THE VOICE OF THE VICTORIAN COMMUNITY HOUSING INDUSTRY AUTUMN EDITION 2019

DIGGING DEEP FOR WOMEN-ONLY ROOMING HOUSE

Level 1/ 128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne 3000 T: 03 9654 6077 W: chiavic.com.au

Local Rotary members lead the push to house disadvantaged women in Kooyong.Image courtesy of Servants

2 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 3

CHIA Vic has been hard at work since the last edition of this magazine, revising our Strategic Plan, including our vision for a thriving Victoria, where everyone has the safety, security and dignity of a home – the foundation for opportunity.

The three-year plan has drawn on the extensive work undertaken for the Victorian Community Housing Industry’s Transition Plan, and sets out four key pillars of work for us to action: Provide strategic policy leadership and champion a reform agenda; Harness and strengthen the capacity and capability of the community housing sector to play its integral role in a larger more inclusive housing system;

Build awareness, engagement and trust in the community housing value proposition; and, enhance CHIA Vic’s organisational strength.

Details of the plan, and what it means to our members and stakeholders, will be released shortly.

In other news, Steve Staikos has returned for a time-limited role working on the Developing Policies for Success project to support the sector in the context of the policy requirements of both the VHR opt-in process and the Guidance Note recently released by the Victorian Housing Registrar.

The project sees CHIA Vic adding to its suite of templates that organisations can adapt to suit their needs, and following up

WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR

One of Wayss’ original employees, Gaye held the role of CEO for the past three years, playing an important role as the organisation transitioned from a long-serving predecessor. Gaye is recognised for the significant contribution she made to Wayss.

Elizabeth Thomas has been appointed as interim CEO. Elizabeth comes to Wayss with deep expertise in housing, homelessness services and the not-for-profit sector, particularly as Managing Director of Common Ground Tasmania and Managing Director of The Public Trustee of Tasmania.

Elizabeth will work with the Board and management team to provide stable leadership during the search for a new CEO.Georgia Symmons, Wayss

The house, which was officially opened late last year, is now home to seven vulnerable women.

Servants’ CEO, Amanda Donohoe, says women were always a minority in its three rooming houses but, when their numbers dropped significantly, the Board wanted to know what was going on.

‘Our previous CEO spoke with case workers and support workers in the area and found whilst there were definitely women who needed housing in the area, they didn’t want to be housed with men.’

With the assistance of their local Rotary club, Kooyong’s Federal MP, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg became involved, offering $300,000 to go toward housing vulnerable women.

‘A local church we are closely connected with decided we could use their manse to house homeless people,’ Amanda says.

‘It was a large building in need of

HONOURABLE OPPORTUNITY TO FOCUS ON HOMELESSNESS

A ROOMING HOUSE OF THEIR OWNThe recipient of a City of Greater

Dandenong Australia Day Leadership Award has used the honour to highlight decreasing government investment in public and social housing.

Award winner Kim Culpin, who is the former general manager of Wayss in Dandenong, says the social housing sector has suffered budget cuts year upon year, despite growing numbers of people reaching out to homelessness support services.

Dwindling affordable rentals in the region, and more prevalent drug abuse and mental health issues are also contributing to homelessness, Kim says.

‘A single person without children and on Newstart simply can’t get housing they can afford. Affordable one-bedroom units don’t exist throughout Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia.’

The best solution is for game-changing levels of funding for public and community housing, Kim says.

‘Housing is being left behind. Homelessness is an ugly problem that unfortunately won’t go away. So we need to call it out and act now.’

Wayss has assisted more than 15,500 homeless individuals and families in the past 12 months. Georgia Symmons, Wayss

renovation. The market rent was too high but they were prepared to accept cheaper rent and Rotary offered us $20,000 a year to assist with operating costs.’

The community got behind the renovation project, with Rotary members helping to create a garden, locals donating whitegoods, and an interior designer assisting Servants to source cheaper furnishings.

‘We had a slight discount from Ikea and my swimming club came in to put all the flat pack furniture together. It was fun,’ Amanda says.

Four months later, the renovation was complete, with the 10-year lease enabling Servants to provide seven women with long-term housing.

‘It’s just lovely, it looks like an upmarket Airbnb,’ Amanda says. ‘It has polished boards, it’s clean, it’s light, the furnishings look great. It’s really peaceful and beautiful. I’m really thrilled with the way it’s turned out.’

A live-in worker is on site overnight to help

ensure the household runs smoothly, with the plan being to build a bungalow at the back of the property as her residence, freeing up another room for an additional tenant.

‘The aim is to try and house women who, with some support, will be able to get back on their feet and move into independent living,’ Amanda says. ‘We are offering financial literacy help and I think just having a person living on-site offers them emotional support as well.

‘The women love it,’ Amanda says. ‘The women living there, particularly the ones with mental health issues, just feel like they’ve landed in heaven. The surprise on their face when they first walk in…their jaw just drops. They feel safe, they feel secure, and those are the things that they say are most important.’

‘We thank Hawthorn West Baptist Church, Josh Frydenberg and the Federal Government, the Boroondara Cares Foundation, our financial donors and the many volunteers that rallied to make it happen. We could not have done it without you,’ Amanda says.Kate Robertson, CHIA Vic

with individual organisations to improve transparency.

We also farewelled Board Member Sarah Toohey earlier in the year. Sarah has resigned from her role as Unison’s Head of Strategy and Communications to take up a position as Senior Advisor for Housing Minister Richard Wynne, where her insights into our industry will be invaluable.

We wish Sarah all the best for her new role and thank her for the impact she has had on our organisation and the industry to date. We will soon be announcing her replacement.

Roberta BuchananCHIA Vic Chair

Mayor of Greater Dandenong, Cr Roz Blades with Kim Culpin.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg MP with Servants’ Board members, staff and the first two residents.

The light-filled dining room.WAYSS APPOINTS INTERIM CEOWayss’ CEO Gaye Ealy has resigned after almost 25 years with the organisation.

4 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 5

CHIA Vic is leading a project, with funding from the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, which will transform the ability of the community housing sector to measure its impact on tenants’ lives.

The Social Outcomes Framework involves the sector collaborating to identify a set of measures that can be used to demonstrate the social impact of community housing.

The initiative will give individual tenants a stronger voice in influencing how community housing is provided to them; community housing organisations will have a stronger understanding and capacity to respond to the needs and aspirations of their tenants; and, the sector as a whole will have a greater understanding of ‘what works and for whom’.

Community housing organisations are directly involved in developing the shared measures through facilitated workshops, which have included a guided process for engagement with tenants to ensure the measures reflect what is important and valuable to them in relation to community housing.

The shared set of measures will be available to the sector in the second half of 2019.

The next phase of this project, which is yet to be funded, will be the development of a low-cost, easy-to-use and robust software that will collect and aggregate data from all community housing tenants. Once this software is in place, CHIA Vic will be able to provide an overview of the sector’s impact.

The data generated will help the sector to advocate for more community housing, with better collective evidence of the value of community housing across a diversity of tenant experiences.

Think Impact was involved in initiating this project and is providing an in-kind contribution to its delivery as a demonstration of its commitment to the community housing sector.

Contact jess.pomeroy@chiavic.com.au if your organisation would like to be involved.

As this edition of the CHIA Vic News was going to press, Haven; Home, Safe (HHS) was launching a special Social Return on Investment (SROI) report that highlights the ‘profound’ impact of its flagship Sidney Myer Haven (SMH) housing and support program on breaking the cycle of poverty of disadvantage.

The From Surviving to Thriving: A Model Breaking Negative Cycles report by an independent SROI evaluation agency, Think Impact, found that for every $1 invested in SMH up to $12 of social and economic value was created. This includes value to SMH residents, their children, and significant value to the Victorian State Government in avoided costs.

The three-month evaluation conducted last year examined the value created since the SMH commenced in October 2015 through to June 2018.

Located in Bendigo, the Sidney Myer Haven is a residential complex, consisting of a central education centre and 19 two-bedroom units that house a mix of singles, couples and families. They are supported 24/7 by an on-site support worker. The majority of residents have complex issues, all have experienced

homelessness or housing vulnerability, and most are new parents.

A SROI calculation indicates cost-effectiveness by comparing the investment required to deliver the activities with the value of the outcomes experienced by all beneficiary stakeholders. Social value is calculated by placing a financial value on the quantified change commensurate with the degree of change experienced by stakeholders as a result of the Sidney Myer Haven program. These financial values are known as financial proxies.

Report author Suzi Young found ‘the Sidney Myer Haven (SMH) program is enabling people to transform their lives and the lives of their children and families in the most profound ways’.

In her report, she notes that the value created by SMH in breaking intergenerational cycles of disadvantage with many SMH residents had already experienced:

• 55 per cent of SMH residents presented with alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues

• 62 per cent reported that their parents had also had issues with AOD

• 70 per cent of residents had experienced family violence

• 47 per cent reported that their parents experienced family violence

• 80 per cent of residents had a mental health diagnosis

• 61 per cent of residents had parents with a history of mental health issues.

In this context of crisis, violence and intergenerational disadvantage, the SROI evaluation demonstrates that the SMH program is delivering significant positive outcomes to residents, and the government.

For example, residents benefited from 51 per cent ($11,383,329) of the social and economic value created, in the form

of better mental health (23 per cent), expanded healthy social networks (21 per cent), increased personal safety for those escaping family violence (16 per cent), expanded confidence and capability to parent (11 per cent), and better emotional health (5 per cent).

At a conservative estimate, child residents are thought to experience 16 per cent of the total value ($3,679,571), with 56 per cent of that being from improved social and emotional development, and 21 per cent from improved physical health and wellbeing.

The State Government experienced 31 per cent ($7,026,271) of the total value by avoiding costs as a result of the outcomes realised for residents. These avoided cost figures are considered to be conservative, as they do not account for the avoided costs over a lifetime.Sue Masters, Haven; Home, SafeHAVEN’S

IMPACTTURNS $1 INTO $12

MEASURING IMPACT ON TENANTS’ LIVES Andrea, a Sidney Myer Haven

resident for the past 18 months.

6 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 7

Women’s Housing Ltd’s most recent developmet has taken out the 2018 Urban Development Industry Association’s (UDIA) excellence award for outstanding design and development.

The Newport development incorporates many environmentally sustainable design features to help reduce the cost of living for residents, including energy efficient appliances, double glazing, minimum six-star NatHERS energy rating and the use of rain gardens and rainwater tanks for garden irrigation and water re-use.

The UDIA describes the 20-apartment complex as achieving ‘good quality, affordable and safe housing for at-risk women-led households’.

‘The overall complex evokes a feeling of comfort, security and peacefulness,’ according to the UDIA.

One of the best-selling books at the moment is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo, a Japanese author who provides advice on how to achieve (and maintain) the clean, organised home you have always dreamed of. Having a tidy dwelling, the argument goes, will improve your life, happiness levels, relationships, sex, and your general ability to enjoy yourself.

The opposite of the tidy house movement is the hoarders; those people who believe acquiring and hanging on to every purchase, or anything given to you, adds value to their life. Whether it leaves space for building relationships or having a sex life is a difficult question, but it is clear that there is a belief by hoarders that is does increase their well-being in some way. Which is why they hoard. And for many it is compulsive.

Many of us, of course, collect things but even if the collection is large and we are somewhat obsessive about it, this behaviour it is not compulsive hoarding.

Compulsive hoarding is: ‘(1) the acquisition of, and failure to discard a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value; (2) living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed; and (3) significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding.’(Frost and Hartle 1996).

Such hoarding represents a growing management problem for social housing agencies. It can be an asset problem, for example, it creates a greater risk of fire or damage to property; it can be a neighbourhood disputation issue, with complaints about the smell and sight of neighbouring properties and the perceived risk from rodents and fire; and, it obviously poses risks to the hoarder if not dealt with, including fire, sanitation and falls. It can also place a considerable burden on relationships, happiness level and sex life.

Dealing with this issue as a landlord can be very difficult and time and resource intensive for client service officers and support workers. The hoarding problem in social housing is likely to worsen as targeted allocations likely means housing more people with past traumas that appear to be connected with hoarding, and more tenants being housed in multi-unit accommodation where issues with neighbours are likely to be exacerbated.

This is not to say that hoarders are just low income social housing tenants. They are not; hoarding cuts across income, gender, ethnicity and age. However, when is does occur in social housing, and where there is associated risk, the need for interventions may occur.

The complex of spacious, private and contemporary one and two-bedroom apartments has been specifically designed for women and their children. Each apartment features flexible and functional living spaces with light-filled rooms that create a real sense of ‘home’.

Tenant feedback has included comments on how lovely it is to live in a new and modern home that helps them to feel safe and secure. Tenants also say the property’s close proximity to public transport, local shops and schools and green open spaces makes them feel connected to their community.

Women’s Housing CEO Judy Line accepted the award at the UDIA 2018 Awards for Excellence ceremony in December, along with the architects, ClarkeHopkinsClarke, and builder, Buildcorp Commercial.

ClarkeHopkinsClarke partner Toby Lauchlan says, ‘Creating housing that gives residents a safe, long-term family home that is socially and financially sustainable was the most important consideration throughout the design process.

‘Our desire was to move beyond “affordable housing” and design homes that people are proud to live in and that connect them to the community, which is vital to their quality of life.’

Judy says, ‘It is wonderful that UDIA recognises our Newport development as a stand out design that is leading the field in affordable housing but, to Women’s Housing Ltd, it means that we can house 20 more women and women and children.

‘In other words, 20 women and families are no longer at risk of homelessness and they are provided affordable, safe, secure housing that will present opportunities for them to rebuild their lives.’

Women’s Housing Ltd will continue to work with tenants, developers, architects and builders to find new and better solutions for women seeking affordable housing.Lena Tomkinson, Women’s Housing Ltd

The problem here is to know what the appropriate interventions are. While we have a growing body of evidence on how to deal with many other tenants’ problems (addictions, other types of mental, and physical health issues), the body of relevant knowledge for social landlords on hoarding is small.

A starting point for interventions is knowing more about the nature and consequences of intervention. Hoarding is a recognised mental illness that is often associated with a strong emotional attachment to possessions or a belief that involves them maintaining control over them, and having a responsibility to ensure they do not go to waste. And like anyone who has confronted a big and unpleasant clean up in their own dwelling, there is often an element of behavioural avoidance, in other words a desire to put off decision making and do something else. And this means continued hoarding.

Recognition of these attributes suggests certain protocols of practice in dealing with hoarding tenants. These include: understanding that the unceremonial removing of possessions could trigger stress and trauma; working with tenants to determine those objects that have the most attachment or meaning (in other words, prioritising the decluttering); helping hoarders build insight into the nature of the problem and the consequences (like alcoholics there may be denial); having awareness that hoarding may be a symbol of past trauma, anxiety, substance use or psychosis; and, recognising that a simple decluttering will not solve the problem and that, like other mental illnesses, the tenant may need appropriate support to manage or control their compulsion.

All this means compulsive hoarding is not something to be taken lightly.

In most cases it is problematic for the tenant and, in many cases, it is an asset and tenancy management problem for community housing agencies. It is one of a number of areas where more work is needed to be able to manage the problem appropriately and sensitively.Prof Terry Burke, Swinburne University.

THE NOT SO LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF HOARDING

TENANTS AT HOME IN AWARD-WINNING DEVELOPMENT Women’s Housing Ltd’s

award-winning development.

The light-filled design.

8 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 9

NDIS offers significant opportunities.Photo credit: Nathan Anderson

COMMUNITY HOUSING’S ROLE

IN THE NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been a major disruptor to the social service system. Consultant Kate Paterson explores what implications the NDIS has for the community housing sector, and what role we should expect to play in relation to the scheme.

The NDIS is expected to provide individualised support packages to up to 10 per cent of all Victorians with a disability — about 116,000 people — who meet the eligibility criteria that includes being under 65 and having a permanent disability or functional impairment that significantly impacts on capacity to participate in the activities of daily living and in social and economic life.

With the NDIS roll out almost complete, most current disability and mental health community support clients have either transitioned directly into the NDIS (State funded services) or have had their eligibility tested (Commonwealth funded services). Services are also in the process of transitioning into the NDIS or ceasing to operate. It means that some people are receiving different supports and services, and there are concerns about access to support for those people who are found to be ineligible.

For those who are eligible, the NDIS offers significant opportunities, including lifelong support to enable independent living. In fact, it is expected that demand for social housing from people with a disability will increase as the NDIS rolls out.

The NDIS takes an individualised person-centred approach that gives participants choice and control over what supports will best help them to meet their goals and their support provider. However, this is creating some challenges for the community housing supported housing model. Issues include:

• Tenancy managers are not told who is providing support for any given tenant or advised when providers change.

• There are no formal partnership arrangements to govern communication and expectations regarding tenancy issues.

• Where a tenant has impaired decision making capacity, they may not always receive or have appropriate information or decision making support to ensure that their tenancy needs are being raised and considered in the NDIS planning process (leading to a decrease in these supports).

Additionally, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), its partner organisations, the Local Area Coordinators (LAC) and Early Childhood Partners, and new service providers have all changed the service landscape by introducing new ways of planning and coordinating support.

So what can community housing do? Broadly speaking, community housing organisations should play a role in assisting tenants to understand and access the NDIS, and support them to articulate their tenancy support needs in planning and review processes. They also need to be proactive in developing new partnerships and implementing mechanisms to support service coordination and their interface with the NDIS.

The extent of involvement in the NDIS required by community housing staff will differ from organisation to organisation, depending on the types of programs provided. For example, tenancy managers working in long-term housing are likely to play a more limited role than those working with tenants in transitional housing or rooming houses who provide more intensive tenancy management or early intervention support.

The following table outlines some possible roles for community housing tenancy managers, and what skills and knowledge they will need.

Need support in this transition period?I have created a resource for the community housing

sector, which will soon be available on the CHIA Vic website at chiavic.com.au/ndis

In partnership with the Council to Homeless Persons, CHIA Vic is also running NDIS training for Tenancy Workers, see crm.chiavic.com.au/training for details, and to book.Kate Paterson, KEP Consultancy Services

Possible role (tenancy management) What is needed

Access

• Identify potential NDIS participants and promote the benefits of the scheme.

• Refer tenant to relevant information and/or other agencies who can provide assistance (preferably ones where there is an existing relationship).

• Assist with evidence about their tenancy support needs.

• A good understanding of NDIS eligibility.

• To feel comfortable discussing the NDIS and potential eligibility with a tenant.

• Access to information about the NDIS to provide to tenants.

• Knowledge of where to refer the tenant for further information and assistance.

• Ability to prepare a letter of evidence around tenancy needs.

Planing and review

support

• Provide direct support to the participant to prepare for their planning meeting.

• Link the participant to a support or advocate (for example, a support worker, peer or family member) to assist them prepare for planning or review.

• Assist the participant to understand and articulate their tenancy support needs.

• Assist with evidence about their tenancy support needs.

• Systems to collect relevant information (such as key service/support contacts, planning review date). This could occur at the start of a new tenancy, at property inspections and in response to tenancy issues, such as neighbour complaints.

• Knowledge of the type of tenancy supports that might be available.

• Understanding roles and responsibilities regarding housing modifications.

• Ability to prepare a letter of evidence around tenancy needs.

Service coordination

and partnerships

• Identify potential NDIS participants and promote the benefits of the scheme.

• Refer tenant to relevant information and/or other agencies who can provide assistance (preferably ones where there is an existing relationship).

• Systems to collect information (as above).

• If possible, development of a protocol with the LAC (or NDIA) regarding processes for tenancy at risk situations or evictions.

10 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 11

Process for managing non-compliance

The National Code sets out clear levels of non-compliance – a notice of non-compliance, binding instructions, intent to cancel registration.

No cascading intervention provided for in the Act.

Compulsory investigatory powers

Condition of registration is that the provider must provide information and ensure attendance by suitably qualified officers.

Significant inspectorate powers including power to request a search warrant and seize documents; order people to appear and answer questions (penalty: $10,000 per offence)

Consequences for breach of performance standards

Can appoint a Statutory Manager in very serious circumstances. Can make binding instructions on a broad range of matters (may include matters like that under Victorian system).

Can make appointments to the Board, appoint an administrator, direct a merger or transfer of assets.

TransparencyBinding instructions and notice to cancel registration are available on public register.

No transparency on public register.

NRSCH VICTORIAN SYSTEM

WHY REGULATE COMMUNITY HOUSING?

It is impossible to design an effective regulatory system without first identifying why regulation is necessary. Regulation serves to protect vulnerable tenants and improve tenant outcomes; protect government assets and funding; and, facilitate private sector investment by building confidence in the sector.

Does this resonate with your organisation? Building confidence for tenants and the wider community is an emerging new driver for regulation. In Victoria, the widespread misconception that the transfer of public housing to the community housing sector is a form of ‘privatisation’ reflects a lack of understanding of the protections provided by the regulatory system.

The regulatory system needs to be designed to address these issues.

WHO AND WHAT SHOULD BE REGULATED?

Both Victorian and national regulation apply to all aspects of community housing organisations, not just the parts that deliver social housing to vulnerable tenants. This makes sense for matters like financial

sustainability and governance. However, for reporting metrics, complaints and enforcement action, there is potentially a need to define a narrower scope of regulation to ensure that it is appropriately targeted.

Community housing organisations are complex, each with their unique quirks. Many organisations manage a range of tenancy types, from transitional or crisis

accommodation right up to ordinary private market rentals. Some of these are subject to other regulations (such as rooming houses and specialist disability accommodation) and others may not necessarily require the oversight of community housing regulator (for example, affordable or private market rentals where tenants are less vulnerable).

It gets more complicated when we consider what ability community housing providers have to control or change the delivery of their services under different arrangements, particularly where the asset is owned by another entity that may retain the right

to make decisions regarding upgrades, allocation processes, arrears policies etc. Should the community housing provider still be responsible for meeting performance standards for those tenancies?

These issues are not well dealt with under either current regulatory system. However, they are vital to enabling better transparency and quality data regarding the sector’s performance and, with all levels of government promoting mixed tenure models to support investment in social housing, the scale of these issues will increase.

Another hot-button issue in the review is the types of organisations that can be registered. Under the NRSCH, ‘for profit’ providers can be registered. In Victoria, only non-profit organisations can be registered. Whilst ‘for profits’ could introduce competition and assist with growing supply, many are concerned about the potential impact on tenants if profit, rather than mission, is a housing provider’s key driver.

Additionally, having ‘for profit’ providers identify as community housing organisations will introduce confusion and potentially damage our sector. These branding issues would need to be addressed.

WHAT POWERS ARE NEEDED TO GIVE THE REGULATOR ENOUGH BITE?

The superior powers granted to the Victorian Registrar under the Housing Act are often listed as the key reason that Victoria has not joined the national system. This is largely a theoretical debate as, to the best of my

knowledge, the Victorian Housing Registrar has never used any of these powers.

In contrast, the NRSCH powers have been used, resulting in greater transparency for the sector and affected communities than in Victoria. So, what’s better? Powers that are stronger on paper or in practice?

A high-level summary of the intervention powers under both systems is to the right.

WHAT CAN YOU AND YOUR ORGANISATION DO?

The review is listening (as is the Victorian Government), so individual community housing organisations and CHIA Vic have provided responses to the discussion paper outlining their hopes and concerns. There will be more opportunities to participate in the review as it unfolds this year.

The final report from the review is expected in November. Hayley Parkes, Housing Choices Australia

Hayley Parkes, Housing Choices Australia General Counsel & Company Secretary.

After five years of operation, the National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH) is being reviewed. Whilst Victoria and Western Australia are currently not part of the ‘national’ scheme, this review is our opportunity to have input into the changes that might be required to allow Victoria to participate.

Making great againREGULATION

COMMUNITY HOUSING ORGANISATIONS ARE COMPLEX, EACH WITH THEIR UNIQUE QUIRKS.

USING DATA IN THE FIGHT TO END HOMELESSNESSThe community housing industry has access to a wealth of data that can be harnessed to not only make adjustments and track our sector’s progress, but to influence government policy whilst winning the hearts and minds of the average Australian along the way.

Housing plays a major role in the health and wellbeing of the community, by providing shelter, safety, security and privacy. Affordable, sustainable and appropriate housing is a key enabler for people to participate socially and economically in their community.

As Jonathan Kozol states, ‘The cause of homelessness is lack of housing’, and we have the data to prove it.

Agencies, researchers, universities, peak organisations and governments are presenting and interrogating data and measuring progress on levels of housing stock, housing affordability, homelessness and access to homelessness services. Sadly, the historic and future outlook is grim.

DATA SOURCESThe main data sources for home ownership include the 2016 Census population and housing data, the Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) data.

If you are looking for data on homelessness and social housing, you can’t go past the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Housing Assistance Report and Specialist Homelessness Services, and the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services. The Rental Affordability Index is also useful.

SOCIAL HOUSING The SIH data shows that social housing stock, which includes both public rental housing and community housing has not kept pace with growth in either the overall national dwelling stock or the number of households. While public rental housing (not including community housing) rose from 1981 to 1996, it has fallen since. For example social housing stock is not keeping pace with household growth; in 2007-09, 5.1 per cent of households were in social housing. By 2016-17, this had dropped to 4.6 per cent.

Housing Assistance in Australia 2018 shows 189,400 households were on the wait list for social housing as at 30 June 2017.

The Productivity Commission’s, Report on Government Services 2019 shows that Victorian Government’s expenditure in social housing has decreased over the past four years from $571.5 million in 2014-15 to $529.7 million in 2017-18. Further, just 3.2 per cent of Victoria’s 2.4 million occupied dwellings were social homes. CONTINUED OVER Ê

Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News | 1312 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News

In an increasingly complex and constantly evolving competitive environment, Community Housing Providers (CHPs) are progressively adopting a Board skills matrix when recruiting new Directors, as Haven; Home, Safe’s Sue Masters reports.

A skills matrix identifies the skills, knowledge, attributes, experience and capabilities desired of a Board to enable it to meet current and future challenges.

Some CHP Directors bring seasoned Board experience with them from the corporate world. Others benefit by Board orientation, training, and mentoring. Whether Directors lead by design or by experience, they all have specific duties and responsibilities to their peers on the Board and the whole organisation as set out in Division 1, General Duties of Directors, sections 180 to 184 under the Corporations Act (Cwlth) 2001.

Both the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) expect not-for-profit (NFP) directors to hold to good governance standards, in the same way that large corporates are required to do. The size of an organisation is not material in terms of the corporate regulator’s requirements, which can be challenging for NFPs that traditionally have tight resourcing for governance matters.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) recommends a minimum mix of Board skills, notably financial literacy, including the ability to read and comprehend the accounts and understand the organisation’s financial drivers, funding and business model.

The importance of financial literacy was best illustrated last year when PowerHousing Australia and BDO considered the impact of the Australian Accounting Standards Board changes for not-for-profit lessees regarding

the determination of fair value of right-of-use assets that are subject to peppercorn leases.

PowerHousing Australia CEO Nicholas Proud said CHPs, and their Boards, had to quickly consider the treatment and recording of those peppercorn leases. This required a fundamental understanding that whilst the business was no different, the way its financials could be viewed by stakeholders and financiers had changed.

‘Recognising the appropriate treatment of a new accounting standard required case studies and peer review to form consensus, which then required Boards to understand and adopt that new treatment while minimising impact on the financial positioning of the CHP to stakeholders,’ Mr Proud said.

While financial literacy is critical, the AICD recommends that Boards of scale should assemble a group of Directors with a range of skills including:

• Strategic expertise• Legal and Compliance• Managing risk• Managing people and achieving change• Fundraising experience• Specific NFP or industry knowledge.

Most CHPs polled for this article choose not to release their skills matrix publicly, preferring to limit their disclosures to a broad statement of the mix. However, in addition to the minimum skill set advocated by the AICD, those CHPs with an established skills matrix also seek to appoint Directors with procurement, housing development, social policy, and asset management experience.

Governance professionals working in the NFP sector agree that Boards should consider the creation of a skills matrix not as a compliance obligation or a report card on the competence of individual Directors, but as a means of identifying the competencies and skills desired by the Board as a whole in order to fulfil its role.

They suggest that a number of different lenses can be applied to the recruitment assessment process, including identifying: executive and non-executive experience; industry and sector experience or knowledge; leadership; governance; desired behavioural competencies; geographic experience; and, subject matter expertise.

Boards also need to consider the personal traits of Director candidates, according to Haven; Home, Safe’s Chair, Sue Clarke.

Ms Clarke, who is also on the Board of Ambulance Victoria and Bendigo Health Care Group, said being passionate about the cause was paramount, but so too was having an open mind, being respectful of others, and having a willingness to learn.

‘With many different viewpoints around the table, keeping an open mind and respect for others allows for healthy communication,’ Ms Clarke said.

‘Directors that come in with an open mind are far more likely to empower other Directors to express their point of view, engage in robust discussions (within the Board), and work toward solutions.’

Ms Clarke acknowledged the importance of gender and cultural diversity in the Boardroom, in addition to being able to hear the ‘client’s voice’ at Board level, with their lived experience captured either formally or informally. However, it was important that merit and skill, in the context of the overall Board mix, remained foremost in any appointment decision.

‘NFP Boards, including those in the community housing sector, need to remain focussed on a clear strategic approach for their organisation, appropriate recruitment, robust discussions based on mutually respectful behaviours, and ongoing profes-sional development of Directors to ensure that the best interests of the organisation they serve can be met,’ she said.

CHIA Vic runs courses that have been designed specifically for current or prospective board members, such as Understanding the Big Picture of Social Housing, Asset Management for Board Members and Financial Training for non-Financial people. For details, contact Holly Mullaney on 9654 6077.Sue Masters, Haven; Home, Safe

SKILLS MATRIX TAKES BOARDS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

This figure has dropped steadily over the past decade from 3.6 per cent in 2010-11. We also need to give attention to the 305,489 low income rental households in Victoria, 46.7 per cent of which are experiencing rental stress; in Melbourne this rises to 51.7 per cent (Table GA.2).

HOMELESSNESS SERVICESIn December 2018, AIHW’s annual report, Specialist Homelessness Services showed one in 85 Australians sought assistance from specialist homelessness services agencies. Most presented in housing stress with six out of 10 seeking assistance because they were at risk of becoming homeless. Around three in 10 clients said family or domestic violence was the main reason for seeking support, while about 20 per cent sought assistance because of a ‘housing crisis’ (such as eviction).

While the numbers are increasing from 110 people per 10,000 in 2013-14 to 117 in 2017-18 the report highlights the important role specialist homelessness agencies play not only in helping people who are experiencing homelessness, but also providing a range of services to help prevent people becoming homeless in the first place.

RENTAL AFFORDABILITYThe Rental Affordability Index (RAI), produced by National Shelter, Community Sector Banking and SGS, is a valuable data set. The RAI uses the 30 per cent of income rule to calculate rental affordability. The most recent RAI published in November 2018 shows that the rental situation remains untenable for low income households in metropolitan areas across Australia. While the RAI remained relatively unchanged for Greater Melbourne across 2017, Greater Hobart is now the least affordable capital city in Australia.

With a RAI of 127 in the June quarter of 2018, Greater Melbourne has seen only minor fluctuations in rental affordability over the past three years. Overall, it has declined in affordability since 2013/14, when its RAI score reached 130 and above. The median household seeking to rent in Greater Melbourne faces housing costs at around 24 per cent of its total income. This is considered Acceptable. Spatially, however, it appears that rental unaffordability is spreading outwards from the Melbourne city centre.

LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS GREATER MELBOURNE AND REST OF VICTORIAThe RAI data clearly highlights that low income renters are being pushed out of Greater Melbourne and many more are in housing stress.

É CONTINUED FROM 11

Region (From most unaffordable) RAI Share of household

income spent on rent Relative unaffordability

Greater Hobart 101 30% Moderately unaffordable rents

Greater Sydney 113 27% Moderately unaffordable rents

Greater Adelaide 114 26% Moderately unaffordable rents

Greater Brisbane 123 24% Acceptable rents

Greater Melbourne 127 24% Acceptable rents

ACT 128 24% Acceptable rents

Greater Perth 144 21% Acceptable rents

Sour

ce: S

GS E

cono

mics

and

Pla

nnin

g 20

18

Household

Greater Melbourne Rest of Victoria

RAI

Share of household

income spent on rent

RAI

Share of household

income spent on rent

Single pensioner 44 68% 83 36%

Pensioner couple 68 44% 114 26%

Single person on benefits 29 105% 54 55%

Single male 58 51% 111 27%

Single part-time worker parent on benefits 52 56% 88 34%

Single full-time working parent 116 27% 195 16%

Single income couple with children 121 25% 160 19%

Dual income couple with children 243 13% 321 10%

Student sharehouse 107 28% 141 21%

Minimum wage couple 97 31% 164 18%

Hospitality worker 90 33% 154 19%

NATIONAL RAI SUMMARY (METROPOLITAN AREAS) DECEMBER 2017

LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS GREATER MELBOURNE AND REST OF VICTORIA

DATA SOURCES:AIHW’s Specialist Homelessness Services aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-2017-18/contents/contents

Housing Assistance in Australia 2018 aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/housing-assistance-in-australia-2018/contents/housing-in-australia

Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) data abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Wmf/6503.0

The Productivity Commission’s, Report on Government Services 2019 pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2019/housing-and-homelessness

The Rental Affordability Index (RAI) sgsep.com.au/application/files/8015/4336/9561/RAI_Nov_2018_-_high_quality.pdf

PUTTING THE DATA TO WORKSo now we have these valuable data sets at our fingertips, we can, and should, use them for evaluation, troubleshooting and process improvement across our entire housing system and homelessness services system. The numbers can help prioritise resources, identify gaps and ensure that individuals and families experiencing homelessness are referred to housing opportunities that best fit their needs.

We can also utilise the data to advocate for change. The formula is simple – to end

homelessness, the total number of people we place into housing each month should be equal to the number of people that need to be housed that month. If that number is lopsided in the wrong direction, we need to adjust the strategy.

With 189,400 households waiting for social housing, there is a clear need to revisit Australia’s housing strategy and make a meaningful investment in social housing. The numbers for doing nothing simply don’t add up.Georgia Symmons, Wayss

14 | Community Housing Industry Association Victoria News

By his own admission, Bevan Warner is something of a paradox. The new CEO of Launch Housing describes himself as an optimist and a pessimist or, to be precise, someone who is ‘rarely ambivalent’ in his assessments of things.

With 20 years working for Legal Aid, first in WA and then Victoria, there’s also no doubting his claim that, ‘Protection of rights is a passion of mine’. His many years in the legal field exposed him to the full gamut of disadvantage, as he encountered those suffering from financial insecurity, alcohol and drug dependence, family violence, unemployment, housing stress, personal trauma and the power imbalance that is the criminal justice system.

Ultimately, this experience drew him to the community housing sector, which tackles these hardships head on. Keen to test his mettle in this environment, and to work with an non-government organisation, Bevan set his sights on Launch Housing, where he was appointed as CEO in August of last year.

Bevan grew up in Western Australia, one of four boys born within six years of each other. His mother was a nurse and later an art teacher, his father was a public servant and it seems that Bevan is a chip off the old parental block, as both displayed a strong commitment to social justice.

After meandering at university without much success, a time which he says is largely remembered for the twin distractions of surfing and football, Bevan pursued a career in industrial relations. However, he was soon to digress into Aboriginal Affairs, where he was deeply affected by what he perceived as the lack of respect afforded to Aboriginal communities.

The power imbalance saw the state using its power and the law to compound the social damage already suffered by these communities. The logical next step for Bevan was to move into the

field of legal aid, where a vastly disproportionate number of clients seeking assistance were Aboriginal.

Having lived in Melbourne for nigh on 10 years, Bevan admits that he still feels a cultural connection to his home town, though with his parents, siblings and daughter still resident there, he qualifies this by adding that, ‘I miss the people, not the place’.

These days, life in an apartment in colorful Smith St, Collingwood, with all its characters, cultural and culinary opportunities, suits him down to the ground. And he is able to spend time with his Melbourne born granddaughter.

As for his new career in community housing, he says he has ‘learnt a lot quickly’, although he’s found that some of the challenges faced by the sector closely mirror those in the legal aid sphere, where both are hampered by being overwhelmed with unmet need, their connection to an unsafe service system and an inadequate social safety net.

However, he describes the commitment of staff at Launch Housing as ‘a standout’, and the breadth of support provided by the organisation – from housing and support to education and employment assistance – has been a ‘revelation’. Bevan also applauds the community housing sector for succeeding in its efforts to bring the whole issue of housing affordability into public and political discourse.

Bevan looks forward to the day when Launch is a ‘fully integrated’ housing and homelessness support organisation, that uses new inclusionary zoning policies to deliver more safe and secure housing for people on very low incomes. That, he says, will provide them with the key to a good life.

Can we take it then that Launch Housing’s CEO has settled on an optimistic assessment of the community housing landscape? As he jokingly remarks, ‘Well, put it this way, after six months in the job, I’m still smiling.’ Fran Vinycomb, Freelancer

BEVAN BUOYANT AT LAUNCH

The bank that supports community housing is the bank Australia needs.

Jacob EdwardsCommercial Lending Manager

Jacob.Edwards@bankaust.com.au

03 9854 4673

Get in touch today to discuss funding for your next project or refinancing with us.

Bank Australia Limited ABN 21 087 651 607 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence Number 238431.

Vic