Infrastructure Australia recognise social and affordable housing
A message from our Managing Director, Fiona Caniglia.
Infrastructure Australia released their 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan on 3 September. Importantly, housing is included as social infrastructure with strong themes about sustainability and place-based planning. There are identified actions and outcome areas related to community housing including designing programs to increase the supply and improve the quality of social and affordable rental housing. There is a specific action relating to Closing the Gap and reducing overcrowded living circumstances involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Importantly, there is an action highlighting the need for innovation to reduce maintenance costs and backlog.
As Wendy Hayhurst from CHIA National highlights, “It is the first time social and affordable rental housing has appeared in the national plan”. Q Shelter has long proposed that social housing is essential infrastructure. Inputs to this process from the community housing industry in partnership with Swinburne University showed housing achieved measurable savings in other public expenditure. There is more work to do now to ensure social and affordable housing are included in the priority infrastructure list.
The Community Housing Steering Committee
CHIA Qld, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland and Q Shelter have commenced meeting with the Department of Communities, Housing and the Digital Economy to advance growth initiatives and a new framework for community housing. We have proposed an engagement process involving the sector to ensure that input is timely and focussed and that the next wave of opportunities for growth are shaped together. Q Shelter shared a communique from Government recently and we will continue to communicate with the Sector on milestones and opportunities for input.
Q Shelter welcomes two new Tier 1 organisations
Regional Housing Limited and Coast2Bay Housing have been registered as Tier 1 Housing Providers— which is a great advancement in regional capacity to grow and develop housing supply. We congratulate both organisations and their CEOs: Brett Hanna and Andrew Elvin for their contributions and efforts to achieve this milestone. The value of CHPs with strong regional infrastructure and incredible knowledge of local communities is great and each organisation is valued regionally for their strategic focus and delivery of high-quality human services.
The National Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness
The Q Shelter Learning Exchange heard from an expert panel to reflect on the recently delivered report. Key recommendations focussed on further data collection, and there was support for Housing First approaches to ending homelessness. There was concern, though, about ‘three strikes and you are out’ policies being considered, and we jointly resolved that the next steps need to be monitored. The Learning Exchange was joined by Shelter CEOs from Tasmania, Northern Territory, ACT and South Australia which was fantastic.