Spotted in the wild!
April 24, 2026
It’s not every day that research feeds directly into a national policy conversation, but that’s exactly what happened this week. A new piece from ABC News on “no-grounds” evictions in Western Australia spotlighted fresh polling commissioned by WA’s Make Renting Fair Alliance and conducted by Painted Dog Research. By grounding the debate in real community sentiment, the Alliance’s work is helping shift the conversation from opinion to evidence – right where policy discussions should be.
The findings are hard to ignore. Support for ending no-grounds evictions sits at 80% across WA, including 72% of residential property investors – a level of alignment that challenges the idea this is a deeply divided issue. As Alice Pennycott from Circle Green Community Legal put it, “there is clear, broad-based support for strengthening protections for renters… the community is firmly behind them and ready for change”. Backing also extends to broader reforms like rent stabilisation and minimum standards, reinforcing that this is about improving the system as a whole.
As the ABC article highlights, this is no longer just a renter vs landlord debate: it’s about balance and stability. Mark Glasson, CEO of Anglicare WA, captured it well: “No-ground evictions are the single biggest contributor to the unfair power imbalance facing renters”.
For us, it’s a strong reminder of the role research can play – when the right data is in the room, it doesn’t just inform the conversation, it helps move it forward.
A link to the ABC article can be found below:
