Funding has been secured for the construction of 18 prefabricated homes in North Fremantle for older women who are experiencing homelessness, a first in the provision of social housing in the metro area.

The homes will be built on vacant rail reserve land, leased on a peppercorn basis from the Public Transport Authority (PTA) through the Department of Communities.
WA has experienced pressure in the housing market since the advent of COVID-19, and there is significant demand for social housing options for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

This project is a partnership between My Home Australasia Limited (‘’My Home’’) and St Patrick’s Community Support Centre Limited (St Pat’s), and has been enabled with support from Lotterywest and the Minderoo Foundation.

Full media release here

CHIA is urging its members and the wider sector to join us in calling on the Government to ensure access to safe and affordable housing is a key part of its agenda to improve safety for women and children.

On 6 September the Federal Government will hold the National Summit on Women’s Safety, a key part of the process of developing the 5th National Action Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

Although organisations in the domestic and family violence sector, First Nations organisations and communities, and the broader community sector have called on Government to make access to safe and affordable housing a key part of its agenda to improve safety for women, housing hasn’t been included on the agenda for the summit, or in the preceding roundtables.

To highlight the importance of this issue, Everybody’s Home is inviting your organisation is invited to sign this Statement on Housing for Women’s Safety. A representative of your organisation, who is authorised to speak on behalf of the organisation, can sign the form. EH will then present the Statement to the Government.

CHIA is delighted to welcome James King, CEO Unison (pictured left) to its board as Region Director for Victoria. James brings a wealth of experience as CEO at Unison, and is also a non executive director on the CHIA Vic board. CHIA is looking forward to working with James in this capacity.

James has joined the CHIA National board following the retirement of Stephen Nash (pictured left) in July. Stephen was formerly Managing Director at Common Equity Housing Ltd in Victoria.  On behalf of its board and staff, CHIA would like to acknowledge the contribution that Stephen made to the work of CHIA and wishes him well for the future.

CHIA has made a submission to the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children.

This submission is also supported by CHIA Victoria, CHIA NSW, CHIA ACT, CHIA QLD, ACTShelter, QShelter, ShelterWA and ShelterTAS.

Many of our members provide accommodation specifically targeted at women (and their children) who have experienced housing insecurity due to domestic violence, and are amongst the organisations awarded contracts under the Commonwealth government’s Safe Places Program. We understand that safe, secure and affordable housing needs to be available to assist women escaping violence.

Our members also understand the role that responsive tenancy management can play in responding to DFV. CHOs are often on the front line dealing with the fall out of domestic and family violence (DFV) and have an opportunity to make a significant difference through the implementation of well-designed and evidenced policies and procedures. They need to implement approaches to identifying and responding to DFV that assist victims/survivors to either remain safely in their own home or relocate to a safe environment. CHOs also need to engage with perpetrators in a safe and responsible way.

CHIA is making this written submission to express our concern that housing – its provision and management – is not receiving the attention it merits. The silence on housing in the consultation guide is disappointing. Similarly, its omission from the agenda of the Women’s Summit and the apparent absence of housing as an explicit focus of any of the Monash University workshops is a concern.

Download the full submission here

Released yesterday, Stamp Duty Reform: Benefits and Challenges draws on the most recent data to assess the benefits and reform considerations when phasing out stamp duty in favour of a broad-based land tax.

Families across all states and territories, except the ACT, are paying substantially more stamp duty when they move house than they were 20 years ago which is hindering mobility and the efficient use of the housing stock, according to the research paper.

The paper also explores how replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax in all states and territories would help improve economic efficiency, and that a shorter phase in period could help limit the impact of house price growth on the cost of the transition. The aim of transitioning from stamp duty to land tax is not to increase revenue per se, and the paper demonstrates that the transition can be achieved in a revenue neutral way.

Full media release here

Report here

Yesterday the Constellation Project launched a report produced for the Housing and Productivity Research Consortium: ‘Housing: Taming the Elephant in the Economy’.

This research is a City Futures Research Centre report investigating the ways that Australia’s housing system impacts on financial stability, inequality and productivity. The key finding is that damaging impacts of over-expensive housing are more pervasive than conventionally recognised, and that the Commonwealth Government and the Reserve Bank of Australia should therefore pay greater attention to this issue.

The reports can be found via the links below:

Housing: Taming the elephant in the economy [full report]

Housing: Taming the elephant in the economy [4-page summary]

Housing: Taming the elephant in the economy [videoclip summary by Prof Duncan Maclennan – 11 mins]

Media coverage of the report so far includes  the SMH/Age and a 10 minute interview with Prof Maclennan on ABC RN Breakfast.

The media release in support of the report can be found here.

A recording of the launch event can be viewed here (1hr) 

Victorians will soon have a range of new housing options delivered via a ground-breaking partnership approach led by Homes Victoria.

Australia’s leading not for profit housing provider and a key member of the Building Communities consortium, Community Housing Limited (CHL) is delighted to announce the consortium has been nominated as the preferred proponent to redevelop vacant Homes Victoria land in Brighton, Flemington and Prahran.

Full media release here

Australia’s largest not-for-profit community housing provider, Community Housing Limited (CHL) has launched first of its kind framework to measure the impact of safe, affordable, suitable, and quality housing on people’s lives.

Developed over a two-year period with broad customer consultation, CHL’s Social Impact Framework aims to better understand the change that is experienced by customers and communities, where the organisation provides housing.

Managing Director of the CHL Group, Steve Bevington said, “CHL is embarking on this exciting long-term journey towards creating an organisation that is impact led.

” Understanding where change is occurring gives us a powerful insight into how housing creates a long-term impact on people’s lives and their communities. Gaining this understanding will help us improve our services, set national strategic and development directions and provide valuable information to our partners.”

Social Impact Framework visual here

Full release here

On 8 May 2021, under the 2021- 2022 Budget, the Australian Government announced the extension of the FHLDS (New Homes) and the establishment of a new program called the Family Home Guarantee.

Family Home Guarantee

The Australian Government has announced a new program called the Family Home Guarantee, which provides eligible single parents with dependants the opportunity to build a new home or purchase an existing home with a deposit of 2 per cent, subject to the individual’s ability to service a home loan.

From 1 July 2021, 10,000 Family Home Guarantees will be made available over four financial years.

The Family Home Guarantee is aimed at single parents with dependants, regardless of whether that single parent is a first home buyer or previous owner-occupier. Applicants must be Australian citizens, at least 18 years of age and have an annual taxable income of no more than $125,000. A fact sheet with further information on eligibility criteria will be available on NHFIC’s website next week.

FHLDS (New Homes) extended for 2021-22

An additional 10,000 FHLDS (New Homes) places will be available from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. Find out more about the eligibility criteria for the FHLDS (New Homes). An updated fact sheet on the 2021-22 extension will be available on NHFIC’s website next week.

This has been posted on NHFIC’s website at the following links:

https://www.nhfic.gov.au/media-resources/media-releases/update-from-the-australian-government-family-home-guarantee/

https://www.nhfic.gov.au/what-we-do/first-home-loan-deposit-scheme/

https://www.nhfic.gov.au/what-we-do/fhlds/

Aboriginal Community Housing Ltd (ACHL) has launched its new website: https://achl.org.au/.

ACHL was established in 2016 as a member of the Community Housing Ltd group of companies. It provides culturally appropriate housing services and support that puts the needs of communities and families first.

Complete with a visually appealing design, using traditional earth colours, the artwork was exclusively created by indigenous artist Ngarrindjeri man, Jordan Lovegrove, whilst the website was developed by Aboriginal agency, Dreamtime.  The straightforward and functional lay out was a key consideration, keeping in mind the end user and their need to find information efficiently and with ease.

Featuring a drop down menu function across the top, the website is an excellent resource for tenants, partners and community to learn all about the service offerings and projects of ACHL and confirms the commitment of CHL to develop ACHL as an independent national entity that is solely focused on meeting the housing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Check out the new ACHL website here.