NT Housing Minister Steve Edgington's plan to remove the right for tenants to have a say in the determination of rents is a "disingenuous" response to the High Court's December ruling, and undermines the Closing the Gap goal of shared decision-making, legal experts say.
In December 2025, the High Court deemed the Remote Rent Framework unlawful, primarily on the basis of the NT Government's failure to consult communities impacted by the model.
On Wednesday, Minister Edgington introduced an amendment to the Territory's Housing Act that removes the right for communities impacted by a new model to be meaningfully consulted.
Australian Lawyers for Remote Aboriginal Rights (ALRAR) said the NT government's amendment fails to engage with the substance and principle of the High Court's ruling, which made clear the government had a legal obligation to consult impacted communities meaningfully.
ALRAR noted that the majority of public tenants in remote areas in the Northern Territory are First Nations people, and the removal of any obligation to consult with First Nations tenants before making determinations to increase their rent is a major step away from self-determination in NT housing policy.
"Australia's national Closing the Gap agreement, through which the NT Government receives significant funding, recognises the importance of self-determination and shared decision-making, outlined in Priority Reform One," ALRAR said in a statement supported by Grata Fund, which financed the High Court case.
"Minister Edgington's stated intention to continue remote rents at the same rate as those paid under the Remote Rent Framework is also deeply concerning, and will continue the financial distress for families that have seen some forced into homelessness."
Rents under the previous framework were determined on the basis of a flawed logic, using the number of bedrooms as a test, instead of an income percentage similar to public housing rents in all other jurisdictions in Australia. The Framework saw rent increases up to 200 per cent for 68 per cent of remote First Nations tenants in the NT, with over 5,000 homes impacted in total.
ALRAR said the NT Housing Department is "rushing" the new legislation through the Legislative Assembly, despite having known that the Remote Rent Framework was unlawful since December last year, when the High Court's judgment was issued.
The Northern Territory currently has a homelessness rate of 12 times the national average, and faces the nation's worst rates of housing stress. It also remains the worst performing state on Closing the Gap housing targets, with more than half its population of First Nations people living in inappropriately sized, overcrowded rental homes.
The High Court challenge which invalidated the Remote Rent Framework was brought by Asher Badari, Ricane Galaminda and Lofty Nadjamerrek from Gunbalanya, along with Laramba woman Carmelena Tilmouth, whose communities were subject to steep rent hikes as a result of the model.
The plaintiffs were represented by Australian Lawyers for Remote Aboriginal Rights and barrister Matthew Albert.
ALRAR Lead Solicitor Daniel Kelly said Minister Edgington "promised stakeholder consultation on the new rent model, then proposed stripping impacted communities of the right to have a say shortly after".
"So, who exactly are these stakeholders?" he asked.
"The NT government has made it clear it isn't serious about listening to First Nations people affected by rent hikes. Its proposal directly contradicts its Closing the Gap commitments, which emphasise partnership and shared decision-making.
"Keeping rents at the same unaffordable levels as the previous model which hiked rents by up to 200 per cent, as suggested by Minister Edgington, is unjustified and will push more families into financial distress.
"We will continue to work with communities to hold the NT Government accountable to the law."
