Juliana ADDISON (Wendouree) (16:45): I am very proud today to speak on the bill that seeks to increase and strengthen protection for Victorian renters, shoring up education and registration standards for property professionals, and bolstering penalties for those doing wrong. The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 also proposes improvements to planning processes and clarifies the role of VCAT in alternate dispute resolutions.

I certainly do not support the opposition’s amendment to withdraw the bill. This is a very important bill, and we need it to proceed. It is a lengthy bill and an important bill, and in the sum of its parts it will make a real and substantial difference for renters in my electorate of Wendouree and across Victoria.

In my contribution today I will be focusing one particular clause that has particular significance for my community and the family who have powerfully advocated for the reform. Clause 17 extends the requirement for annual smoke detector checks to all residential rental properties in Victoria, particularly the 240,000 rental properties excluded from the 2021 tenancy reforms. Smoke alarms save lives. Homes without functioning smoke alarms are dangerous and lead to preventable deaths.

Since this bill was first introduced, in the last sitting week of last year, we have had a change of minister, and I am so pleased that he is in the chamber. I wish to congratulate the member for Bentleigh on his promotion to Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Local Government. It is terrific to have you here.

I would also like to thank the previous Minister for Consumer Affairs, the member for Dandenong, for pursuing the reforms to make sure every rental in Victoria has a smoke alarm inspected once a year, following the fierce advocacy of Simon Scarff’s family. These reforms will save lives.

In 2022 Simon Scarff was 52 years old and lived in Alfredton in my electorate. He lived on Almurta Street, a street that I know like the back of my hand. It is not far from my childhood home and a street on my paper round. I would have ridden up and down that street a thousand times, passing the flat where Simon’s life was tragically taken after it was consumed by fire.

Members of Si’s family are in the public gallery to witness what their advocacy has achieved and to ensure that no other family should ever have to experience what they have. Thank you to Therese Scarff; to Jo and Paul McConville and their children Georgia, Bella and Xavier; and to Paul’s parents Anne and John McConville for being here today. Si’s mum Joan Scarff, a magnificent woman, stayed in Ballarat, but she is here in spirit, and we look forward to catching up with her next week to tell her when this has all been passed.

I never met Simon Scarff. However, since his death I have learned that there are several connections between his family and mine. Si attended the Villa Maria primary school with my brothers, and Si’s grandfather was our butcher. Just two blocks from where I live now his parents ran a small business. It is so Ballarat to have such intertwined lives.

Si died in the most horrific way after there was a fire in his rental flat and he was unable to escape. Si called 000 for help but was unable to communicate his situation or answer the questions asked by the operator. Despite the efforts of the 000 operator to establish what support was needed, there was no indication of a fire at the property as there was no smoke alarm sounding.

The coroners report found that Mr Scarff succumbed to the effect of the fire while trying to escape the premises and that at the time of the fire there was no smoke alarm installed in the premises, despite one being required pursuant to building regulations. A recommendation by Coroner Paul Lawrie from the finding into the death without inquest of deceased Simon Peter Scarff on 26 October 2023 is:

… that the Minister for Government Services/Minister for Consumer Affairs consider amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (or other such amendments as may be necessary) so that the safety related activities defined within section 27(2) of the Act … may apply to all rental agreements, including rental agreements entered before 29 March 2021.

Through the Coroners Court Jo and Therese learned that in July 2023 43.5 per cent of existing rental agreements in Victoria – more than 240,000 rental households – had entered into leases prior to 29 March 2021. Like Si, tenants living in these homes are not protected by the 2021 rental tenancies reforms, including smoke alarm safety-related requirements.

The suffering experienced by Si is hard to comprehend, and it continues to haunt his family. They have listened to the 000 call from that fateful morning, listened to his distress as he sought assistance. His mother Joan wishes she could have swapped places with him, that she could have experienced what happened to him so he did not have to.

Action was needed to ensure that Coroner Lawrie’s recommendation was adopted. Following the coroner’s finding, the Scarff family started a petition on change.org in December 2023 calling for the recommendation of the coroner to be adopted by the minister and implemented. They wanted to ensure that no-one else was killed in a household fire and that all Victorian rentals received the same protections and level of safety on their homes regardless of the agreement date or lease type. More than 5000 people have signed their petition.

I received an email from Si’s sister Jo McConville in December 2023 on behalf of her mother Joan and sister Therese. She wrote:

On Saturday the 12th of February 2022 my brother died in a fire at his home which was a rental property, 1/13 Almurta St, Alfredton … Coroner Lawrie has made a recommendation that the Minister for Government Services/Minister for Consumer Affairs consider amendments to the relevant legislation so that the safety-related activities in respect of gas, electrical and smoke alarm activities, may apply to all existing rental arrangements.

My brother’s name is Simon Peter Scarff he was born on 29/05/1969

Coroner Lawrie has requested that the findings be published, so it is available on the Coronial website for you to read.

We are asking for your support to have this recommendation adopted –

… so all renters are protected by the same laws. Our aim is that Si’s suffering and death are not in vain and that all renters are protected by the same safety standards.

I met with the powerful sisters a couple of weeks later on 10 January, and their advocacy was compelling. I then spoke to the minister and organised for her to meet with Jo and Therese in Ballarat soon after. There were tears as the sisters shared Si’s story and the impact that it had on all of their lives as well as their pleas to take action so no other family would have to experience what they had to.

The minister listened and acted, and it was a privilege – one of the best days ever – to join with the then Minister for Consumer Affairs and members of Si’s family in Ballarat on 19 November last year to announce that the reforms campaigned for would be adopted by the Allan Labor government. It was one of my proudest days as an MP – yes, just great, to be there with your mum and your uncle and everyone. It was amazing.

As a direct outcome of the advocacy of the Scarff family, the changes proposed in this bill will make rental properties safer by requiring rental providers to conduct smoke alarm, gas and electrical safety checks by qualified tradespersons for all residential rental properties.

Thank you to the former Minister for Consumer Affairs the Honourable Gabrielle Williams for her compassion, determination and commitment to make this significant change for renters and for 240,000 homes across Victoria. The Scarff family have been so generous in sharing their story. Despite their immense grief they are to be commended for their advocacy following the death of Si. Thanks to their efforts all renters in Victoria will be safer.

The proposed amendments to the bill will ensure that smoke alarms are tested every year for every rental property. I commend the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 to the house, and in doing so I ask you to support the Scarff family by ensuring that Si’s suffering and death were not in vain and that all renters are protected by uniform safety standards.

 

You can take a look at more of my contributions to Parliament here.