Page 1270 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022
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MS ORR: Minister, what kinds of services and support will be provided to residents at Common Ground?
MS BERRY: I was very happy to announce that Community Housing Canberra has been selected to deliver a holistic service model for Common Ground, including tenancy support and property management services for 40 properties in the new Common Ground multi-unit development at Dickson. Community Housing Canberra is a home-grown provider in the ACT, providing property and tenancy management.
As part of this arrangement, CHC will also partner with YWCA Canberra to deliver a range of onsite services to support individual tenant needs. This will include education, employment and financial support, as well as mental and physical health. YWCA Canberra is a trusted organisation and has a longstanding record of delivering high-quality, person-centred, gender and trauma-informed support services to the ACT community. This includes for older women and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children experiencing domestic and family violence.
The services that both CHC and the YWCA will provide will be integral to the community that will develop at Common Ground Dickson. CHC will provide tenancy and property services to tenants related to day-to-day activities such as rent and maintenance. The YWCA will provide those critical support services that will enable residents living in Common Ground to stay connected with work, education and health, as well as other supports. With both organisations working together, this will give the residents at Common Ground Dickson a really fair crack at happiness in their new homes.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, how does the Common Ground development contribute to the ACT government’s priority of delivering more social housing?
MS BERRY: The ACT government is the ACT’s largest social landlord, with nearly 12,000 dwelling homes and more than 20,000 Canberrans. It is no surprise, with a Chief Minister who grew up in public housing and a Deputy Chief Minister in public housing, that our commitment to providing public housing in the ACT continues.
In addition to the Common Ground Dickson development, the ACT government is in the middle of the largest investment in the history of self-government to increase and improve the amount of public housing and to provide essential housing for low-income Canberrans at risk of homelessness.
In the 2022-23 ACT budget, $100 million was committed to increase social and affordable housing in the ACT, including an additional $80 million for public housing maintenance over the next three years, and $19 million in additional funding for the Growing and Renewing Public Housing Program to support the delivery of the government’s commitment to provide 400 additional public housing dwellings and renew another 1,000.
This funding is a strong statement that the ACT government is making to commit to growing, renewing and maintaining public housing. In particular, the maintenance
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