Mr DEAN ( Windermere ) - I wish to make a brief comment in relation to this matter. I can understand why the amendment is coming through. Bond money received has been an area of concern for many people who are the owners of property rented out. I am not sure whether the Residential Tenancy Amendment Act 2005 has been given royal assent yet, although I did try to find out on the web over the weekend.

Mr Parkinson - No, it has not.

Mr DEAN - No. I think it was passed in both Houses.

Mr Parkinson - Sorry, it has assent but it has not been proclaimed.

Mr DEAN - No, it has not been proclaimed as yet, so it creates a lot of issues. I guess we all would have watched a current affairs program on, I think, the ABC recently, entitled something like 'The Tenants From Hell', where property owners -

Ms Thorp - It sounds like A Current Affair to me.

Mr DEAN - Yes, it was, where property owners feel they are battling in relation to the preservation of their properties. Here is another example of this: if a property owner rents out a property and receives a bond from the people moving in, as most do, the property owner has to then pass that over to the authority and the authority, as I understand it and I accept that would be the position, would be receiving interest on that bond money. Where does that interest go? What is that interest used for? I do not know what I said about it when this act was debated but I find it very difficult to accept. I know it is there and I know it went through but I think something ought to be done about it.

A number of property owners have raised this issue with me, saying that it really is not a reasonable situation because that is a bond that they receive in relation to their property -

Ms Thorp - Yes, but it's not their money, it belongs to the tenants.

Mr DEAN - There are not many houses or units when vacated that do not need work to be done on them. Quite a lot of work is required, usually, so I suppose it is a way of compensating property owners to some degree for the work that they have to do to bring those properties up to a reasonable standard before they can rent them out again. It does create a lot of issues.

If you had watched that program a few weeks ago you would have seen that some of these units had been absolutely trashed - inside walls had been knocked out, carpets had been pulled up and it was just an absolute pigsty. In my previous occupation and also as a renter of properties I have personally witnessed such things. It is an issue that needs a lot more work; I am not sure that property owners are being protected to the degree that they should be. It seems to be all one way; it seems to go the tenants' way the whole time. To evict a tenant from a property is a very difficult, drawn-out process.

Mr Parkinson - It's much easier if you do it through an agent.

Mr DEAN - Not necessarily. That also has its risks and issues, if you listen to people who are doing that sort of thing.

I just wanted to raise those issues and I wonder when it is envisaged that the amendment act will be proclaimed. The bond money has always been an issue for renters as to where it goes, what they do with it and how it is controlled. Now it is clear as to what happens with it.