, thus enabling volunteers to respond to changed study or work demands.

During 2015 TQ undertook a review of our volunteer program. This review sought to review the role of TQ volunteers and identify clearer roles and induction procedures for new advice volunteers.

Looking ahead to 2015-2016 TQ will offer a staged process that will enable volunteers to develop tenancy intake and advice skills over a 6 month period.

TQ has benefited greatly from our volunteer program, which has brought fresh energy and enthusiasm into the organisation at a very challenging time.

Many thanks to all our wonderful TQ Volunteers.

We look forward to working with our volunteers and

welcoming new volunteers into the organisation in

2015-2016.

Clinic Students Rosa Sottile and Maddie King with Volunteer Bryony Walters


Treasurer’s Report

The financial statements for the period ending the 30th June 2014 have been prepared to meet the requirements of the Tenants Queensland Inc. under the Associations Incorporations Act QLD, and have been audited by Hayward’s Chartered Accountants and declared to be in accordance with current accounting standards.

A financial reflection of the year

The 2014-15 year has again been one in which there has been major change in the area of funding.

For the bulk of the year Tenants Queensland continued to operate with a tiny budget by deliberately expending savings to ensure a basic phone advice service was maintained. Despite the financial challenges, TQ continued to operate with exceptional financial probity.

Department of Housing and Public Works

In 2015 the incoming State government took steps to deliver on a pre-election commitment to restore tenant advice service funding throughout the State. In June the Department of Housing and Public Works provided four months interim funding to Tenants Queensland (and via subcontract to Enhance Care) to enable the immediate expansion of phone advice services.

I thank the State Government for their financial commitment to local tenant advice services and their support of Tenants Queensland.

Community legal centres funding

The State government, through the State Department of Justice and the Attorney General, continues to acknowledge the importance of providing legal support for tenants and TQ continues to receive funding from the joint state and federally funded Community Legal Centres Program.

I thank both the State and Commonwealth governments for their support.

Current funding outlook Late in the year organisations were asked to submit proposals for the delivery of a comprehensive Statewide tenancy advice and referral service to the Department of Housing and Public Works. Staff and Board members worked many long hours to prepare a comprehensive response to the tender proposal, and the service was ultimately successful in being selected as the preferred proponent of all elements of the Statewide Advice and Referral Service (STARS) for tenants. Many thanks to all who assisted, and special thanks to the Partner organisations that form an integral part of the STARS service delivery model.

Appointment of Auditor 2015-2016 Thanks again to our Auditors who have never hesitated to respond with generous professionalism to any queries we have.

I would like to recommend the appointment of Hayward’s Chartered Accountants to audit TQ accounts for the 2015-2016 financial year.

The Financial Reports for the 2014-2015 demonstrate that TQ remains both accountable and proficient at its capacity to manage financial matters and pressures presented to it.

TQ Treasurer | Maria Leebeek


Maria Leebeek, Treasurer

Financial reports

TENANTS QUEENSLAND INC. AUDITOR' S CERTIFICATION

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2015

Ihereby certify that:

(a) I am not a principal, member, shareholder, officer, employee or accountant of the Organisation or of a related body corporate as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001;

(b) In my opinion, the attached financial statements of Tenants Queensland nc. for the year

ended 30 June 2015 are:

i. based on proper accounts and present a true and fair view of the Organisation's financial position and financial performance in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards and other mandatory professional reporting requirements in Australia, and

ii. in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement Commonwealth of

Australia and Legal Aid Queensland and Tenants Queensland Inc. dated 1 July 2010,a copy of which has been made available to me, in relation to the provision of community legal services.

(c) The 12 month CLSID Funds Report, containing details of the Organisation's transactions

for the financial year, including audit adjustments, and the Organisation's grant position at the beginning and end of the financial year is provided in respect of funds provided in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Agreement referred to in b.ii. above for all Funding Categories.

This is an unqualified audit report.

Ihereby further certify that, in my opinion there is no conflict of interest between myself and the Organisation of its Management Committee.

AUDITOR DETAILS

Full name: Phillip Fitzgerald

Name of Company: Haywards Chartered Accountants

ACN or ABN: 57 132 200 488

Registration No.: 15079

Date: 2_:::i-. O....=d.:.-._...:):;..=..;;.S' _

14 Tenants Queensland Inc I Annual Report 14-15

Financial reports cont...

INCOME

1.

TENANTS QUEENSLAND I NC.. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT


Department of Families - Grant Received

2,700,000.00

- Less Amount Auspiced (1,521,955.20)

0.00 1,178,044.80 Department of Communities - Unexpended Grant Previous Year

9,979.53

9,979.53

- Less Unexpended Grant (8,135.25) (9,979.53)

1,844.28 0.00 Department of Communities - Unexpended Grant Previous Year

77,306.47

77,306.47

- Less Unexpended Grant (21,258.24) (77,306.47)

56,048.23 0.00 Department of Housing and Public Works - Grant Received 76,279.25 - Less Unexpended Grant (76,279.25)

0.00 0.00 Legal Aid Office - Unexpended Grant Previous Year

4,175.00

- Grant Received 280,234.00 219,374.00

280,234.00 223,549.00 Grant - Office of Liquor and Gaming Registration - Unexpended Grant Previous Year

4,579.78

- Grant Received 24,934.55 - Less Unexpended Grant (4,579.78)

4,579.78 20,354.77 Grant - catholic Religious Australia - Grant Received

9,975.00

- Less Unexpended Grant (8,468.42) 1,506.58

Donations · 4,523.81 38,228.61 Fees Received

Interest Memberships Sundry ncome Workshop Fees

LESS EXPENDITURE

Total Expenditure - Schedule Attached

NET PROFIT FOR YEAR

The accompany ing notes form part of the financial statements.

240.00 350.00 31,675.94 58,969.36

1,677.00 1,921.78 290.91

16,414.54 19,159.11

54,822.20 118,628.86

399,035.07 1,540,577.43

560,509.31 1,361,079.43

$(161,474.24) $179,498.00

Tenants Queensland Inc I Annual Report 14-15 15

Financial reports cont ...

2.

TENANTS OUEENSLANP INC, I NCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT


LESS EXPENPU URE

Audit & Accountancy

5000.00

7000.00 Auspiced Net Enhancement Expenses 25,375.00 Bank Charges 653.52 791.85 Catering 41.82 837.92 Cleaning 687.45 6935.54 Computer Supplies 6,418.91 3909.47 Conferences & Workshops 321.32 190.31 Consultancy Fees 1,325.00 2105.11 Depreciation 3,887.00 7,059.00 Electricity 3,002.49 11,265.61 Hire Costs 54.55 2,249.31

Insurance 2,173.42 5,538.45 Meeting Costs 3,907.16 10,357.86 Minor Equipment 1,729.18 159.28 Printing, Postage & Stationery 6,331.45 23,324.56 Project Expenses 2,955.40 Relocation Costs 8,286.84 Rent 37,842.46 98,987.23 Resources and Materials 2,377.55 2,984.71 Security 812.69 1,156.20 Staff Recruitment 115.00 1,595.79 Subscriptions & Memberships 7,014.55 8,872.87 Sundry Expenses 867.94 2,052.34 Superannuation 36,947.76 87,468.23 Telephone 20,111.34 34,034.78 Training 1,277.97 3,834.04 Travel 345.30 10,356.85 Wages & Salaries 377,795.67 1,022,987.27 Workers' Compensation 2,850.57 5,024.85

TOTAL EXPENDITURE $560,509.31 $1,361,079.43

The accompanying notes form part of the financial statements.

16 Tenants Queensland Inc I Annua l Report 14-15




4.

TENANTS QUEENSLA ND NC. ASSETS ANP U AB LITJES SfAllMENT

AS AT 30 JUNE 2015

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Receipts

Legal Aid Queensland 280,234.00 219,374.00 Dept of Housing & Public Works Grants - Commonwealth 76,279.25 2,700,000.00 catholic Religious Australia 9,975.00

Interest 33,546.01 61,847.70 Other ncome 17,086.26 84,930.21 Payments Auspice Payments 25,375.00 1,521,955.20 Wages & Salaries 392,611.30 1,055,081.30 Other 150,416.43 327,668.52

Net cash provided by (used In) operating activities (151,282.21) 161,446.89

CASH FLOWS FROM NVESTING ACTIVITIES

Payment for purchase of plant & equipment 26,361.78 Payment of Rental Guarantee 30,635.00 Net cash provided by (usedIn)investing activities $56,996.78 $0.00

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Netincrease/(decrease) in cash held (208,278.99) 161,446.89 cash at beginning of the reporting period 1,136,208.85 974,761.96

Cash at end of the reporting period $927,929.86 $1,136,208.85

Reconciliatlon of Net Surplus/ Deficit to Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities

Operating Result (161,474.24) 179,498.00 - Depreciation 3,887.00 7,059.00 - ncrease/(Decrease) in Payables 15,248.31 {4,138.80) - ncrease/(Decrease) in Provisions (27,028.73) (32,094.03) - ( ncrease)/Decrease in Deposits & Debtors (4,189.93} 10,717.94 - ncrease/(Decrease) in Grants Unexpended 22,275.38 404.78

Net cash provided by (used In) operat ng activities $(151,282.21) $161,446.89

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.









8.

TENANTS QUEENSLAND NC.

STATEMENT BY MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

The committee has determined that the association is not a reporting entity and that this special purpose financial report should be prepared In accordancewith the aooounting policies outlined in Note 1to the financial statements.

In the opinion of the committee the financial report as set out on pages 1to 24.

1. Presents fairly the financial position of Tenants QueenslandInc. as at 30 June 2015 and its performance for the year ended of that date.

2. At the date of this statement,there are reasonable grounds to believe that Tenants Queensland

Inc. will be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due.

This statement is made in accordance with a resolution of the Committee and is signed for and on behalf of the Committee by:

,1 rA /\ 11

President __.I_::_' U V _'-- ----------

Treasurer _ ,_t:!.1f..'..i..;:.........>U"'-"'{::.+.----------

Dated this 12"' day of October 2015.

22 Tenants Queensland Inc IAnnual Report 14-15

The accompanying notes form part of the financial statements.



Financial re ports cont ...

10.

The financial report has been prepared for distribution to members for the purpose of fulfilling the committee's financial reporting under the Associations ncorporatiOn Act. We disclaim any assumptiOn of responsibility for any reliance on this report or on the financial report to whichit relates to any person other than the members, or for any purpose other than that for which it was prepared.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Independence

In conducting our audit, we have complied with the independence requirements of Australian professional ethical pronouncements.

Auditor's Opinion

In our opinion,the financial report of Tenants QueenslandInc. presents fairly, In all material respects

the financial position of Tenants QueenslandInc. as of 30 June 2015 and of its financial performance for the year then ended in accordance with the accounting policies described in Note 1to the financial statements and the requirements of the AssociationsIncorporations ACT (Qld).

12 OCTOBER 2015 BRISBANE




Financial reports cont ...

12.

TENANTS OUEENSLANP I NC. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT


GENERAL ACCOUNT

INCOME

Government Grant ncome

- Unexpended Grant Previous Year 9,979.53 91,461.00 - Grant Received 2,700,000.00 - Less Unexpended Grant (8,135.25) (87,286.00) - Less Amount Auspiced (1,521,955.20)

1,844.28 1,182,219.80 Donations 4,523.81 38,228.61 Fees Received 240.00 350.00 Grant - Office of Liquor and Gaming Registration 4,579.78 20,354.77

Interest 31,675.94 58,969.36 Memberships 1,677.00 1,921.78 Workshop Fees 20,877.12 19,159.11 SundryIncome 290.91

65,708.84 1,321,203.43 LESS EXPENDITURE Audit 2,500.00 4,000.00 Bank Charges 409.47 227.77 Catering 1,105.54 580.68 Cleaning 352.93 5,781.67 Computer Expenses 2,228.14 3,068.67 Conferences & Workshops 27.28 140.31 Consultancy Fees 875.00 1,218.75 Depreciation 3,731.00 4,751.00 Electricity 1,471.68 7,860.90 Hire Costs 2,249.31

Insurance 823.07 2,993.91 Meeting Expenses 2,815.31 6,590.69 Minor Equipment 864.59 159.28 Printing, Postage and Stationery 3,016.48 14,852.62 Relocation Cost 7,949.04 Rent 11,250.76 88,637.23 Resources and Materials 2,984.71 Security 323.76 710.40 Staff Recruitment 480.00 Subscriptions and Memberships 4,574.06 4,839.50 Superannuation 15,861.48 73,494.03 Sundry Expenses 881.91 1,897.35 Telephone 7,926.86 24,805.75 Training 3,328.24 3,640.40 Travel 95.86 10,067.49 Wages and Salaries 151,428.83 867,688.44 Workers' Compensation 1,425.36 4,288.30

225,266.65 1,138,009.16

NET !.!BeL!.! EQR THE YEAR $(159,557.81) $183,1 94.27


Financial reports cont


Tenants Queensland Inc is a specialist community legal

centre funded by the State and Commonwealth governments

We have been providing services to tenants and others who rent

their home since 1986

Statewide Office: Suite 3, 67 St Pauls Terrace SPRING HILL QLD 4000 Phone: (07) 3832 9447 eFax: (07) 3910 1108

E-mail: [email protected]

For tenancy advice call 1300 744 263 or for information visit our website at www.tenantsqld.org.au

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tenantsqld.org.au/

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