About Better Renting

Better Renting is a community of renters working together for stable, affordable, and healthy homes. With more Australians locked out of homeownership, more of us are renting, and renting for longer. But renters are denied the rights and protections of homeowners. We can't all own a house — but we should all be able to rent a home. Renting can be a genuine alternative to homeownership — and Better Renting exists to make it happen.

You can learn more about us from our Impact Report on our activities over the last three years: www.betterrenting.org.au/impact_report

About the role

• Classification: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award. Social and community services employee 3.1 to 4.1, depending on experience. Annual salary of $63,627 to $73,404, pro-rata. Hourly pay rate of $32.54 to $37.54 per hour. This award includes leave loading of 17.5%.
• Primary location: We are based in Canberra, ACT. We have a preference for applicants who can work from Canberra, but we encourage interstate applicants to apply and are happy to consider remote working arrangements.
• Time commitment: Part-time, 0.8 FTE (30 hours). Weekly workload can be flexible according to your needs.
• Position length: Initial six-month contract November 2021 to April 2022, with option for extension.

We are looking for a Campaigner to take ownership of our "Healthy Homes for Renters" work with the support of Better Renting’s Executive Director.

Currently we are coordinating a national collaborative campaign for minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties. We are seeking a Campaigner to take ownership of this work: managing the campaign, working with partners across Australia, and co-ordinating execution of the strategy.

Key projects in the coming six months will be:

• Co-ordinating a national Summer Survey of renters about their experiences.
• Recruiting and supporting a group of ‘Renter Researchers’ to track temperatures in their homes through Summer.
• Organising a central campaign planning workshop in 2022 for campaign partners.

The role will involve

Here’s what your role might look like week-to-week:

• Liaising with existing supporters. You contact a partner organisation to ask them about something they mentioned in a recent meeting and discuss plans for an upcoming action and how their organisation will take part.
• Running the Summer Survey. You review responses and ring some respondents to have a deeper chat with them. Later you follow-up with some supporters to ask them to help promote the survey to their networks.
• Running meetings. You draft an agenda for the meeting next week and send it to invitees, as well as confirming someone to take minutes. You ring around to confirm who is coming from each state and territory.
• Working with Renter Researchers. You call a few Renter Researchers to ask how they went with the latest heatwave and to ask them to send through data from their temperature tracker. You remind them about an upcoming media training. You record this contact in an internal database.
• Developing strategy. You organise a meeting of SA organisations to discuss the strategy for that state. In the lead up, you arrange some 1-1 chats to gain insights and a sense of the risks and opportunities.
• Onboarding new supporters. A new organisation has signed up after you reached out two weeks ago. You organise a quick briefing phone call and invite them to an upcoming supporters’ meeting.

Selection criteria

You would be a strong applicant if you are:

• Great at working with stakeholders: connecting with others, finding opportunities for mutual benefit, supporting and enabling organisations to get involved.
• A strategic thinker: able to identify sticking points in the campaign and develop ideas for how to get past them; good at identifying, evaluating, and seizing opportunities.
• Passionate about communication: you can get your point across clearly and concisely whatever the medium; you readily listen to others and understand their issues or concerns.
• On top of everything. Better Renting is a small organisation with minimal resources. You will be your own PA. You should be a natural at staying on top of your responsibilities, reporting back, and getting things done. You don’t need to be followed up.
• Highly reflective and invested in ongoing learning. You value reflection on your practice as a way to develop in your role; you freely give and receive feedback as part of a shared commitment to ongoing growth.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t have all of the above characteristics. A passion for the work and an eagerness to learn are the most important things.

Recruitment process

Please complete our online form, by clicking Apply Now, before the closing date. We are not asking for a resume, CV, or cover letter.

If you have any questions you can contact us: [email protected], using the subject line: Campaigner, Healthy Homes for Renters enquiry via EthicalJobs.

We are hoping to confirm an applicant soon, to begin in November. We will be reviewing applications as they arrive, and we encourage you to apply before the deadline if possible.

Better Renting is an equal-opportunity employer. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, LGBTIQ people, and people with a disability are encouraged to apply.