Antisocial Behaviour

Tenants living in Foundation Housing properties have obligations in their tenancy agreement to not cause nuisance to their neighbours.

Sometimes these obligations are not adhered to, and tenants engage in antisocial behaviour (ASB). Foundation Housing staff receive reports of ASB on a regular basis, but action can only be taken where the behaviour is a tenancy breach, as outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act 1987. ASB is ongoing behaviour that causes nuisance or disruption to neighbours and could include activities such as:

  • Excessive noise or disturbances from the tenant, their family, visitors or pets
  • Threats, intimidation, offensive behaviour or assault
  • Unlawful trespass

ASB Toolkit

You can use our ASB Toolkit to work out what is and what is not antisocial behaviour, and what steps you need to take to resolve the issue.

Steps You Can Take:

  1. Talk to your neighbour – Quite often people do not realise how loud they are being and will stop the noise when they realise it’s causing a problem.
  2. Contact your Local Council – They can investigate and even serve noise prevention notices if the noise is excessive or outside acceptable hours. Many Councils have after hours security and ranger services and will attend late night parties to ask for the noise to be stopped.
  3. Contact the Relevant Authorities – You should always contact the Police or relevant authority if you feel unsafe or if the ASB involves any type of illegal activity. Make a report and ask for a police report number which you can also provide to your Housing Coordinator if the offending neighbour is also a Foundation Housing tenant. Crimestoppers can be contacted on 1800 333 000.
  4. Let Us Know – Once you have reported behaviour to the appropriate authorities, please let us know about the issue so we can record it and undertake our own investigation as needed. What action we can take will depend on whether the neighbour is a Foundation Housing tenant or not. Call 000 for life-threatening situations. Call 131 444 when Police assistance is required.
  5. Request Mediation – Your local council or the Citizens Advice Bureau (08) 9221 5711 can provide mediation between neighbours and work with you to fix the problem.
  6. Contact the Person’s Landlord – If the issue is coming from a state housing tenant, the Department of Communities can be contacted to address the issue with their tenant. If it is a private rental, try and contact the managing agent or landlord so they know what is happening and can speak to the tenant about it.