The Situation
What They Said
“I'll fix it when I get around to it. You're renting, not owning.”
Essential service failures — broken hot water systems, non-functioning heating in winter, faulty electrical systems, and significant plumbing issues — are far too common in Australian rental properties. Many landlords delay repairs indefinitely, either to avoid the cost, because they are managing properties remotely, or because they know that tenants in tight rental markets are unlikely to push back for fear of losing their housing. The phrase 'you're renting, not owning' is a power move designed to remind the tenant of their subordinate position and suppress their legitimate expectation of a liveable home.
Residential tenancies law is state and territory legislation — the principles described here apply consistently across Australian jurisdictions, though specific notice periods and amounts vary by state. Every Australian state and territory requires landlords to maintain rental properties in a reasonable state of repair, and many jurisdictions now have specific provisions for 'urgent repairs' — issues that affect the tenant's health and safety or involve essential services. Urgent repairs include failures of hot water, heating, gas, electricity, and sewerage. In most states, if a landlord fails to arrange urgent repairs within a required timeframe, the tenant can arrange the repairs themselves and recover the cost from the landlord, up to a statutory cap.
Long-term non-urgent disrepair — leaking roofs, mould from poor ventilation, broken window locks — must also be remedied, and a landlord who fails to do so can be ordered by a tribunal to carry out the repairs and pay compensation for the tenant's reduced enjoyment of the property during the period of disrepair.
The Fallacy
Ownership Maintenance Exemption Fallacy
The landlord is suggesting that the tenant's non-ownership status reduces their entitlement to a functioning home. This inverts the actual legal relationship: the fact that the tenant is renting means the landlord has ongoing legal obligations to maintain the property. The landlord is not doing the tenant a favour by keeping the property in repair — they are fulfilling a statutory duty that is a condition of being permitted to collect rent.
The phrase 'when I get around to it' treats an urgent repair as a discretionary task to be scheduled at the landlord's convenience. For essential services that affect health and safety, this is a fundamental misreading of the law. Tenants are not required to live without hot water or heating for weeks while a landlord decides when they feel like organising a tradesperson. Urgent repair provisions exist precisely to prevent this.
The deeper fallacy is that renting is a lesser form of occupation that carries reduced expectations of habitability. Australian courts and tribunals consistently reject this framing. The standard of habitability that tenants are entitled to under both their lease and the applicable legislation is not reduced by their renter status — it is precisely because they are renting that the legislation imposes maintenance obligations on the person collecting rent.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Residential Tenancies Act (state and territory legislation — principles consistent across jurisdictions)
Landlord's Duty to Maintain and Repair — Landlord's Obligation to Keep Premises in Reasonable Repair
“The landlord must ensure the rented premises are maintained in a reasonable state of repair, having regard to the age and character of the premises and the period of the tenancy.”
Residential tenancies law is state and territory legislation — the principles described here apply consistently across Australian jurisdictions, though specific notice periods and amounts vary by state. This duty is ongoing and does not depend on the tenant reporting every defect. A broken hot water system or non-functioning heating clearly fails to meet the standard of a 'reasonable state of repair,' and a landlord who fails to act promptly is in breach of this obligation.
Residential Tenancies Act (state and territory legislation — principles consistent across jurisdictions)
Urgent Repairs Provisions — Urgent Repairs — Tenant's Right to Act and Recover Costs
“Urgent repairs are repairs that are necessary to supply or restore an essential service, or to avoid danger to life or property, or to avoid significant damage to the premises. If a tenant cannot contact the landlord or agent, or the landlord fails to carry out urgent repairs promptly, the tenant may arrange for the repairs to be carried out and claim the cost from the landlord, up to the prescribed limit.”
Essential services — including hot water, heating, electricity, gas, and sewerage — are treated as urgent repairs in every Australian jurisdiction. If a landlord fails to repair them within the required timeframe (typically 24 hours for immediate dangers, or within a few days for essential service failures), the tenant can engage a licensed tradesperson, pay for the repair, and recover the cost from the landlord. In most states the cost cap is at least $1,000–$2,500.
Residential Tenancies Act (state and territory legislation — principles consistent across jurisdictions)
Compensation for Breach of Repair Duty — Compensation for Reduced Amenity
“Where a landlord has breached their duty to maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair, the tenant may apply to the tribunal for compensation for any loss or damage suffered, including reduced amenity during the period of the breach.”
A tenant who has been without hot water or heating for an extended period is entitled to compensation from the landlord for that reduced amenity — not just the repair itself. Tribunals have awarded rent reduction orders for periods of significant disrepair, and in some cases have ordered landlords to pay for the costs the tenant incurred as a result (such as gym memberships for access to showers or alternative heating costs).
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Isaiah 58:7 (NIV)
“Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Shelter that is safe and functional is not a luxury — it is a basic human need that Scripture repeatedly treats as a matter of justice. A landlord who collects rent while refusing to maintain the basic habitability of the property is taking payment without fulfilling the obligation that payment is meant to secure. Demanding that obligation be fulfilled is the just thing to do.
Ezekiel 22:29 (NIV)
“The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice.”
The prophet identified denying justice to the vulnerable — including in their housing — as one of the social sins that brought judgment on a nation. A tenant who pursues their lawful right to a safe and maintained home is not a nuisance; they are insisting on the justice that both the law and God's word demand. The landlord who dismisses that insistence has a higher accountability than the tribunal.
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