Page 2844 - Week 09 - Thursday, 13 August 2015
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housing and accommodation for older people. We also heard from the YWCA about the land rent scheme and their desire to get more involved in that, but there are some barriers stopping them. The recommendation relating to the land rent scheme was only noted by the government, not agreed to, which is a pity.
This government needs to stop thinking about having plans and strategies and all sorts of documents which then sit on a shelf and gather dust. They are not worth the paper they are written on. Another example during estimates was the compact with the community sector. That was signed I think a few years ago, and it is about consultation and communication with the not-for-profit sector. It outlines the roles and rights and responsibilities of each side—government and community sector organisations—but we saw in a related portfolio, and some of the housing-related organisations spoke about this, that the compact is not being followed.
The community sector reform levy was one example where there was no consultation with the sector about the reapplication of that levy. Those organisations involved in housing such as the YWCA, ACTCOSS, Youth Coalition of the ACT and UnitingCare Kippax—four examples off the top of my head—spoke about that lack of consultation from the government in the reapplication of the community sector reform levy. The government is out of touch. It needs to do a lot more on the public housing front. There are people who are waiting a very, very long time for public housing, people on the priority list.
One example I have spoken about several times in this chamber is a constituent of mine in Tuggeranong. His 12-year-old son has a disability and can no longer live with his father because his house is not disability accessible. He has been waiting for a home with disability access for quite a long time so his son can come to live with him. This is a very tragic case of a child with a degenerative disease who has been separated from his father because of the inability to provide housing with disability access.
While we have this third list—the management-initiated transfer list—the chances for people already on this ACT Housing social housing waiting list are getting dimmer and dimmer. That is a real tragedy for those people in our community who are waiting.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Community Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Women and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Social Inclusion and Equality) (11.52): I would like to take this opportunity to speak on part 1.12—public housing. Public housing is a core part of Canberra. It has played an important part in the growth of our city and in the diverse and socially inclusive community that we have become. This government is committed to providing high quality housing for the people in Canberra who have the greatest need.
The ACT continues to provide the highest number of public housing homes per capita of any Australian jurisdiction. We currently have almost 11,600 public housing properties and about 1,200 community housing properties. Collectively, this represents about 30 social housing dwellings for every 1,000 people in the ACT. With the national average sitting at around 17 dwellings per 1,000 people, the ACT is achieving almost twice the national average.
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