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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 6 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 1869 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

We have had this debate before, but I am not sure there has been a clear resolution. I make the point that ACT Housing needs directly to provide guidance, counselling or assistance to people who are having trouble, whether in their living skills, in their ability to maintain a clean and good environment around them, or in their financial skills, in their ability to keep up the payments.

This budget does have $50,000 allocated for such a purpose. I do not know the specifics of it, but that is, I think, the general purpose of that money. In other circumstances, Housing relies on other government agencies to provide help. I appreciate that. I know that at times when I have approached Housing they have contacted other agencies when some sort of guidance, some sort of counselling, has been needed. But I still think there is a need for a direct involvement, because that is so much more immediate; it is there when you need it. I think steps are being taken to improve the strategies to ensure that rent is collected and there are not large amounts of overdue rent.

I have to say that, from time to time, I save the Minister's office some time. When people come to me looking for a government rental property, we now ask them the question: "Do you have a debt with ACT Housing?". I can say to those people, "Well, until you pay your debt, until you cover that, you are not likely to have success". Now, that is probably a normal commercial transaction. It does not cover every one of the difficult circumstances that may arise from time to time. It is very important that steps be taken early to stop unpaid rent building up.

I have been staggered to hear of the amount of debt that occurs with some people. I think that is a thing of the past as steps are now in place. Sometimes those steps are fairly blunt and the circumstances are not always understood. I had a case recently where a person owed only a very small amount of money after a long and good tenancy but received a very threatening letter. Again, I raise the point that you need immediacy; you need a personalised approach. The computer automatically spits out stuff, but it does not always recognise the circumstances behind it.

The basic premise of government housing, of course, is that governments have responsibilities. Those are to provide good housing in sufficient numbers to meet the public demand for that housing. Historically, the ACT has had a high level of public housing by virtue of its government town status and the need to bring people in. The circumstances of government housing have changed over the years. Where once it was substantially to provide accommodation for incoming public servants, it is now increasingly what might be defined, for lack of a better word, welfare housing. It is not a good term because a lot of the people in the housing are not on welfare; they are well enough off. Given the conditions, if you are not already in government housing and you need to acquire one, you need to be on a very low income. We have a responsibility in that regard. I trust that this Government will never get away from the obligation to provide good housing in good numbers to those people in the ACT who rely on it and who deserve it.

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