Page 3551 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 12 October 1994
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In informing this Assembly of the changes the Government is implementing in the housing area, I would like to outline the framework through which future public housing developments are to be undertaken. The housing review has identified the need to revitalise the existing stock of public housing and to change the profile of stock to meet the needs of future tenants. There are a number of key features in undertaking this task. It will involve a planned process on a precinct scale and will facilitate community participation in this planning process. Individual public housing projects will be consistent with precinct strategies, taking account of the need for heritage-sensitive and environmentally sound upgrades, together with the development of mixed communities and the overall development plan.
Residential redevelopment activity in the inner Canberra suburbs will be an evolving process as tenants relocate and therefore will occur over the longer term rather than as a swift or crude change to the face of neighbourhoods and precincts. Renewal of public housing stock will take place in various manners, dependent upon that precinct plan. This may include a mix of replacements involving heritage works, one for one replacements, dual and multi-unit developments and a mix of densities, with the possibility of some higher densities.
The Government is determined that the new era for housing assistance and services in the ACT will see client-friendly regional offices where clients will be able to obtain correct information and access to the full range of services they require from professional and trained housing officers; streamlined processes within the Housing Trust with decisions made on the spot wherever possible, and vastly improved response times for repairs and maintenance; the development of a wider choice of housing options which will better match the financial and life-cycle circumstances of clients. This will ensure that subsidies are targeted to those in greatest need and for the periods when they are required. There will be a solid businesslike approach to the management of assets and debt which will complement the social objectives of delivering a housing program to this community; changes to the profile of public housing stock to better meet the needs of current and future public tenants; greater and more transparent accountability; increased and innovative opportunities for the private and community housing sectors to work in partnership with the Government in the provision and delivery of housing assets and services to clients; and a new organisational structure which will allow the Housing Trust to concentrate on operational issues, and a housing policy unit to develop the broader strategic policy and asset and financial management plans for ACT Housing.
Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, since ACT self-government the ACT Housing Trust has delivered an important social justice program on behalf of our Government. Its staff are committed to assisting those members of our community who have low income or are disadvantaged in other ways when it comes to securing affordable housing. The Follett Government is now making reforms which will ensure that the Housing Trust delivers a high standard of service to clients for the future. The Government looks forward to the major changes that will occur over the next six to 12 months which I have described here this afternoon. I undertake to keep the Assembly and the community advised and involved in the process of reform.
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