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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 2 Hansard (25 February) . . Page.. 403 ..

MS REILLY: My question is to the Minister for Housing, Mr Stefaniak. During lunchtime, Mr Stefaniak, I received a phone call from a young mother. She is living in the Gowrie Court flat complex, with her husband and two young children who are two and three years old. She reported another assault in the Gowrie Court complex this morning. This young woman is very frightened for her family. Her situation is not unique; I have had calls from other young families and older people about safety and security. Your current security measures for these flat complexes, which include the use of security services, are not working. What are you going to do, as their landlord, to make these tenants feel safe in their own homes?

MR STEFANIAK: I thank the member for the question. Ms Reilly, you were not here during the Second Assembly, but I can assure you that a lot has happened since then in terms of security in large flat complexes. Things like this have always been a problem. It is considerably better now than it was when you lot were in government. In fact, police indicate that, in the ABC flat complex, about 90 per cent of the incidents that used to occur no longer do.

You asked about Gowrie Court, though, Ms Reilly. Yes, in any large flat complexes, unfortunately, there will always be certain problems. It is also literally, I suppose, impossible to say that you will totally clear up all problems throughout Canberra 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. But there are a number of things we can do and a number of things we are doing, Ms Reilly. For members' benefit, Gowrie Court comprises 72 two-bedroom units in six blocks, each containing 12 flats. In other words, it is a large flat complex, and we have a number of complaints there.

You talk about an incident of assault. There have been a number of other complaints received about abandoned vehicles, intimidation, noise, vandalism, and breaking and entering. Investigations of those complaints are carried out by ACT Housing, also of course by the Australian Federal Police. Reports from ACT Housing and indeed reports received from the police support the view that visitors and, on occasions, large groups are the primary cause of those complaints. That is not uncommon to a lot of our flat complexes, Ms Reilly. It is not necessarily the tenants who do it; it is often visitors who come there. It is believed that many of the visitors reside in the Narrabundah area. Also, there are a number of activities on the oval adjoining the complex, and those often spill over into the complex.

ACT Housing has taken considerable action at Gowrie Court to improve the situation; just like we have at the ABC flats; just like we have at Burnie Court at Lyons; and just like we have at some of our other large flat complexes. The actions we have taken have included referring incidents of violence and intimidation to the AFP and employing a private security firm to patrol the grounds eight hours a day for four days each week. I understand that from 25 January to 15 February that firm did just that. There has been cleaning and deodorising. There were some complaints in relation to the stairwells. There have also been regular inspections of the grounds and the stairwells. We will continue to monitor the situation in the complex; we will continue to liaise closely with the AFP; we will continue to undertake essential maintenance; and we will also continue to respond as best we can on an individual basis to tenants' complaints.

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