Page 4973 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
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MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (10.38): Perhaps I could begin by thanking Mr Jensen for his gracious comments in relation to the Housing Trust staff. I think it is the experience of most members here - it was certainly my experience in opposition - that the trust is very responsive in cases of family crisis, particularly where domestic violence is present. It is interesting that the ACT Housing Trust allocation pattern is slanted very heavily in favour of priority housing. Something like two-thirds of our allocations now are priorities.
To some extent, that is a problem for people on the ordinary wait-turn lists and it can sometimes lead to frustrations. But it does indicate that the Housing Trust is not a rigid bureaucracy; it is an organisation of people who are very committed to what they are doing - providing public housing - and who are prepared to look very flexibly at the individual needs of each family or each person in need of public housing and allocate the available public housing in a sensitive fashion. Mr Jensen's comments about a group of people who were in a crisis as a result of a domestic break-up and that the trust officers were able to respond very quickly were indicative of the quality service the Housing Trust officers provide.
That brings me to Mrs Nolan's point, which is well made. When people are on the wait-turn list and waiting for public housing - and the public housing list is certainly growing in the recession - it is incredibly frustrating to see that a house is vacant for weeks and weeks and be told by the Housing Trust, "Sorry, you are still on the list". People say, "There is a house in so-and-so avenue. It has been vacant for 10 weeks. Why can't I move in?". It is a problem that has been somewhat intractable for some years.
I am advised that there should be improvements because the Housing Trust recently has commissioned a new computer system, which we have taken on-line from Victoria and which will give us a much better fix on the state of the available stock and mean that we can find out more quickly when there is a vacancy. Often vacancies occur when tenants simply disappear. Previously, it has been some weeks before the trust is aware that the house is untenanted. I am advised that this computer will assist on that.
I should perhaps add that this wonderful new computer system that is going to solve all these problems today incorrectly sent out about 1,000 arrears notices to Housing Trust tenants all over Canberra. The machine blew a fuse or something. We are acting as promptly as we can to advise people not to pay attention to that notice, by sending out another letter, and I have advised the media of this mistake. My assurances that the computer system will remedy the situation are somewhat tempered by that experience.
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