Page 754 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 1 May 2007
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There are many groups in our community requiring social housing, and they have very diverse needs. These groups include, for example, young people who are at risk of becoming homeless or are experiencing various forms of discrimination in the private housing market. They include older people whose housing needs may have changed. They include women and children experiencing domestic violence, people with disabilities and mental illness, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with complex needs.
As we all know, some people have more choices in life than others. In the matter of housing, this government is particularly concerned about the latter. For historical reasons, there is no doubt that the ACT’s public housing system has become inequitable. We had eligibility criteria that were much less rigorous than those of other Australian jurisdictions and this led to inflated waiting lists and increasingly false expectations. If we had not embarked on this course, many people would not be housed quickly—indeed, if at all—and the system worked against those in the community with priority needs, such as those that I have outlined. It was in this context that the government set out on a systematic reform process, underpinned by extensive consultation.
The views of social housing tenants, the housing sector and the broader community have been widely canvassed. During 2005, five ministerial housing forums were held on topics as varied as tenant participation, community housing, disability housing, joint venture partnerships in public housing, renewal and review, and complaint mechanisms in social housing. This process culminated in a major consumer forum and housing summit held in February 2006, attended by more than 250 people. As you would expect of such a forum, a wide variety of perspectives were shared and solutions offered.
Another important input to our deliberations was the ACT Auditor-General’s performance audit report into public housing, completed in May last year. It made recommendations on housing eligibility and allocation and on priority assessment processes, as well as on the effective use of housing stock.
The reform measures that have followed this long period of consultation have fundamentally redefined the territory’s approach to the provision of social housing. The latest changes to public housing, announced on 20 April this year, further assist our endeavour to house people most in need at the earliest opportunity.
The reforms have not been about disadvantaging existing tenants. Most tenants will not be affected or notice any change, but we have to recognise that tenants’ circumstances change over time. We also have to recognise that in the ACT it is likely that some public housing tenants now have gross incomes far in excess of the entry criteria for public housing. For a family of two, the income barrier is set at about $31,000 per annum.
The government has announced that it will assist tenants on sustainable incomes of more than $80,000 per annum, calculated over two consecutive years, to move to home ownership or private rental. We will also expand the sale to tenant program that allows tenants to purchase their home. There have been many Canberrans that have
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