Page 1574 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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Council limits, thereby increasing a State's capacity to attract external funds. Capital indexed loans, low start loans, second mortgage lending, shared ownership schemes and rental purchase arrangements are all acceptable uses of home purchase assistance funds.
The Commonwealth-State housing agreement also emphasises the need to ensure that the special housing needs of all client groups are targeted. A number of specific purpose housing programs require a portion of the Commonwealth grants to be spent on particular needs groups. For example, under the rental housing assistance for pensioners scheme States and Territories are allocated Commonwealth funds on the basis of the number of pensioners in receipt of rent assistance as provided by the Commonwealth Department of Social Security. Funds are used under this program in broadly the same way as general rental assistance funds but targeting pensioners and social benefit recipients.
Under the mortgage and rent relief scheme short-term assistance is provided towards mortgage and rent payments for those experiencing extreme financial difficulty in meeting their mortgage and rent commitments. I think it is worth commenting that that can be a boon to people who find themselves in short-term need, particularly those who are in the process of purchasing their own home. I often wonder how many people in the public are aware that that particular facility is available. I know it has been under-utilised in the past and I know that the Housing Trust will be publicising it so that people can take advantage of those funds and not be finding themselves in cases of extreme hardship.
The crisis accommodation program provides capital funding for supported accommodation and short-term emergency accommodation. Funds are used to build, to buy, to lease, to renovate or to convert dwellings. Dwellings can be managed by the housing authority or by community groups. The supported accommodation assistance program - commonly known as SAAP - while not part of the Commonwealth-State housing agreement complements the crisis accommodation program by providing funds for a support service. The crisis accommodation program provides for dwellings to be used by crisis accommodation services such as youth and women's refuges, and shelters for homeless men, as well as longer-term transitional supported accommodation.
Finally, the local government and community housing program is designed to encourage community groups to provide housing and to facilitate greater tenant management of such dwellings. It also aims to attract non-government funds and other resources into the program. An important feature of the new Commonwealth-State housing agreement is a requirement for each State and Territory, in partnership with the Commonwealth, to implement a broad planning process for housing assistance. A plan, jointly approved by both the State and the Commonwealth Ministers, must be
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