I The Residential Tenancy Law Legacy

In 1983 a text on residential tenancies law in Victoria and South Australia was published; Adrian Bradbrook was a co-author of that text. Publication followed the enactment in the two states of the first comprehensive legislation in Australia for residential tenancy rights and obligations. The text is an exhaustive examination of the legislation and considers the detail of the statute despite the lack of any existing judicial interpretation of its words. It thus analyses the extent to which previous common law principles can be applied. It is also concerned with the provisions for the administration of the legislation, the process of law reform and relevant economic theories. The text further examines the role of the Victorian and South Australian governments in the provision of welfare housing, the enforcement of housing standards and access to housing assistance. At that time the governments of both states had housing authorities which constructed and leased buildings to a broad social group and enforced housing standards for owner-occupied and privately rented premises.

From the particular area of residential tenancy law, Bradbrook and his coauthors progressed in 1991 to a detailed examination of real property law throughout Australia through a textbook and casebook, which have now been in publication for thirty years. The original aim was to establish an authoritative text on the topic at a time when even the existence of a distinct Australian law was disputed.