Once you have secured a property, sometimes there may be issues that put your tenancy in jeopardy. There are services available to ensure people are supported to manage any issues that arise with the aim of maintaining rental arrangements.

For those in private rentals, RentConnect can help people to identify tenancy issues, develop tenancy plans and work to improve people’s ability to maintain their tenancy in the future. You can access RentConnect by calling 74 68 and being connected to a Housing Service Centre which provides RentConnect assistance.

You may not need financial support, rather advice and guidance on what your tenancy rights and responsibilities are, resolve a tenancy issue, fill in tenancy forms or how a QCAT tenancy hearing works. For this type of assistance, Tenants Queensland’s Queensland Statewide Tenant Advice and Referral Service (QSTARS) is the service for you. QSTARS can be contacted on 1300 477 263. The Tenants Queensland website also contains resources to help people resolve matters themselves, free advice and template documents.

Should your matter need a third matter to help resolve a dispute, the Rental Tenancies Authority has an online tenancy dispute resolution tool where either the tenant/resident or owner can request a conciliation to resolve the dispute.

An alternative to support programs is upskilling in tenancy skills. Tenancy Skills offers an online self-paced course to learn about your rights and responsibilities, budgeting and communication skills.

Renting a property in the current Queensland housing market can be stressful. There are a range of supports available to assist with the process.

RentConnect is a service that helps people struggling to find and apply for private rentals. The barriers may be due to limited rental history, a lack of skills, knowledge or understanding of how the private rental market works, or due to a lack of documents required for private rentals.

Sometimes the barrier to gaining appropriate housing is financial. The Queensland Government have Bond Loans and Rental Grants which can help cover the cost of bonds (no interest loan which is to be repaid) or 2-weeks rent.

There is currently a trial running for residents in Cairns and the Gold Coast to access No Interest Loans (NILS) to cover the private housing costs. To enquire about these loans, you should contact either the Cairns Housing Service Centre or the Gold Coast Housing Service Centre.  aa

You can access RentConnect, Bond Loans and Rental Grants,  by calling 13 74 68 and being connected to a Housing Service Centre which provides RentConnect assistance. Additionally, the Tenants Assist Qld app and Housing Assist Qld appv can help public housing tenants or bond loan/rental grant customers manage their interactions with the support services.