“We get 100s of rental repair inquiries a month, so our digital solutions will help us help more people resolve disputes themselves. ”– Andrew Lopresti, Lawyer at Tenants Victoria.
State-wide community legal center Tenants Victoria helps more renters exercise their rights with Josef
“Josef allows us to meet the escalating need of renters to make their homes safe and healthy.”
State-wide specialist community legal center Tenants Victoria has partnered with Josef to build a range of self-help tools for renters in response to the ongoing housing crisis.
It marks a significant moment for us at Josef as Tenants Victoria served as an initial use case for the platform way back in 2019!
Josef CEO Tom Dreyfus notes, “We’re so proud of the impact our technology is having on access to justice, with Tenants Victoria’s tools set to help 1000s of renters over the next year.”
Speaking on the value of automation for community legal work, Tenants Victoria lawyer Andrew Lopresti adds, “There’s ever-increasing demand for our services, so solutions like Josef really increase our capacity to reach more people.”
Amy Frew, Director of Client Services further notes that, “With Josef, we can dedicate more of our resources to the people who need help the most.”
Out now: Repairs toolkit
To commemorate International Tenants’ Day on October 2nd, the organization launched its first suite of tools, the Repairs Toolkit.
Comprising three separate tools, the Repairs Toolkit enables renters to a) learn about their rights, and b) get around-the-clock help in exercising them.
The free-to-use tools each help with:
- Understanding rental repair rights,
- Engaging with landlords to resolve issues, and
- Escalating issues to the government body, VCAT (the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal), if necessary.
“We get hundreds of rental repair inquiries a month, so these new digital solutions will help us help more people resolve disputes themselves,” Andrew says.
“They’ll allow us to meet the escalating need of renters to make their homes safe and healthy.”
Automation learnings and the future
Internally, the team at Tenants Victoria are already reaping the rewards of automation and human-centred, digital ways of working.
“Working with Josef has been a success for us internally as it’s helped us consider how we can use digital solutions in our services,” Andrew says.
“We have a range of further issues we’d like to help people with via Josef. Common issues renters face like navigating notices to vacate (eviction notices), compensation claims, and so on.”
At Josef, we’re thrilled to see another set of everyday legal tools out in the wild, helping more people exercise their rights. We can’t wait to hear more about the Repairs toolkit and the next set of tools on the way!
About Tenants Victoria
Founded in 1974, Tenants Victoria (formerly the Tenants Union of Victoria) provides educational and practical help to renters facing housing issues.
The organization works to ensure renters have “a safe, secure and affordable home in a fair housing system” and assist both on an individual level, while also working to bring about more structural change.
To learn more, visit tenantsvic.org.au.