❓ Minister Griffiths outlines policy changes implemented to address antisocial behaviour among public housing tenants, focusing on stricter eviction processes and increased support for tenants at risk.
AnsweredQoN 1109Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Antisocial behaviour remains a problem with some public housing tenants. Has the minister instigated any policy changes to try to overcome this problem; and, if not, why not? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS
AnswerView source ↗
Before directly answering the question I should point out that the vast majority of Homeswest tenants are very good contributors to our society. I am very conscious of the issues to do with antisocial behaviour. As the honourable member may recall, I became the Minister for Housing and Works on 27 June last year and, over the following months, I noted and examined the issues that fall under the banner of antisocial behaviour. In January of this year I caused two policy changes to occur. The first policy change was that if a court order to evict had been obtained - bearing in mind that evictions take place pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act - the department was to act on that order. That is not to say that, in some circumstances, a tenant would no longer be housed by Homeswest or provided with the large variety of programs of assistance in which Homeswest is involved. However, if a court order had been obtained to the effect that a person was to be evicted from a particular address, the Department for Housing and Works should stop sitting on its hands, get on with the job and implement the court order rather than engage in other processes, which has been the case in the past. I made that change public in May this year. Frankly, I do not like announcing things before the effects are obvious. The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: Before directly answering the question I should point out that the vast majority of Homeswest tenants are very good contributors to our society. I am very conscious of the issues to do with antisocial behaviour. As the honourable member may recall, I became the Minister for Housing and Works on 27 June last year and, over the following months, I noted and examined the issues that fall under the banner of antisocial behaviour. In January of this year I caused two policy changes to occur. The first policy change was that if a court order to evict had been obtained - bearing in mind that evictions take place pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act - the department was to act on that order. That is not to say that, in some circumstances, a tenant would no longer be housed by Homeswest or provided with the large variety of programs of assistance in which Homeswest is involved. However, if a court order had been obtained to the effect that a person was to be evicted from a particular address, the Department for Housing and Works should stop sitting on its hands, get on with the job and implement the court order rather than engage in other processes, which has been the case in the past. I made that change public in May this year. Frankly, I do not like announcing things before the effects are obvious. The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
Before directly answering the question I should point out that the vast majority of Homeswest tenants are very good contributors to our society. I am very conscious of the issues to do with antisocial behaviour. As the honourable member may recall, I became the Minister for Housing and Works on 27 June last year and, over the following months, I noted and examined the issues that fall under the banner of antisocial behaviour. In January of this year I caused two policy changes to occur. The first policy change was that if a court order to evict had been obtained - bearing in mind that evictions take place pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act - the department was to act on that order. That is not to say that, in some circumstances, a tenant would no longer be housed by Homeswest or provided with the large variety of programs of assistance in which Homeswest is involved. However, if a court order had been obtained to the effect that a person was to be evicted from a particular address, the Department for Housing and Works should stop sitting on its hands, get on with the job and implement the court order rather than engage in other processes, which has been the case in the past. I made that change public in May this year. Frankly, I do not like announcing things before the effects are obvious. The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: Before directly answering the question I should point out that the vast majority of Homeswest tenants are very good contributors to our society. I am very conscious of the issues to do with antisocial behaviour. As the honourable member may recall, I became the Minister for Housing and Works on 27 June last year and, over the following months, I noted and examined the issues that fall under the banner of antisocial behaviour. In January of this year I caused two policy changes to occur. The first policy change was that if a court order to evict had been obtained - bearing in mind that evictions take place pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act - the department was to act on that order. That is not to say that, in some circumstances, a tenant would no longer be housed by Homeswest or provided with the large variety of programs of assistance in which Homeswest is involved. However, if a court order had been obtained to the effect that a person was to be evicted from a particular address, the Department for Housing and Works should stop sitting on its hands, get on with the job and implement the court order rather than engage in other processes, which has been the case in the past. I made that change public in May this year. Frankly, I do not like announcing things before the effects are obvious. The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
Before directly answering the question I should point out that the vast majority of Homeswest tenants are very good contributors to our society. I am very conscious of the issues to do with antisocial behaviour. As the honourable member may recall, I became the Minister for Housing and Works on 27 June last year and, over the following months, I noted and examined the issues that fall under the banner of antisocial behaviour. In January of this year I caused two policy changes to occur. The first policy change was that if a court order to evict had been obtained - bearing in mind that evictions take place pursuant to the Residential Tenancies Act - the department was to act on that order. That is not to say that, in some circumstances, a tenant would no longer be housed by Homeswest or provided with the large variety of programs of assistance in which Homeswest is involved. However, if a court order had been obtained to the effect that a person was to be evicted from a particular address, the Department for Housing and Works should stop sitting on its hands, get on with the job and implement the court order rather than engage in other processes, which has been the case in the past. I made that change public in May this year. Frankly, I do not like announcing things before the effects are obvious. The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
The other policy change was for the eviction of tenants in very rare circumstances when it was very difficult to prove that a tenant was guilty of some very serious wrongdoing. I am referring to cases in which the nature of the circumstances amounts to evidence above that of reasonable suspicion, but is insufficient to satisfy a court to the necessary standard, and usually involves people suspected of a very high level of drug dealing. In those circumstances, moves to evict have occurred and will occur after I give the matter very serious consideration. The previous policy was implemented during the term of the previous Government, and I am not criticising any previous minister for that, but circumstances change. The previous policy was that in rare circumstances the eviction would not occur unless a court order was issued. That rarely happens. I spent some time examining the necessary papers and I have taken action on very few occasions. That is one side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is recognition that a number of Homeswest tenants have difficulty living in urban society. Quite often, some of those tenants find themselves involved in antisocial behaviour. The last thing I want is to have somebody evicted from his home if that can be avoided. I have spoken about the “stick” changes in policy. The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
The other change - not so much a change in policy as such, but a “beefing” up of the policy - involves increasing the resources for Homeswest accommodation managers: Homeswest is the name the department uses when dealing with the Department of Housing and Works properties. I expect that increase in personnel will lead to more frequent contact and inspections, which will deal with the antisocial issues at the “stick” end and enable intervention and assistance to occur before it becomes necessary to become involved in eviction processes. It is important that the honourable member is aware that when Homeswest moves to evict, it does so according to the law. As any landlord will admit, it is desirable to get rid of a very bad tenant very quickly. It is quite proper that the department operate according to the law, and sometimes those processes take more time than we would wish, but that is life.
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