Page 1356 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 5 April 2005
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make sure that they can cope before the spectre of eviction turns up; the removal of barriers to public housing for refugees holding temporary protection visas—and it was not the Labor government that introduced temporary protection visas either; reduction of minimum rebated rents; and the exemption of incomes for tenants and residents accessing residential rehabilitation facilities.
This government has continued to develop and grow the community linkages program. The program continues to be focused on assisting tenants to sustain their tenancies and to develop skills and confidence in community capacity building. With recurrent funding in excess of $500,000 a year, community linkages has provided programs to support the development of computer skills, the preventing eviction program, community development and youth specific activities.
An important development was the introduction of a round of tenant initiatives in February this year. This exciting new approach to the establishment of community development activities further expresses this government’s commitment to work in partnership with the ACT community. Housing ACT, as part of the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, has become a partner in the provision of services to people with disabilities, the homeless and to the broader social housing sector.
In the social plan, this government has committed to a consultative and inclusive process to review the Housing Assistance Act and its subsidiary programs. At present, the average property portfolio managed by a housing manager in Housing ACT is 260 properties. Compare that with other jurisdictions. It is reported by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute that Housing ACT is the most successful public housing authority in allocating properties to applicants in the highest need categories. Housing ACT has continued to provide the five housing manager specialists to provide case liaison and coordination services to tenants and applicants, including clients with mental health and other complex issues. Mrs Burke apparently has not heard of those.
Housing ACT has committed to working with tenants to assist them to sustain their tenancies. So far this year, Housing ACT has conducted client service visits on more than 75 per cent of its clients and is on track to complete visits to all tenanted households on a regular annual basis. Housing ACT has completed 598 ninety-day visits.
The Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services commissioned a report on the establishment of tenant participation models. The tenants union, in partnership with Shelter ACT and tenants of Housing ACT, undertook the work. It held a tenant summit on 27 November 2004. I had been minister for about a month. I got invited to go to this summit; so did a heap of other people. There were people with disabilities, there were homeless people and there were public housing tenants over years. Mrs Burke was not invited, because they did not want her there. I asked the question: “Where is my opposition, because I would like to know. This is a community participation event. Let us come together and fix the problems.” They said, “Don’t let that woman near us.” So I said, “I cannot understand for the life of me why you would want to do that,” but now I do. The summit elected 40 representatives on a tenant council that has elected an executive of nine tenants. I have advised of the government’s continued support for this process.
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