A centralised waiting list for public and community housing in the ACT will be introduced on September 1, giving low and middle income Canberrans a greater choice of housing products with a single application.
The new system will mean that for the first time the ACT will have a single entry point for people applying for public and community housing, and will create a more efficient and responsive social housing system.
ACT Minister for Housing and Community Services Joy Burch said the Social Housing Register will combine registration and application processes for both public and community housing.
“People seeking public and community housing will now only have to fill out one form and engage in one assessment process to be registered for multiple housing providers,” Ms Burch said.
“They can also nominate their interest in shared accommodation. The register will facilitate a simpler and fairer way to access housing assistance, provide greater housing choice and present a clearer understanding of housing demand.”
The Social Housing Register is in line with commitments under the ACT Implementation Plan for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness and the Nation Building and Jobs Plan. A key deliverable of the National Partnership Agreement is to offer ‘more connected, integrated and responsive services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness’.
“All Australian jurisdictions are required to move to a form of centrally managed waiting lists by July 2011 and the ACT will be one of the first jurisdictions to implement such a process,” Ms Burch said.
The current application process presents a number of challenges for people seeking housing assistance, because it requires them to apply for public and community housing through different processes.
“Housing ACT will manage the Social Housing Register, and community housing applicants will be subject to eligibility and needs assessment similar to that currently used for public housing.
“The existing three needs categories will be applied comprising priority housing, high needs housing and standard housing.”
Transitional arrangements have also been included to ensure the original date of an application to a community housing provider will be considered in future allocations.
When a housing provider notifies the Housing Commissioner of a dwelling vacancy, Housing ACT will identify one or more applicants who meet the relevant criteria and will forward the details of these applicants to the housing provider for consideration.
Although housing providers will decide on the successful applicants, they will be required to inform the Housing Commissioner of the reasons why particular applicants were unsuccessful.
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