A Canberra couple has been awarded $1,500 in damages by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal after the woman was woken by a real estate agent conducting an inspection in her bedroom.
The woman gave evidence she "heard a person in the apartment" and hid under the bedsheets because she was "terrified" and because she was not wearing her Islamic head scarf. In her evidence the woman agreed the agent had identified himself and why he was there, but denied he sought permission to continue the inspection.
"I found myself in a vulnerable position under the bed covers unable to emerge," she said in a written statement. The tenants sought damages for financial losses due to relocation and additional rent, orders to "ensure compliance with tenancy laws and regulations in future dealings with tenants", $25,000 compensation for violation of privacy and discrimination against their religion, and their bond returned.
The ACAT said it had no power to make a finding in regard to issues of discrimination because the Human Rights Commission had not referred the application to it, and was not able to establish any evidence of financial losses related to the couple's relocation after breaking their lease.