The past year has been a busy and exciting year for me in my first full year as Director-General. As a human services organisation, the NSW Department of Housing (Housing NSW) is here to serve the people of NSW by providing homes for people in the most need in our community.
During 2006/07, I have been committed to ensuring that we deliver on the NSW State Plan through particular programs and initiatives. The implementation of the
Reshaping Public Housing reform agenda has been a focus for us with the introduction in October 2006 of fixed-term leases for new tenants, followed by actual water-use charges. By June 2007, 60,000 tenants were paying for their water usage and more than 70,000 homes were fitted with water-saving devices. These steps shall see tenants continuing to be environmentally responsible in their water usage.
We are meeting commitments under the State Plan to deliver more homes to older people. Over the year, we began a major program of redevelopment of housing for older people, with the construction of new developments across the state, such
as the building of an 18-unit complex in Gorokan, which won the Hunter Special Purpose Housing Category in the 2006 Housing Industry Australia Award. For the first time, we contacted over 9,000 elderly tenants to check on their welfare
and wellbeing.
We have also taken a new direction in the delivery of social housing in Dubbo with the redevelopment of the Gordon Estate. Through Building Stronger Communities,
more than $66 million was allocated for community regeneration for 18 housing estates in six priority locations across NSW, including Dubbo.
Under a whole-of-Dubbo community regeneration strategy, we will be creating a better social environment, supporting public housing tenants and reducing antisocial behaviour. We have commenced rehousing tenants and redeveloping parts of the Gordon Estate to better meet the needs of tenants. A series of first-home buyer evenings provided information to the local community and this was
followed on 27 June with the first auction of four properties on the Gordon Estate all sold to first-home buyers. This is a great achievement in making available more affordable housing for the people of NSW.
Other major redevelopments that are continuing apace include the Bonnyrigg Living Communities Project and the Minto Renewal Project. Bonnyrigg Partnerships was selected as the private partner for the project and it is the first example of a publicprivate partnership of its kind for social housing in NSW. The Minto Renewal
Project will entail a complete rebuild of this estate with a greater balance of
public and private housing. Physical works on the site commenced in May 2007 with Landcom, our private partners and Campbelltown City Council.
We now have major programs in place to help the most vulnerable in our community and to engage our tenants and the wider community in a number of our projects. Many more projects detailed in the pages of this report demonstrate our commitment to implementing the NSW State Plan.
We will be strengthening the community housing sector in NSW following the Minister’s recent announcement in April 2007 of the Planning for the Future: Community Housing, a Five-Year Strategy for Growth and Sustainability. Not only
will the viability of the sector be assured with additional funding and growth strategies, but its existence will be recognised within legislation following an amendment to the Housing Act 2001. I look forward to seeing the community housing sector expand and develop in new directions in the coming years.
I am delighted to be at the helm of such a vibrant organisation as Housing NSW. The 2,500 staff spread across the state are dedicated, enthusiastic and believe in the work of the organisation. It is testimony to their hard work that Housing NSW
received a number of awards at the 2006 Premier’s Public Service Awards, ncluding a gold for the Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) in the
Service Delivery category, a silver for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mentoring Program in the Workforce Development category, and a bronze for the community housing Performance Based Registration System. Our legal team was also recognised for its excellence with an Award at the Annual Excellence Award in Government Legal Services in October 2006.
To further develop the talents of staff, we introduced a Leadership Program,
with the first intake of staff in May 2006. This program will ensure that
we are nurturing our staff and creating opportunities to draw upon the ideas
and initiatives of staff from across the organisation.
This past year has been one of establishing the foundations for work
in the coming year. In 2007/08, I look forward to being able to deliver on
our commitments, including further implementation of the Reshaping
Public Housing reforms, consolidation of the Building Stronger Communities
initiatives across the state, and continuation of major redevelopments
in Dubbo, Minto and Bonnyrigg as well as the Inner West Strategy and implementing reforms under the Future Directions in Community Housing. During February 2008, we will be hosting the National Housing Conference, with the theme ‘Housing as a Foundation: Building Successful Partnerships’. The 5th National
Housing Conference will feature local, national and international housing
experts, showcasing policy, practice and innovation in the housing sector.
We are also looking to officially change the name of the NSW Department of Housing to Housing NSW and will be progressing this in 2007/08.
In closing, I would like to thank Minister Brown for his support and for his commitment to securing the best possible outcomes for social housing
in NSW. I look forward to working together with him in the coming
year to ensure that we can create a strong, affordable and equitable social
housing network in NSW. I would also like to thank all Housing NSW staff for
their hard work, which has ensured that we have been able to deliver on
our many targets over the past year.
Mike Allen
Director-General
Housing NSW