First Nation Party supports the call by the ACT Council of Social Service and ACT Shelter for more Aboriginal community-controlled housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT. Namely:
- Enhance housing options and access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through investment in local Aboriginal Community-Controlled Housing.
- Fund a transparent consultation in relation to housing need in the ACT for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, to commence within the first six months of the new term of government, and to result in a public report with concrete recommendations and an action plan for implementation.
- Increase funding for holistic, culturally-informed and community-led tenancy support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are renting, or experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
However, this must be done in clear recognition of the fact that there are several different Aboriginal communities in need of housing in the ACT, and the policy and program response must recognise their differing needs.
The local Aboriginal peoples have been sharing their land since first settlement. We were dispossessed of our lands. It is about time the injustices of the past are reconciled through returning some of our lands for Aboriginal community-controlled housing for our peoples. To be owned and controlled by the various Aboriginal communities that live in Canberra.
This needs to be done respectfully, and in close consultation with our peoples, inclusively, and not sitting on the sidelines.
The First Nation Party acknowledges that Australia is in the grip of a national housing crisis, and Canberra is not immune to the effects this is having on Canberrans.
We agree with ACTCOSS and ACT Shelter that more concerted effort is required by the ACT and Commonwealth Governments to better planning for housing on the basis of long-term strategic thinking with solid investment in public and community housing for people in housing need.
We need to get tackle the challenges head-on by:
- Increase the supply of public and community housing to better meet current and future demands
- Provide greater stability and protections for people who rent. While some progress on rental rights has been made in the ACT, further reforms and measures are required to support safe, secure and sustainable rental accommodation. For example, through better enforcement, oversight and accountability with respect to compliance with the ACT’s residential tenancy laws.
- Ensure homelessness services meet demand and provide the support people need. Our current homelessness service system is oriented toward crisis response, whereas it should be oriented toward preventing homelessness and, where this is not possible, to ensure homelessness is a brief and non-recurring event in people’s lives.
- Improve housing outcomes for people with disability, mental health issues and other complex needs. For example, by increasing the supply of access-ready public and community housing at the Universal Design Gold Level.
Help close the gap in housing outcomes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the ACT. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face systemic disadvantages and discrimination in housing, and they are vastly overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness in the ACT.
