The term 'habitable' in s 48(1)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act 2018 (NT) is not limited to safety but encompasses humaneness, suitability and reasonable comfort judged by contemporary standards, and proven inadequacies must be assessed cumulatively. A back door is a 'security device' under s 49(1) of the RTA, and a landlord who fails to provide one is in breach of that provision. The NTCAT is obliged to consider and determine issues of substance raised by the evidence and submissions even where not formally pleaded, particularly where procedural difficulties explain the omission from pleadings. The prescribed tenancy agreement under Schedule 2 of the Residential Tenancy Regulations applies by operation of s 19(4) wherever a tenancy agreement exists but is non-compliant with the RTA, and is not void for uncertainty merely because rent was not agreed at the commencement of the tenancy.
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