Page 4851 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 November 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
things that we are doing here in the ACT that are better than what occurs in the rest of the country. And we are better. We have the lowest number of rough sleepers in the country. We still have rough sleepers and that is a problem. In the ACT we have the most funding support for homelessness services and the most public housing per capita as well—something that we should all be proud of.
There are things in the ACT that we are achieving and doing very well, but more needs to be done, and it has to be more than just targets. We need to be a lot more innovative with how we are supporting individuals in our community to ensure that they are in homes of their own. I had wanted to see increased collaboration across the community—across government, business, the community sector, and with residents and public housing tenants. The community has definitely responded to that challenge and I am happy with the outcome so far.
Many of the stakeholders from a variety of interest groups hitched their wagon to a cause larger than themselves and the organisations that they represented to have their say. As Ms Orr said, the consultation and community interactions of almost 6,000 leading up to the summit showed that this was the case. It is unprecedented to have this level of engagement and it highlights the strong interest and the personal connection that Canberrans have for the issues of housing affordability and homelessness in the ACT. These issues affect families in the ACT and this shared interest in finding new ways to better respond to these challenges was heartening.
The summit itself was very different from any of the conferences that I have attended. It was deliberately designed with feedback from the advisory group so that the summit’s facilitators could get the most out of the 200 summit attendees and so that the work produced on the day could harness the insights that shape the diversity of the lived experience of housing in the ACT. It is in this context that I want to acknowledge the work of PwC and their support to Housing ACT to deliver this fresh, engaging approach.
The opportunity the day provided to network and engage with representatives from across the community was highlighted by many and has been a real benefit. I had people coming up to me on the day from housing support services saying that they had just talked to a developer. They had never imagined that they would ever talk to a developer about housing and housing affordability. They said that they were going to connect and talk about some ideas and innovation that they might be able to work on together as well. It was a really great chance for people who would not ordinarily have the chance to share their views with each other to be able to do that.
Of course, I will be very happy to provide a report that will accurately reflect the voices that were heard at the summit. The affordable housing advisory group will be tasked with reviewing that document very carefully to ensure that it does that. The summit delivered on the government’s commitment. The associated community consultations have already provided a strong foundation for a new ACT housing strategy which will be developed later this financial year. It will build on the successes of the previous affordable housing plans and the ACT government’s strong commitment to preserving public housing in the ACT.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video