Our work

In 2019 we started working with Consumer Affairs Victoria on a suite of Easy Read materials about disability accommodation. In July 2019 Consumer Affairs Victoria was given the responsibility of regulating Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) under the Residential Tenancies Act (the Act). SDA is accommodation for people who require specialist housing solutions, including to assist with the delivery of supports that cater for their extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. These could include significant physical limitations, sensory, psychosocial or cognitive impairment or intellectual disability.

The Act covers people with disability living in SDA, so that they have:

• the same rights as other tenants in the general community with additional protections
• more ‘choice and control’ over where they live and with whom.

To help explain people’s rights and responsibilities under the tenancy agreement in a way they understand, we developed a range of Easy Read resources. We developed Easy Read versions of agreements, statements and notices for the SDA providers to use to communicate the changes and their obligations to residents, including:

• SDA residency agreements
• residential tenancy agreements
• information statements
• notices.