#13281

  1. Make the CTTT Regulation binding
  2. Overhaul the audio recording department
  3. Allow audio recording of hearings
  4. Make Members accountable via public release of recordings
  5. Allow audio recording of CTTT phone conversations
  6. Make OFT accountable
  7. Notices via registered post
  8. Acknowledgement of email
  9. Fix email bug
  10. Financial public accountability

Now (presuming you agree that accountability is a “positive thought”) please allow me to expand…

1. CTTT Regulation 2009 Part 2, Clause 7 (2) states ” The Chairperson may dispense with compliance with any requirement of this Regulation, either before or after the occasion for compliance arises.” ie the regulations only apply if the Chairperson decides they do. This clause should be removed.

2. I bought official sound recordings of 3 of my hearings spanning 2 months and in 2 different rooms. They were of inexcusable quality ranging from loud background hum to distortion that made speech unintelligible. A teenager with an iPod could do better than the CTTT, which brings us to…

3. The audio recordings are supposedly “charged at cost” so no revenue would be lost if default permission were given to allow participants (or audience members) to make their own audio recordings (saving $24-$66 per 80 minutes).

4. There is no explicit copyright on CD's bought from the CTTT but there should be a statement somewhere consenting to public airing of the contents (if not of the voices of the Applicant/Respondent, then at least the Member's)

5. Phone calls to CTTT should be allowed to be recorded (I have always been refused permission) so as to make staff accountable and to use in evidence in hearings (not for public airing though).

6. All phone queries regarding the Residential Tenancies Act are transferred by the CTTT to the Office of Fair Trading but when they give wrong advice they are currently not accountable even though they routinely record the calls. Once they allowed me to reciprocate and make my own recording of the conversation but subsequently refused to formally acknowledge the resulting transcript I made even though my entire case hinged on the bad advice therein.

7. All notices of hearings (especially so-called urgent ones) should be sent by registered post.

8. My emails have never been acknowledged by a courtesy response email even when I have sent that email with an automatic “request receipt” popup that requires a single click from the CTTT.

9. Upon phoning them I found that some of my emails did not even get through and it was the ones from an account of mine with a numeral in the name. I notified them of this via my “good” email address but received no acknowledgement.

 10. All of the problems above may well be the result of insufficient funding for resources and training. There is also the possibility of darker reasons. The tax payer funds the CTTT, so they should make their accounts viewable by the taxpayer online.