Page 5413 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 16 November 2010
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is something we have deviated from before so it is not a reason to be used as to why we should be signing up to this scheme.
Amendment negatived.
Clause 7 agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken as a whole and agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
Housing—public and community
Ministerial statement
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women), by leave: Arising from the budget estimates hearings in May of this year, I undertook to address the Assembly on public and community housing in the ACT and the various approaches of other states and territories.
There are approximately 360,000 units of social housing in Australia made up of 320,000 public housing stock and 40,000 community housing stock, including Aboriginal-managed housing. This is a huge national asset and it needs to be well managed.
The national investment in housing provided under the national affordable housing agreement and its associated national partnership agreement is almost $10 billion over five years. An additional $5.64 billion has also been provided to states and territories through the nation building and job plans, an unprecedented level of investment in social housing.
These agreements commit governments at all levels to deliver fundamental reform of the social housing and homelessness landscape. Housing ministers have already provided a substantial report to the Council of Australian Governments on the progress of the reform under the national affordable housing agreement, and I commend the report to members, which is available on the COAG website.
Today I will focus on two key areas of this national reform agenda. The first is the ACT and other jurisdictions’ approach to the growth of community housing as required under the national affordable housing agreement. The second is the increased targeting of public housing nationally and the financial and social pressures this targeting puts on the public housing system.
I will go on to outline how the ACT has argued for funding reforms to address these pressures and show how the ACT has maintained stock numbers and, indeed, grown stock numbers despite the perverse incentives that the commonwealth provides to reduce stock numbers. The conclusion the Assembly must draw is that the ACT continues to be at the forefront of the reform agenda, providing improved housing and support services, more housing and better outcomes for clients.
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