The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress today added its voice to calls for an independent review of the management of Aboriginal social housing in Central Australia.
The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress today added its voice to calls for an independent review of the management of Aboriginal social housing in Central Australia.
“Congress continues to support the need for services that are provided to Aboriginal people being delivered by Aboriginal community controlled organisations and this includes the vitally important community housing sector. It has been recognised in many key national reports and accepted as government policy that best practice in Aboriginal Affairs is to support Aboriginal community control of services and programs,” said the Congress CEO, Ms Donna Ah Chee.
“Congress has also expressed concerns over many years that competitive tendering processes do not ensure that resources are allocated in accordance with need and that the additional benefits of Aboriginal community control of services are taken into account. This system for allocating resources in Aboriginal communities is not appropriate and there is an urgent need to establish a collaborative needs based planning system for Aboriginal Housing similar to the system that has worked very well in Aboriginal Health,” she continued.
“Reports from the Central Land Council that the commercial provider that has been awarded the housing management contract in the town camps has a poor reputation by remote Aboriginal people for their remote tenancy service delivery is a major concern. “The decision to separate property and tenancy management into separate organisations also sets new policy directions in a complex area and there has not been sufficient explanation as to why this has become necessary or indeed whether it will improve service provision.”
“For all these reasons Congress believes it is time for an independent review of Aboriginal social housing in Central Australia to properly consult with Aboriginal organisations in different sectors and support effective Aboriginal community controlled providers in the housing sector capable of providing high quality services in accordance with national standards.
Contact: Donna Ah Chee 0418 859 41
