Every day, hundreds of people view online rental advertisements in Hobart in Tasmania- the most unaffordable capital city for renters in Australia, according to the latest .
But underneath the affordability problem lies Hobart’s rental crisis arising from the disparity between soaring rent and stagnating wages, joblessness and what makes it worse is the acute shortage of properties available on rent.
In these circumstances, for those who can’t afford, shared accommodation is their only feasible option to get a roof on budget.
But while rental ads are galore on Gumtree, Facebook and other online portals, students like Munah* are still finding it extremely hard to find a room on rent.
“It’s been over two months since me and my friend have been looking out for a room on rent, but whenever we check on Gumtree, everything says “for Indians only” or for “pure vegetarians” and because we are none, we are straight away out of the picture,” Munah told SBS Punjabi.
“You tell me, where should we go? I’m living in a one-room unit with six other girls, it’s totally crammed,” added the newly-arrived student from Malaysia.
Social media and internet portals are full of such ads where property owners have listed out their preferred ethnicity, sex and even marital status of their prospective tenants. 
Munah’s housemate told SBS Punjabi that she finds such advertisements “unfair” and discriminatory.”
Snapshot of two separate rental advertisements posted on Gumtree Source: Gumtree.com.au
“This is just pure bias. Is it even legal to post such ads?” questions Munah’s friend who wishes to remain anonymous fearing she might face more hurdles in finding accommodation if her name is revealed.
According to Equal Opportunity Tasmania, it is unlawful to post advertisements for accommodation that “promote, express or depict discrimination or other unlawful behaviours".
It further states that both the advertiser and the owner of the property or publication in which a discriminatory advert is published may be legally held liable for “contravening the Anti-Discrimination Act’. 
Allison Ritchie, General Manager of Police and Youth Club, Hobart and former MP who engages with a broad spectrum of people from the community only came across such ads after some young people reached out to her.
Hobart is the most unaffordable capital city in Australia. Source: AAP
“You can imagine the offence that might be taken if someone put an advertisement in the public arena saying 'look, I've got a room for rent but I'll only rent to an African-American or a Caucasian person,” Ms Ritchie told Tasmania Talks.
“If you're not Indian there's no point in you applying, and that's the offensive part," she added.
Ms Ritchie has reported the matter to Equal Opportunity Tasmania.
