I assumed the role of Director-General for the NSW Department of Housing in February 2006 with pleasure. I was especially looking forward to meeting the opportunities and challenges ahead of the Department as we continue to build on our achievements and work towards improving social housing for those most in need.
Our achievements in 2005–06 were significant, helping more than 420,000 people with housing assistance, including providing social housing to 277,000 people under existing tenancies as well as over 11,000 new additional tenancies.
We continued to find accommodation for homeless people and helped them get access support services, arranged emergency accommodation for households in crisis and supplied rental assistance to over 34,000 low-income households in the private rental market.
For existing home owners and potential home purchasers, especially those on lower incomes, we continued to provide vital information and assistance. The year saw the Department start to implement the Government’s new direction in the delivery of Public Housing with the Reshaping Public Housing reforms, prepare for changes to eligibility and tenure, and consult extensively with stakeholders on the new policy framework.
For the first time tenants in public housing started paying a contribution towards their water usage from December 2005, in the same way they pay other utility bills. These changes are part of a suite of changes designed to help improve the Department’s financial sustainability and to encourage responsible water usage.
The Department’s approach to long-term asset planning also forms part of the Reshaping Public Housing reforms. The approach provides a framework for asset reconfiguration to meet the needs of our current and future clients. This framework will help the Department use its social housing assets cost-effectively to realign stock to match projected demand.
In October 2005 the Human Services CEOs endorsed the NSW Housing and Human Services Accord and since that time the Department has undertaken a broad consultative process on the implementation. The consultations have provided valuable feedback on the Accord framework as well as highlighting opportunities for future partnerships under the Accord that build on cross-agency collaboration, coordinated planning and will ultimately result in better service outcomes for our mutual clients.
The Office of Community Housing continued to lead improvements within the community housing sector as its performance-based registration system was expanded to promote the sector’s viability and good governance.
Registration is compulsory for all not-for-profit housing providers wanting to participate in opportunities to provide social housing. A total of 54 community housing organisations were registered since the system was implemented in early 2005.
I am very pleased to note that results from the first stage of registrations indicate a high level of performance in delivering both client service and tenancy management, and sound governance being exercised by a large proportion of community housing organisations.
As has been the case for the past five years, the number of people waiting for public housing has continued to fall, with just over 53,300 applicants on the housing register at the end of 2005–06. The decline is due largely to improvements the Department has undertaken in managing the housing register, including the processing and follow-up of our housing requirement surveys.
By completing regular reviews, the Department is ensuring that applicants on the public housing register are still in need of our help and are eligible for public housing.
This year has seen significant changes occurring across a range of products and services provided by the Department. The very nature of the services we provide to our clients has required a considerable effort to maintain and improve ongoing service delivery, whilst a great deal of planning and development work has been done to ensure intended changes provide the best possible outcome for all stakeholders.
The Reshaping Public Housing involved many people across the organisation. These are but two examples of the valuable work being undertaken by a network of committed and talented staff to who I am grateful for all their dedicated effort in delivering and improving upon social housing for the people of New South Wales.
The Department will manage a number of challenges in the coming 2006–07 year. From October 2006 all new tenants will be offered fixed term leases of two, five or ten years, ending previous arrangements in which tenants were offered lifetime tenure.
We plan to develop and pilot a new service model of shared access trials, which will test new partnership approaches to the delivery of social housing and the services necessary to sustain those tenancies.
The Department is committed to increasing the number of delivery points for Rentstart by Phone for rural and regional areas. We will also be working with the successful tenderer on the Bonnyrigg Living Communities Project, continuing our intensive community capacity building and consultation throughout the masterplanning and redevelopment phases.
In closing, I would personally like to thank Minister Burton for her continued support throughout 2005–06 including an intense and genuine interest in securing the best possible outcomes for all NSW Department of Housing tenants, as well as other stakeholders across the social housing network.
Mike Allen
Director-General
Department of Housing