Submission: Tenancy Management in Social Housing

RLC has a long history of providing advice, assistance and advocacy to the local community, with a key focus on the provision of information and services to public housing tenants and a strong emphasis on the prevention of homelessness.  Our submission is informed by the experiences of our clients, the majority of whom are public housing tenants.

RLC has made thirteen recommendations:

• avoid litigation and use of the Tribunal whenever it is possible to negotiate an outcome
• simplify Housing NSW policy so that staff using the policies can apply them accurately and consistently
• improve access to policies by making them shorter, clearly titled and easy to find
• form an effective partnership with NSW Health to approach mental health issues from a health perspective and non-punitive outcomes
• additional resources to directly assist tenants with mental illness
• LAHC continue to work with Tenants’ Advice and Advocacy Services in NSW to develop a plan to improve response to tenants’ request for repairs
• Adequate written reasons for decision provided by Housing NSW, containing information and particular that the tenant can respond to
• Place more stringent procedural fairness requirements on the Housing Appeal Committee
• HAC decisions be binding
• HAC decision to be appealable to the NCAT
• Improved recruitment, training and support for housing NSW frontline staff
• Reduced number of tenants that CSOs provide services to
• Focus on staff retention and reduction on moving staff from one office to another 

Read RLC's submission.