Page 5455 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 8 December 2009
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MS PORTER: Minister, how many properties does ACT Housing manage? Is it true that we have the largest number of older properties in Australia? What challenges does this pose?
Mr Smyth: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: the question is actually about the implementation of the contract for total facilities management. It is not a general blurb about properties and what does Housing do. It is about the problems that were encountered in the facilities management. I ask that you rule it out of order.
MS PORTER: In response to the point of order, it is about the oldest properties that we have in Australia being in the ACT and what challenges this poses in relation to maintenance.
MR SPEAKER: The question is in order. In the context of asking about the maintenance contract, it is relevant to ask what properties it covers.
MS BURCH: I thank Ms Porter for her question. Indeed, Housing ACT is the largest landlord in the ACT. We have over 11½ thousand single unit and multi-unit properties, ranging in age. We do have a significant component of properties that are ageing properties and they are being considered for responsive maintenance—as I said, $9.7 million in responsive maintenance, planned maintenance and capital upgrades. In particular, the older properties benefit from the capital upgrades where we are putting in energy efficient systems, particularly for heating and energy.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Ms Le Couteur?
MS LE COUTEUR: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Given that the same audit says that nearly 30 per cent of tenants were not happy with maintenance, what are you doing to address that issue?
MS BURCH: Thank you, Caroline, and I must point out the obvious sums, that 30 per cent may have raised a question around response to maintenance but 70 per cent did not raise a response.
Members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order, members! I cannot hear Minister Burch.
MS BURCH: The response to maintenance is that there have been systems put in place around—we audit the log of maintenance calls. We have also got a joint champions committee that works across public housing. These are tenants within the public housing community that work with government and raise issues, whether they be maintenance, response to maintenance, housing, behaviours—a whole range of things. We continue to work directly with the tenants themselves. They are our client base; they are the ones that we need to respond to. Improvements have been made into Spotless, the total management facility systems, in responding to responsive maintenance.
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