Page 1036 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I am very pleased that, with the introduction of the trust's computer system, tenants have a much greater opportunity to initiate repairs and maintenance work on their properties. This process empowers tenants to be more responsible for the maintenance of their properties in good order. The volume of calls received by the trust per year with regard to repairs and maintenance issues approximates 30,000. According to the trust, 90 per cent of tenants are happy with the repairs and maintenance system and the work that is done on their homes.
Thirdly, Mr Cornwell is concerned that 8,000 applicants for public housing are currently on the waiting list. Again, waiting lists effectively comprise three lists: Firstly, applications for emergency housing; secondly, applications for priority housing; and, thirdly, applications for public housing on the wait turn list. Applications for emergency housing are dealt with as urgent priorities by the trust, although Jerrabomberra House remains the trust's most likely option for emergency housing. Applications for priority housing are necessarily dealt with as higher priorities than applicants on the wait turn list, as the name implies. This is appropriate and means that people in the greatest need of public housing have their needs met first.
According to the trust, interviews for priority housing have increased in this financial year by 13.2 per cent over 1991-92. So far this financial year, 1,337 interviews have been conducted following requests for priority housing. Again, the installation of the trust's computer system has given the trust a good general idea of the length of the waiting list. Teething problems were experienced to begin with, as the same people making applications for public housing from regional offices - for example, Belconnen, Civic and Woden - were at times counted as three applications for public housing instead of one. People on the waiting lists for public housing are contacted every 12 months or so and their applications are reassessed. It is not uncommon for Housing Trust applicants to have significantly changed their circumstances once their applications for public housing have been lodged. They may experience changes in circumstances in their relationships or in their financial position; or they may have moved interstate or decided to share housing with others in the private rental market.
However, by far the most important indicator of Housing Trust waiting lists relates to the ability of the ACT's private rental market to cater for the needs of people who are eligible for public housing. The private rental market simply cannot provide affordable housing for all those people who need it and therefore the provision of public housing performs an important safety net role. As for the ability of New South Wales residents to have access to the ACT's public housing waiting lists, this practice occurs legitimately as part of the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, which enables portability between waiting lists of public housing authorities throughout Australia. This means that people waiting for the allocation of public housing are not disadvantaged should they choose to move interstate to pursue job opportunities, for example. Once on the ACT's waiting list for public housing, however, interstate residents will not be allocated a house, except in exceptional circumstances, within six months of their being resident in the ACT.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .