The 2005–06 year has seen the Government take the delivery of social housing in a new direction.
We have appointed a new Director-General, delivered the most significant reforms to public housing in 50 years and released the first stage of our affordable housing strategy which will provide more dedicated homes for older people.
The introduction of the Reshaping Public Housing reforms will ensure the viability of the State’s social housing system for future generations. The Government has moved in a new direction, focusing on housing those most in need. This especially includes the frail aged, people with a mental illness, people with a disability and the young homeless.
Other major reforms included changing the policy of public housing for life to one matched to the length of need, for the first time ensuring that public housing tenants are paying a fair contribution towards their water usage and making rent contributions more equitable according to what tenants can afford.
This year has also seen the announcement by the Premier of the first stage of the NSW Government’s affordable housing strategy – A New Direction in Social
Housing for Older People.
This investment of almost half a billion dollars will see the amount of dedicated seniors public housing increased by 10 per cent or 2,800 homes over the next five years. We will also invest in modifying homes for the elderly to allow them to maintain their independence for longer.
These will include the installation of lifts, grab rails and hobless showers. The Government is working hard to address the issue of housing affordability. This year, the Department of Housing has been heavily involved in the cross-agency development of affordable housing strategies.
As a result of this work, we have identified that filling the deposit gap is a significant hurdle in achieving home ownership. The Government has been urging the Commonwealth to allow people early access to their superannuation to be used for a deposit on a home, therefore bridging the deposit gap and easing the burden on first home buyers.
In line with our policy to reconfigure our stock to better match the needs of the community, we are making real progress on our major redevelopments, especially in Bonnyrigg and Minto in western and south western Sydney respectively.
In Bonnyrigg we have now announced the preferred proponent for the first public private partnership in redeveloping public housing, while Minto has taken another step forward with the approval of the development application.
We have also taken a new direction in the delivery of social housing in Dubbo with the redevelopment of the Gordon Estate. The decision was taken to address the community’s concerns regarding anti-social behaviour and crime issues that have plagued the Gordon Estate for the past 20 years.
The redevelopment will take place over the next three years and will see the sale of all the Department’s properties in the area. I also announced a $16 million redevelopment in Port Macquarie which will see out-of-date stock replaced with at least 52 new units specially designed for the area’s elderly and people with a disability.
This year also saw the extension of the successful Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative. This partnership between the Department of Housing, NSW Health and non-government organisations is providing supported accommodation for people with a mental illness across NSW.
The first evaluation report indicated a 90 per cent reduction in the number of days clients have spent in hospital and an improved quality of life. This program is providing people with a mental illness with a home and the support they need to live a good quality of life.
Our Water Fix program is a leading example of practical environmentalism, helping to save water in public housing properties by fitting water saving and water efficient devices. We have now retrofitted 30,000 public housing dwellings or almost a quarter of total public housing stock in NSW, leading our tenants by example and making our contribution to the environment.
We are also making a contribution towards the future education of young people living in social housing. For the first time this year, we offered scholarships worth $2,000 each to students in Year 11 or 12 or at TAFE.
This is part of the NSW Government’s commitment to securing the future of our young people. We want young people who live in social housing to be able to stay in school, and these scholarships will provide them with some of the support they need.
This year also saw the tragic deaths of public housing tenants that went unnoticed for a period of time. As a result, we launched a campaign to encourage tenants to develop a greater sense of community and take more notice of each other’s movements.
In addition, the Department contacted all tenants over 60 who had not had been contacted for a period of six months, and fortunately all were accounted for. The Government also tightened our inspections policy to ensure that all tenants had regular contact with the Department.
There is still more work to do in providing affordable and safe accommodation for those most in need, but our significant reforms show we are heading in the right direction. We now have set targets to help the most vulnerable in our community and we continue to do what we plan.
I look forward to continuing to deliver improved social housing for those most in need in NSW.
The Hon Cherie Burton MP
Minister for Housing
Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health)