A convicted rapist once labelled Tasmania's worst sex offender by a former top prosecutor has had his Airbnb account suspended as he attempts to win council approval for a permit to convert his inner Hobart property into visitor accommodation.
Former nightclub boss Shane Ronald Farmer, who drugged and sexually abused seven women at his Launceston and Hobart venues, had lodged a visitor accommodation permit application with the Hobart City Council.
The home had been listed on Airbnb despite not having a council permit, but a spokesperson for the short-stay company today said the listing had since been suspended.
"People who have been convicted of certain offences, including sexual assault offences, are ineligible from holding an Airbnb account, as are individuals affiliated with organised crime and extremist groups," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the week, the Hobart City Council held a planning meeting and debated Mr Farmer's permit application, but it did not take his criminal record into consideration.
Instead, a series of concerns raised by neighbours at the Monday night meeting pushed aldermen and councillors to vote against it.
Cedric Mannen, whose property adjoins Mr Farmer's, told the meeting that the impact of disturbances from the house had been "immeasurable", but he believed incidents were under-reported to authorities due to residents' concern for their safety.
"We've reported disturbances to the police, and most of our neighbours have, at times, called council for advice on what's the best opportunity for us to actually have this tended to," Mr Mannen said.
"It's not the type of neighbourhood that I subscribed to being in when I moved here that is on our doorstep now. We refer to it as the party house, it has become very much that."
Short-stay house operating without permit
Another neighbour, Claire Ellis, said Mr Farmer had demonstrated "blatant disregard" for council rules and regulations, with the property operating as short-stay accommodation in the past without a permit.
"It's been seriously and significantly creating a proven unreasonable loss of residential amenity and the possible permit approval with conditions, we don't consider will mitigate or minimise the negative impact on us," she said.
The application did not state whether Mr Farmer would lease out the entire Sandy Bay home, or list part of it while still residing in it.
It is understood Mr Farmer's parole has ended, and Tasmania Police said the law prevented the organisation from commenting on whether he was still listed on the state's community protection register.
Noise detector installed to discourage parties
The property is managed by Sam Lyndon, who said a noise detector alert system had been installed, and the number of guests allowed had been reduced from 13 to eight.
Despite the application initially being recommended for approval, it was unanimously voted down by the planning meeting.
A final decision will need to be made by the full council.
In suspending Mr Farmer's Airbnb listing, the company said "the safety of our community is one of our top priorities".
"As part of this, we enforce strict policies and community standards," the spokesperson said.
"We continue to invest in a range of systems and safeguards that allow us to protect our community and help travellers enjoy safe and positive travel experiences."
The Airbnb spokesperson said safety incidents on the platform were "very rare" and it was working alongside police and governments to make them even more so.
Lack of character checks for short-stay owners
Kathyrn Fordyce, the chief executive of sexual assault service Laurel House, said she was concerned that there were not sufficient checks in place for visitor accommodation platforms to ensure the operators were of good character, especially where the operator remained on-site while hiring out another part of their property.
"Internationally, there have been many reports of sexual assaults occurring within short-term accommodation, and in some other jurisdictions outside Australia background checks including ensuring the operator does not appear on a sex offender register is part of the screening process," she said.
"It would enhance the safety of women to require screening processes by companies and/or through the local government approval of short- and medium- term accommodation to consider the character of the operator and prevent those on the Community Protection Offenders Register from operating this kind of accommodation.
"The current Tasmanian Government Director's Determination for Short Term Visitor Accommodation requires consideration to the safety of visitors in relation to building standards and bushfire hazard management, but there should be standards in relation to the character of the operators, too."
Sexual Assault Survivor Service chief executive Jill Maxwell said she hoped visitor accommodation platforms like Airbnb would have the "appropriate checks in place" so the safety and dignity of people were protected.
"If somebody has a background of fraud and dishonesty that becomes quite crucial in decision making going forward, whether they've done their time or not," she said.
