Matt Ball: Property Investors Federation Advocacy Manager on the new meth contamination laws

Property investors are celebrating new methamphetamine contamination laws coming in next year.  

Properties with meth residue exceeding 15 micrograms per 100-square centimetres will be considered contaminated, requiring treatment. 

Landlords and tenants will be able to quickly end tenancies with excessive levels. 

Property Investors Federation Advocacy Manager Matt Ball told Ryan Bridge the new standards will reduce costs for some landlords. 

He says the threshold for decontamination, which can cost a considerable amount, were conflicting under the previous guidelines, resulting in some spending money that they shouldn’t have needed to. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got new rules out on when a rental's two
contaminated with meth. Under fifteen micrograms per one hundred square meters,
you're fine. Fifteen to thirty you need a clean. Over
thirty either side canning the lease within a week. Matt
Ball Property Investors Federation is with us this morning, Matt,
Good morning, Walling Ryn. So this is good because it
gives clarity.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, it does so at the moment, there are two standards.
There's one point five micrograms per one hundred square centimeters,
and then there's the fifteen micrograms, which is the science
advice above or below which sorry, it's unlikely to cause
an adverse effects. So fifteen and below health is fine.
Fifteen and above you need to decontaminate. A must rule clarified.

(00:44):
It's great.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
How much what does decontamination cost? Like, if you're in
the fifteen to thirty where you need a clean, what
does that mean like just a bit of spray and wipe.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
No, it can be quite extensive depending on the level
of contamination. So just to give you a bit of
an eye there, Caring Aura spends around three to four
million dollars a year decontaminating and they only decontaminate at
levels above that fifteen. That's quite a cost.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Sure, do you see much of it these days?

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yes, our members do see a lot of it, and
because of this conflicting standard, we have members decontaminating at
levels above one point five at the moment. So that's
a considerable cost, which really they shouldn't have to spend,
and that cost will be removed, so that's great. I
did a quick search of tendency tribunal cases before I
came on here, nearly eight hundred cases in the last

(01:37):
three years, and these are the cases that reach the tribunal,
are the ones with high contamination. Generally, that's also quite
a considerable expent, so it's a big problem. This doesn't
solve the meth problem, but it does solve the confusion.
It will reduce the costs, and hopefully it will make
people feel a bit better knowing that the contamination levels

(01:59):
are set at the actual scientific recommended levels when they
actually do start to impact health.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Matt, appreciate your time. Thanks for being with me, Matt
Bull the Property Investors Association. For more from early edition
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