Analysis of the Federal Budget (16 May 2013)
There is little to report on housing in yesterday’s Federal Budget.  There was no further commitment to the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) beyond the existing 60,000 incentives. On a good note, the Budget does include funding for the National Partnership on Homelessness Agreement which was announced in March 2013. Regarding the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA), the Budget paper show that  the Commonwealth will provide almost $2.1 billion in National Affordable Housing Special Purpose Payments and National Partnership payments.  The figure represents an estimated growth factor of 1.5%. For more information please see the CHFA’s Report on the 2013-2014 Federal Budget.

The Federation welcomes Minster Pearce’s announcement about title transfers (22 April 2013)
NSW Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce said this morning that the ownership of 1,302 NSW Land and Housing Corporation properties will be transferred to nine community housing providers. The announcement comes after the NSW Department of Finance and Services completed a review of the transfer of government owned property to community housing providers.  Minister Pierce said the change is aimed at providing the non-government sector with a greater base of capital against which it can borrow money from the private sector to invest in more housing.  For more information please see the Minister’s Media release and the story in the SMH.

New Planning Policy Released (16 April 2013)
The NSW Government has released their much anticipated plan for new planning system in NSW, outlined in their White Paper. There is an opportunity to provide feedback on the policy. Check the NSW Planning and Infrastructure website.

Definition of Charity Consultation (16 April 2013)
The Commonwealth Government has been working on developing a statutory definition of charity to replace the existing common law definition. Treasury have recently released an Exposure Draft on the proposed legislation. Submissions are invited and are due by 3 May 2013.  The current exposure draft does not specifically mention the provision of affordable rental housing, although it is mentioned in the explanatory material accompanying the exposure draft.  For more information, please see CHFA e-bulletin or the media release.

NRAS Round 5 Announced (2 April 2013)
Round 5 Call for applications under the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) has been announced by the Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Mark Butler. The new NRAS round opens on 18 April and closes on 22 May 2013. It is predicted that the new round is for up to 1000 ‘shovel –ready’ projects to be completed by June 2014.  Minister Butler also announced that the fifth round of incentives to build about 10,000 new affordable rental homes under the NRAS would open on 7 May and close on 6 August 2013.   Check FACHSIA website for more information.

2013 NSW Community Housing Conference - a great success (22nd March 2013)
Last week the NSW Federation of Housing Associations in conjunction with the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office and Churches Housing hosted the NSW Community Housing Conference.

A big thank you is extended to all the conference delegates, speakers, our Government Partner, Housing NSW, our Gold Sponsor, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, and all our Partners, Sponsors and Exhibitors for making the conference one of our best ever! To check out the presentations from the conference, click here or to find out who won at the 2013 Community Housing Awards for Excellence, click here. To see photos from the 2013 NSW Community Housing Conference - click here.

Community Housing celebrates excellence and achievement (15 March 2013)
The 2013 NSW Community Housing Sector’s fifth Awards for Excellence in Community Housing were held on Monday night at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney. The event also coincided with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Federation. The winners of nine categories have been awarded the recognition for their efforts and achievements in various aspects of service delivery to tenants and communities. The awards were presented by Mike Allen, the Chief Executive of Housing NSW and Aboriginal Housing Office, Department of Family and Community Services, and three past executive directors of the Federation, Joan Ferguson, Eleri Morgan-Thomas and Adam Farrar. To find out who won click here.

Vale Col James (1936 -2013)
It is with great sadness that we pass on the news of the death of Col James, one of Australia’s most prominent housing activists and architects. Col was a force for houses-for-the-people in South Sydney and beyond all his adult life. In his long career, Col helped establish many housing co-operatives and he worked tirelessly to promote recognised housing education and training in Australia.  Col worked closely with the Aboriginal housing community for many years, including at The Block in Redfern. He was also a great and respected teacher, both at the Faculty of Architecture at Sydney University and out in the community organisations with which he worked. In 1994 Col was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for services to architecture and to the community.  Col is survived by his wife Karine Shellshear, a close colleague of the Federation during her long service at ARCH and CHFA. Col will be hugely missed by many.

Tenants’ Rights Manual fourth edition (6 February 2013)
The Tenants’ Rights Manual is a useful publication for housing professionals.  It is an accessible guide to tenancy law in NSW.
Practical and easy to use, it explains legal rights and obligations and how to resolve problems before they become major disputes.
This edition has been updated for the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 including new provisions about rent arrears, sales of premises, share housing and tenant databases.
It has an expanded chapter on social housing – including eligibility, rent rebates and public housing policies – and a new chapter on marginal renting – with information for boarders and lodgers on the new Australian Consumer Law.
The Tenants’ Rights Manual is available:
•       For purchase in print from Federation Press (02 9552 2200)
•       On the ‘Legal Books Online’ website

The publication was funded by the Law and Justice Foundation and NSW Fair Trading.

See previously posted items: "What's New" - archived