We had these in our homes growing up (lifetime renter, almost every house had one). Like Mean said, they were (should have) removed.

One time, ours just wasn't working. Dad had a poke around and got our landlord to send a guy out. He pulled it a bit apart, and it turns out a huntsman was chilling out in there, staying warm during winter, and blocking the pilot light so the heater didn't seem to be working.

Look at tenants Vic website, and see what you can do to get your landlord to remove it/service it. They're really not great from a safety or energy efficiency point of view.