A public housing policy which saw tenants in the Northern Territory charged a flat rental rate based on the number of bedrooms in their home has been ruled unlawful by the high court, after a three-year challenge brought by residents from two remote Indigenous communities.

The Remote Rental Framework, introduced in stages by the NT government between December 2021 and February 2023, raised rent by up to 200% for two-thirds of Aboriginal tenants living in remote communities in the NT, with more than 5,300 homes affected.

Sign up: AU Breaking News email

On Wednesday, the high court found unanimously that the former NT Labor government did not afford the affected tenants procedural fairness, as required under the Housing Act.

A summary of the judgment said the rental changes “took ef

See Full Page