On behalf of Family First I speak briefly in debate on the Housing Amendment (Community Housing Providers) Bill 2010. I appreciate the comments made earlier by Ms Sylvia Hale relating to affordable housing and I thank her for the information she obtained from organisations such as Shelter New South Wales, which keeps us up to date with the housing situation.
The objective of the Housing Amendment (Community Housing Providers) Bill 2010 is to amend the Housing Act 2001 to make further provision in relation to community housing providers and to provide a means to transfer government-owned special housing to community housing providers. Presently, more than 50,000 people are on New South Wales Department of Housing waiting lists and close to 100,000 people reside in inadequate housing. Just last week it was revealed that the median cost of private houses purchased in Sydney is $569,000. Obviously, many citizens will never afford their own home.
Under these new provisions the New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation will register an ongoing interest in properties vested in the ownership of a community housing provider or properties purchased with government funds for the purpose of community housing. This registered interest will restrict the community housing provider from selling, mortgaging or otherwise dealing in the land without consent.
The purpose of the bill is not to prevent the selling or mortgaging of assets, but to provide a review process. I agree entirely with this responsible decision by the Government in the use of public funds. The bill allows not-for-profit organisations to use the assets to gain bank loans. I am pleased to support this bill.
Many members would know that for 27 years I headed the largest community-based organisation helping people into housing, with several thousand people living in premises owned, supported or leased by Wesley Mission. In the late 1980s I worked with the Department of Housing and the New South Wales Government to lease properties on behalf of Wesley Mission. In the 1990s we developed a program with Housing New South Wales to lease many property blocks. I remember that the Government had the overall responsibility to ensure we well managed the 700 units we leased from it.
We had large numbers of residents on low incomes who appreciated the protected level of rent they could be charged. We also had large numbers of sick and disabled people, of whom as many as a quarter suffered various mental health conditions. We also took, on behalf of the Government, large numbers of people suffering from drug abuse who would undergo rehabilitation programs that Wesley Mission ran in conjunction with housing programs. There were also large numbers of homeless youth.
I remember that the infamous Joe Tripodi, when he was Minister for Housing, did a wonderful job with Wesley Mission in providing suitable homes for homeless youth on the Central Coast, which in turn provided a stable future for many of them. This enabled us to develop programs for education by getting many homeless youth back into school or TAFE and many others into work and other employment.
We also provided housing for a large number of veterans, a program few members in this place are old enough to remember. The Department of Housing did not develop simply because the Government saw the need to help people with social needs or those on low incomes. Commonwealth-State Housing agreements came into being to provide housing for veterans returning from World War II. For many years the most important part of the Commonwealth-State Housing agreements was in providing housing for veterans.
In response to the comments of Sylvia Hale I can say that all the housing blocks over which I had responsibility always had a management committee that consisted of tenants together with Wesley Mission staff. On a regular monthly basis this committee would discuss the condition of the property and the various issues being faced, but also would plan celebrations for Christmas, New Year and other such events.
One reason it worked so well was that in every two- and three-storey block of units with 16 or 20 families I always reserved one unit for the family of a Wesley Mission staff member. This family lived in that unit permanently as ordinary residents. They took responsibility to check on the residents, many of whom needed various kinds of help, including making sure they took medication or attended the employment training program or school regularly.
One thing I have noticed is that as soon as people have a sense of security with this kind of support from a not-for-profit organisation, the property is maintained through pride of ownership. Also, there are fewer problems with law and order. The police used to refer to us constantly and say that the difference between these particular blocks of units and those particular blocks of units was that we had staff living on site 24/7.
The Government Ministers with whom I have discussed this matter over the years have told me that the Government is not in the business of providing support for people with needs, that its business is to provide housing, and that the business of not-for-profit organisations is to provide support for people. Bringing together those able to provide funds and build structures and those able to provide support for people with special needs makes a good amalgam.
Under this new bill about 30,000 people will actually own homes instead of leasing or renting them from some other organisation. I can tell members that the first thing that will be noticed is that gardens will be planted. Those who live in public housing or who rent or lease property are not known for keeping gardens. However, immediately people start to own their property there is a pride in ownership, which will be reflected in their gardens and in the vegetables growing in their backyards. This bill enables not-for-profit organisations to lease properties and to help people actually own them.
For many years after I established Habitat for Humanity Australia, which helped build more than 5,000 houses in Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, on being granted low-cost loans people took new pride in what they were doing. The bill provides for the not-for-profit organisation to have oversight of the properties. The bill also enables people to develop a real pride of ownership, because although their names will not be on the title they will have contracts with the not-for-profit organisation. This will give them a sense of permanency by their being able to remain in the house in perpetuity.
The work of Habitat for Humanity worldwide has shown conclusively that when a person has a strong sense of ownership or pride in having long-term commitment to a property, their whole life is improved, including things such as employment and health. On behalf of Families First I congratulate the Government on making these changes through the introduction of this bill. For over 20 years I have had the opportunity to see this evolving.
What will happen under this bill is so much better than what happened in the early days of the 1990s. I congratulate the Government.