Page 1352 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 5 April 2005
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Tenants are simply asking to be treated on a human level. They feel lost in the bureaucratic system and feel they are now just a number. The implementation of a better document management system may even help the department. Too much paperwork goes missing and tenants have to resubmit far too much information, over and over again. The minister needs to ensure that, when he compares public housing to the private rental market, he and the government are providing comparative services. Currently, as I have said, it appears not to be the case.
There are several ideas and suggestions that I will give the minister and hopefully he will think about implementing some of them. One is a more robust and fairer system to deal with urgent transfers and the transfer/waiting list. In general we have talked about a one-size-fits-all approach and I know that people within the department have talked about the frustration of that. We need to not let them keep on saying that. We need to solve that for them—give them the assistance and help they need.
We need urgent consideration of the establishment of a dedicated special needs unit to deal with high-priority or urgent housing cases. The appropriateness of housing allocation must be reviewed. The department can maintain that people are adequately housed, but this does not mean appropriately housed. For example, a single girl, with a young baby, housed in a complex full of men could be said to be adequately housed, but that is not appropriate in my book. If it were my daughter, your daughter, Mr Speaker, or the minister’s daughter, would we feel that was appropriate? I do not think so.
The government must get a move on and rebuild or refurbish sites where multiunit complexes exist or existed. If capital works plans as outlined in the 2003-08 public housing asset management strategy are not fast-tracked, there will continue to be far too many potential properties offline, therefore again hampering the department’s ability to reduce the number of people on the waiting list. I do not want the minister to go rambling on back to the Liberal government. It is on your watch now, minister. For example, for four years the Burnie Court site has lain empty. We need action, people need roofs over their heads and your department’s staff need your help, minister.
The overriding question I get from all tenants is: “Mrs Burke, why are the majority, good, law-abiding public housing tenants, made to suffer at the hands of an unruly, difficult and disruptive minority?” It is a very good question. Housing ACT needs to do more to reassure these good tenants that they are not responsible for causing a problem but, rather, have highlighted a discrepancy in service delivery and that it should be rectified. They should not be made to feel like the victim, but they are. The minister looks across at me and pulls a face. He needs to listen to these people. Listening to 12 people might open your eyes, minister.
People’s rights are being ignored. The government would say that at least the ACT has a human rights act. But the government should uphold the major tenets of that act. Instead, they are seriously violating people’s basic human rights here. Many of these people are trying to get their lives back on track and are going backwards. On a number of levels, the government is charged to protect the rights and responsibilities of these people’s lives and have a duty of care, given their responsibility as a landlord, to deliver a level of service that matches not only the expectations of their clients, the tenants, but
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .