Parliament passes laws to protect children from toppling furniture

Laws to allow renters to fix furniture to walls to prevent death or injury to children from toppling furniture have passed through State Parliament.

The Consumer Protection Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 amends the Residential Tenancies Act and means landlords must allow tenants, who submit a request form, to attach furniture to a wall to prevent a child, or a person with a disability, from being hurt or killed.

Owners can only refuse the form request in very limited circumstances, such as when the home is heritage-listed or if the walls contain asbestos.

Tenants who attach furniture to walls will have to repair the wall at the end of the tenancy agreement.

These important changes come after the tragic death of 21-month-old Reef Kite who was killed by a falling chest of drawers at his family’s rental home in 2015. An inquest heard the furniture had not been secured to the wall because permission was not granted.

Amending tenancy law, in light of Reef’s preventable death, was a recommendation of the Western Australian Coroner’s report, delivered in November 2017.

The Bill also makes a series of amendments to improve the administration of a range of occupational licensing schemes.

These changes will assist real estate and settlement agents to better understand their obligations and manage their licensing applications online, as well as giving consumers improved access to property industry insurance and compensation schemes.

Cont...Link

 

Seven injuries everyday in Australia

Another alarming statistic is that about seven Australians are expected to have serious injuries requiring hospital treatment every single day.

These figures have prompted the Australian consumer watchdog, ACCC, to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and 18 other regulators from around the world in alerting consumers to the dangers of unstable furniture and large TVs.

“All it takes is a fleeting moment for tragedy to strike so it’s very important for parents and carers to make their homes as safe an environment as possible for kids,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

“Tip-over incidents are 100 per cent preventable. We strongly encourage householders to check every room in their house for toppling hazards and anchor any tall or unstable furniture or large TVs. If you don’t have anchor kits, you can buy them cheaply at hardware stores or furniture retail outlets.”

 

Government should also fix the roads because heaps of people are killed or injured from bad roads.

There should be more dual carriageways. Yeah, and uh, make the motorways double in size and make them free. That way less trucks and cars will use suburban streets and have accidents.

 

Nah....Tollways

Govt takes revenue and companies are responsible..costs passed onto the middle class

 

Safety Glass Shower screens
Deadbolts
Key Lockable windows
RCD's
Hard wired smoke alarms
etc etc..

And property managers in a race to the top or the bottom for fees and service all make me appreciate the share strategy by @Nodrog @truong and @SatayKing

Throw in life's ups and downs such as Death, Disaster, Debt, and Divorce and the ease of selling
open ended funds is even more appealing (insert cynical smile)

 

Sorry but .. what kind of name is Reef Kite ... Seriously, poor kid.

I'm all for this, but I don't see people utilising it when they figure out they have to repair the wall where the fixture was attached.

 

Two issues>

Firstly a chest of drawers doesn't fall over unless someone (like an adult or older child) has pulled out the top drawer too far and left it there. The baby would still be badly injured or killed by a single drawer falling onto him. Next the govt will want the drawers themselves screwed closed!

Secondly, how many times do tenants "repair" the wall and make it look worse than if they had just left the screws or brackets there in the first place?

 

Hmmm, nail the children to the walls.

Problem solved.

So much in the way legal requirements it has to hurt to some extent for those attempting to make a go of it by investing through resi.

 

LICs / ETFs instead of Investment Property = not a care in the world:

 

Now that is cruel. Very cruel indeed. But true. I was tempted to post something similar but being too polite......

The milk of human kindness and all that.

 

I find this all very strange. In this article and the inquest:

Toddler would have had 'no hope' of stopping falling drawers, inquest told

Inquest into the Death of Reef Jason Bruce KITE

"The deceased’s mother immediately lifted the chest of drawers up and pulled the deceased out. She then went to get help from her landlord."

Even with an onsite landlord, the first thought should ave been to dial 000.

Next, as the furniture had been purchased from a discount store and was already assembled, it was unlikely that the furniture would have included a wall-support-fixing to prevent such an incident.

It really does sound as if the furniture was poorly designed and it was the furniture at fault.

 

Maybe the parents could have ditched the chest of drawers when they worked out that it was dangerous.

 

Not true. Kids often pull out a lower drawer and climb on it to reach something on top. This happened to the child of someone I know. It just took a second and the chest of drawers fell.

Luckily he was OK. But it could have easily gone the other way.

 

Unjustified blaming IMO.

Until hearing about issues recently, I would have thought a heavy chest of drawers was perfectly safe. And so would most people.

But now we know better.

 

I’m pretty sure with a child that age she would’ve picked it up and taken it immediately to the best source of help nearby. In many families, they would call for their wife or husband. Maybe she knew the landlord could do CPR and she didn’t know how...

 

Not the ‘poor landlord, life is so hard’ approach!

A couple of screw holes behind each chest of drawers isn’t such a big deal, especially these days when so many walls are painted white!

 

The issues with TVs and furniture toppling are well known around the planet as a legal concern. Ikea is a major culprit. Look any new ikea package and instructions

Blinds cords
Pools and fencing
Climbing hazards
Smoke alarms and batteries
Carbon monoxide
Illegal renovations
Smoking in houses
Illegal and hazards with insulation
Slip hazards
Asbestos and lead
Security grilles

The most common defence in courts is the evident risk. Whether you own or rent stupidity jsnt enhanced. The user should be aware of the risk

Landlords should always permit fastenings that limit fall risks. Common clauses thag hold tenants liable for wall damage can enhance risk. In many countries such mods are covered in a lease with a make good clause

 

I think the only safe and logical answer is to ban all furniture altogether...