Changes to Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (The RTA)

Affixing furniture

While Consumer Protection has actively encouraged lessors to permit tenants to affix furniture to prevent it toppling onto children, from 2 December 2019 changes to tenancy laws allow tenants to apply to an agent for permission to affix furniture in order to ensure the safety of a child or person with a disability. The tenant must use the approved form.  You have 14 days to respond to the request and can only refuse if:

affixing the item to the wall would disturb material containing asbestos; or
the premises are entered in the Register of Heritage Places; or
the premises is situated in a strata scheme with by-laws prohibiting the affixing of the item to the wall of the premises.

If you do not respond within the 14 days you are taken to have consented to the request.

The tenant must notify the landlord in writing   of any damage caused by anchoring and removing furniture, and be responsible to repair it.   The tenant must remove the items from the wall at the end of the tenancy and restore the wall to its original condition unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Furniture stability

From a child’s point of view, your home looks like a big playground. But there are hidden dangers they don’t recognise. Unstable furniture can tip over when a child climbs or pulls on it. This can cause serious injuries if it lands on top of them. It can even be fatal. At least 14 children under nine years old died in Australia between 2000 and 2015 after domestic furniture fell on them. This is around one death per year.

Of these injuries half were to children four years old and under and 80 per cent of incidents occurred in the home.

The three most common furniture items were chairs, chests of drawers/tallboys and tables/benches/desks and the most common electrical appliance by far was the television.

Think safety first with these helpful tips:

• Look for stable-based furniture - Choose furniture with a broad, solid base and wide legs to keep them well balanced. They are less likely to tip if a small child climbs onto them.
• Test before you buy - Test the furniture while you’re in the shop. Apply a little pressure to make sure it’s stable. Check any type of furniture that has drawers as young children may try to climb up them like a flight of stairs. Pull out the top drawer and press down on the inside to check how stable it is. Make sure the drawers don’t fall out easily.
• Secure any unstable furniture and especially large television sets - If you have any doubts about whether your furniture is stable, secure it using furniture straps, angle braces or anchors screwed into wall studs.
• Choose safe tables - Choose tables that won’t tip over if a child climbs on them. Glass tables should be made of toughened glass.
• Use child-resistant locks on all drawers - Locks are a good way of preventing children from opening drawers and using them as steps. Use locks for cupboards that store chemicals, cleaning fluids and other poisons.
• Don’t tempt your child - Never place items like feeding bottles, toys or remote controls on top of furniture. This will encourage your child to climb up and reach for them.