Coroner calls for greater protection from rental dangers following infant’s death
Posted on Wednesday, September 19 2012 at 3:55 PM
An inquest into the death of a seven-week-old baby in Queensland two years ago could drive significant change in the state’s real estate industry.
Isabella Diefenbach died in May 2010 after
falling from the balcony of her parent’s rental home in Yeppoon on the state’s
central coast.
The infant was being held by her father at
the time, when his foot suddenly broke through a rotted wooden plank of the
house’s deck.
The family had complained several times
about the state of the deck to their landlord and property manager.
Rockhampton Coroner Annette Hennessy today
handed down a series of findings, which lawyers say might have wide-ranging
ramifications.
Gino Andrieri, principal of Maurice
Blackburn Lawyers in Rockhampton, represented the family at the inquest and
says today’s outcome is significant.
“The Coroner has outlined that major
changes are needed within the real estate industry to protect the safety of
tenants and to ensure a tragedy like this can never happen again,” Andrieri
says.
The Corner recommended an overhaul of
legislation to ensure mandatory inspections are undertaken on decks more than
10 years old, and that these checks are carried out before a property is rented.
Hennessy also called for tenants to have
greater access to information about rental properties, including previous
inspection reports, so they can make informed decisions about a home’s safety.
“In addition, the Coroner called on the
real estate industry to ensure wood rot is classified as an emergency repair,
meaning any time this is identified in a rental property it must be acted on as
an immediate priority,” Andrieri says.
“Nothing can bring Bella back, but we hope
today’s findings will help the Diefenbach family with the healing process after
everything they’ve been through.”
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