00:00 So this is where the ceiling collapsed in Ida's room.
00:06 Dixie Mohamed didn't know what to do when the roof of her Thornberry share house suddenly
00:10 caved in, narrowly missing her housemate.
00:14 It was very overwhelming.
00:16 There was just pieces of ceiling all across.
00:19 They called the SES for help, who found the roof was being held up by the back of a split
00:24 system unit.
00:26 Jeez.
00:27 Which was very frightening.
00:29 It's now been two months and the ceiling still hasn't been repaired.
00:33 Dixie's been charged the full amount of rent by the real estate agency while she couch
00:37 surfs because she feels unsafe in her home.
00:41 The response received was quite underwhelming.
00:45 It didn't really take into consideration, I guess, the gravity of it.
00:51 The real estate agency has this week offered the trio free rent while they look for another
00:56 place.
00:57 But rental advocates say this situation highlights how powerless tenants are when it comes to
01:02 landlord inaction, with the onus on the renters to ask for compensation.
01:07 In Australia, if a landlord or a real estate agency is doing the wrong thing, it's not
01:11 their job to fix it, it's the renter's job to make sure they fix it, which is just wrong.
01:16 The onus should be on landlords and real estate agents to do their job.
01:21 Dixie's dedicated days of her time reading legislation and trying to research her rights
01:25 as a renter.
01:26 It needs to be recognised the enormous amount of pressure that is put on tenants when these
01:34 things happen.
01:36 Tenants are competing with hundreds of others struggling to find an affordable place to
01:40 live.
01:41 It's pretty disheartening really because there's well over 40 people minimum.
01:49 Long lines and a long road ahead.
01:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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