❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses housing issues in South Hedland, including public housing stock, local amenity, tenant support, communication with the Aboriginal community, Aboriginal employment in the housing agency, housing demand management, and access to home ownership. The answer provides updates on existing programs and initiatives.
AnsweredQoN 4711Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
With regards to the New Living Program in South Hedland:
(a) what steps are being taken to augment the sale of large numbers of public housing stock in South Hedland with a well funded program for the purchase and construction of additional public housing in Hedland to cater for the rapidly growing local population;
(b) will the Minister provide full details of the proceeds from house and land sales in South Hedland and what has been spent on improving the local amenity and increasing the local housing stock;
(c) what strategies and support programs are to be put in place in Hedland to assist people with in-house assistance so as to build the homemaking skills required to ensure that they can adequately care for the housing asset and, in turn, protect their tenancies;
(d) what will the Minister’s Department do to ensure that there is good communication at a local level in Hedland between the housing agency, the local Aboriginal community, and the Homeswest tenants;
(e) what plans will the Minister’s Department put in place to create dedicated staff positions to ensure that local Aboriginal people are recruited into the housing agency so that there is an opportunity for dialogue and transparency with this agency in its dealings with its tenants and the local community;
(f) what policy measures will the Minister’s Department put in place to prevent people from transferring to an area of high housing need, like Hedland, creating long local housing queues and denying permanent long-term local people shorter waiting periods; and
(g) what policy measures will the Minister’s Department put in place to assist people in Hedland, and further afield in the Pilbara, to be able to acquire access to home ownership and the private housing market rather than be trapped in public housing without the opportunity to take up employment for fear of losing access to the only available and affordable housing (i.e. Homeswest accommodation for those on low incomes)?
(a) what steps are being taken to augment the sale of large numbers of public housing stock in South Hedland with a well funded program for the purchase and construction of additional public housing in Hedland to cater for the rapidly growing local population;
(b) will the Minister provide full details of the proceeds from house and land sales in South Hedland and what has been spent on improving the local amenity and increasing the local housing stock;
(c) what strategies and support programs are to be put in place in Hedland to assist people with in-house assistance so as to build the homemaking skills required to ensure that they can adequately care for the housing asset and, in turn, protect their tenancies;
(d) what will the Minister’s Department do to ensure that there is good communication at a local level in Hedland between the housing agency, the local Aboriginal community, and the Homeswest tenants;
(e) what plans will the Minister’s Department put in place to create dedicated staff positions to ensure that local Aboriginal people are recruited into the housing agency so that there is an opportunity for dialogue and transparency with this agency in its dealings with its tenants and the local community;
(f) what policy measures will the Minister’s Department put in place to prevent people from transferring to an area of high housing need, like Hedland, creating long local housing queues and denying permanent long-term local people shorter waiting periods; and
(g) what policy measures will the Minister’s Department put in place to assist people in Hedland, and further afield in the Pilbara, to be able to acquire access to home ownership and the private housing market rather than be trapped in public housing without the opportunity to take up employment for fear of losing access to the only available and affordable housing (i.e. Homeswest accommodation for those on low incomes)?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
5 April 2011
Responded by
Minister for Housing
Response time
40 days
The
Department of Housing
advises:
(a) The State Governments' New Living Project is operating in the area and more dwellings have been built.
(b) Property to the value of $72.9m has been sold, from this the Department must fund the cost of the project including its land development, property refurbishment (both sale and retain properties), infrastructure upgrade and community development programs.
(c) The Department is currently developing a program in Roebourne.
South Hedland tenants continue to be supported by the Pilbara Community Legal Service, the Supported Housing Assistance Program (SHAP) and DCP's Strong Families Program.
(d) Community forums are scheduled throughout the Pilbara.
(e) The Department's Pilbara Region has 5 permanent staff who identify as Aboriginal people with two of these officers at management level.
The Department's Pilbara regional office is currently developing links with the high schools and TAFE campuses within the region with a view of offering a work experience program to Aboriginal students.
(f) Applicants are required to nominate where they wish to live. In high demand locations such as Port Hedland or Karratha, priority housing assistance is limited to current residents only.
(g) Substantial efforts are being made to enhance the supply of affordable housing options in the market and this will be further enhanced by the forthcoming State Affordable Housing Strategy.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Department of Housing
advises:
(a) The State Governments' New Living Project is operating in the area and more dwellings have been built.
(b) Property to the value of $72.9m has been sold, from this the Department must fund the cost of the project including its land development, property refurbishment (both sale and retain properties), infrastructure upgrade and community development programs.
(c) The Department is currently developing a program in Roebourne.
South Hedland tenants continue to be supported by the Pilbara Community Legal Service, the Supported Housing Assistance Program (SHAP) and DCP's Strong Families Program.
(d) Community forums are scheduled throughout the Pilbara.
(e) The Department's Pilbara Region has 5 permanent staff who identify as Aboriginal people with two of these officers at management level.
The Department's Pilbara regional office is currently developing links with the high schools and TAFE campuses within the region with a view of offering a work experience program to Aboriginal students.
(f) Applicants are required to nominate where they wish to live. In high demand locations such as Port Hedland or Karratha, priority housing assistance is limited to current residents only.
(g) Substantial efforts are being made to enhance the supply of affordable housing options in the market and this will be further enhanced by the forthcoming State Affordable Housing Strategy.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.