Why are stories important and how can we best use them to Make Renting Fair?

Stories are powerful. A story can make an issue more immediate and engaging for a listener or reader. It can also make a complex or distant issue more accessible and comprehensible by illustrating the human side to facts and figures. Most people find it easier to relate to other people rather than pure statistics or ideas. It can also be an empowering experience for a renter to tell their own story, especially where telling that story helps drive positive change.  

So, how can we make use of stories?

We know as renters that NSW is in a rental crisis. We also know that there are some straightforward changes that should be made to NSW renting law to help alleviate the crisis. What we need is for the decision-makers in NSW Parliament to understand the human impact of our broken renting system, so that they will make these much-needed changes.

As a voter in their electorate, you have a good opportunity to secure a meeting with your local MP to share renting stories from your community. In this meeting you can share your own renting story, or a story from this site. This can help illustrate to your MP the human cost of failure to address the problems renters face.

Renting stories can also be shared with local media. This gets the story in front of members of the public in your local community, to keep the rental crisis in front of mind for members of the public. Other renters in your area may also identify with parts of the renting stories they are seeing shared in the media, and in turn be inclined to get involved in advocacy and campaigning.

Check out our Make Renting Fair stories here, and share your own story here.

Recent Stories

  • Dylan holding a sign saying make renting fair in front of a window.
    Dylan's story
    "The problem with the renting system is the power imbalance between landlords and tenants, and this can only be solved by taking steps to decouple people's homes from other people's investments. We are sacrificing people's dignity in the name of returns."


  • Jason and Lauren are standing close and smiling in front of a red brick wall and white window.
    Lauren's Story
    Lauren and her partner Jason have been renting together in Sydney since 2016 and have been in their current rental since April 2023. This follows two no grounds eviction notices in two years.


  • Entry way of a house. Brown front door, with a hat stand with a hat on it to the left. To the right, a table with flowers in a vase.
    Sabine's story
    "The landlord told me he was selling, he lied. If he had been honest then I would have had options. Being put in this situation dictates your life, you feel completely out of control. It’s not a good feeling."


  • A woman smiles at the camera, standing in front of a desk and artwork on the walls. She is wearing a green dress, golden headscarf, with red lipstick and golden earrings.
    Maryam's story
    "It’s very stressful. Every day we find ourselves discussing the budget, how we can manage to stay in the area. A lot of people are struggling right now but they’re not speaking – I want to speak on behalf of everyone in this situation."


  • Brown and white cat sitting on a windowsill peers nervously around the edge of some curtains, looking into the camera.
    Kirby's story
    "I spent most of the day crying. I felt confused because I wasn't given a reason for needing to move out. In the end, I found that it was so they could raise the rent by $80 a week. I’ve calculated that in the 12 months I lived in that apartment I paid $24,440 off the owner's mortgage."


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    ➤ Share your story