❓ Hon. Helen Bullock questions the Minister for Housing regarding allegations of poor working conditions, maintenance neglect, and staffing shortages at the Department of Housing's South Hedland office, based on a news report. The Minister denies most allegations.
AnsweredQoN 374Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
OF HOUSING — SOUTH HEDLAND OFFICE
374. Hon HELEN BULLOCK to the minister representing the
Minister for Housing:
I refer to the
front-page report of the North West
Telegraph of 13 June 2012.
(1) Can the
minister confirm the allegations in the report, including —
(a) that staff
had been attacked by dogs, abused and/or attacked by tenants and made to enter
volatile premises without any backup;
(b) that
housing officers are ignoring maintenance because of the scarcity of key staff;
(c) that the
delayed maintenance has led to collapsed bathrooms and kitchens being left
unrepaired, and that unattended plumbing works and leaks have left some tenants
with water bills in excess of $15 000; and
(d) that many
temporary staff who report for duty in South Hedland have refused to stay after
only one day due to the appalling circumstances in the tenancies?
(2) Can the
minister confirm that the third housing inspector position in the South Hedland
office has been left unfilled for six months, resulting in the reported
problems?
(3) Will the
minister undertake to provide immediate and appropriate increases to staffing
levels at the South Hedland office to assist the overworked officers?
OF HOUSING — SOUTH HEDLAND OFFICE
374. Hon HELEN BULLOCK to the minister representing the
Minister for Housing:
I refer to the
front-page report of the North West
Telegraph of 13 June 2012.
(1) Can the
minister confirm the allegations in the report, including —
(a) that staff
had been attacked by dogs, abused and/or attacked by tenants and made to enter
volatile premises without any backup;
(b) that
housing officers are ignoring maintenance because of the scarcity of key staff;
(c) that the
delayed maintenance has led to collapsed bathrooms and kitchens being left
unrepaired, and that unattended plumbing works and leaks have left some tenants
with water bills in excess of $15 000; and
(d) that many
temporary staff who report for duty in South Hedland have refused to stay after
only one day due to the appalling circumstances in the tenancies?
(2) Can the
minister confirm that the third housing inspector position in the South Hedland
office has been left unfilled for six months, resulting in the reported
problems?
(3) Will the
minister undertake to provide immediate and appropriate increases to staffing
levels at the South Hedland office to assist the overworked officers?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question. The Department of Housing advises —
(1) (a) Since
1 July 2011 in the Pilbara region there have been two incidents of dog bites—on
22 February 2012 and 4 April 2012. There have been no incident reports of
attacks by tenants. Staff are not made to enter volatile premises without any
backup.
(b) Maintenance
work in the region has not been placed on hold or neglected due to short
staffing.
(c) The
department has not been advised of collapsed kitchens and bathrooms or
unattended plumbing works.
(d) No.
(2) No FTE
position has been left vacant or unfilled for a period of six months or more.
(3) Current FTE levels are deemed by the department to be
adequate to service the region.
question. The Department of Housing advises —
(1) (a) Since
1 July 2011 in the Pilbara region there have been two incidents of dog bites—on
22 February 2012 and 4 April 2012. There have been no incident reports of
attacks by tenants. Staff are not made to enter volatile premises without any
backup.
(b) Maintenance
work in the region has not been placed on hold or neglected due to short
staffing.
(c) The
department has not been advised of collapsed kitchens and bathrooms or
unattended plumbing works.
(d) No.
(2) No FTE
position has been left vacant or unfilled for a period of six months or more.
(3) Current FTE levels are deemed by the department to be
adequate to service the region.
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.