The Social Housing Policy, Guidelines and Assessment Tool is starting to Shape Up

A message to Local Aboriginal Land Councils

Amendments to the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act (ALRA) in 2007 mean that after December 2012, all Local Aboriginal Land Councils will need approval from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to run their own social housing scheme.

In short, social housing schemes run by LALCs prior to July 1 2007 must comply with the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act and be approved before 1 January 2013.

The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs approved a new policy, "Policy on the Approval of LALC Social Housing Schemes (Rental Accommodation)" on the 24^th January 2011.

The approval was published in the NSW Government Gazette on 28 January 2011 and took effect from that date.

The new policy is available on this website: Policy on the Approval of  LALC Social Housing Schemes (Rental Accommodation)

In accordance with the requirements of the ALRA the policy was distributed to all LALCs in August 2010 and widely discussed at Regional Forums and meetings of LALC Boards.

NSWALC wants to ensure that everyone understands the approval process and the statutory requirements that must be met to gain approval to operate a social housing scheme. To assist this NSWALC is developing guidelines to accompany the new policy.

A comprehensive information package will be launched at the NSWALC State Conference on the 5- 7^th April 2011. This will assist LALCs to further  understand the policy and guidelines.

Following the State conference NSWALC's Zone staff will be offering a service to LALCs called a pre application assessment.

The idea is to give LALCs constructive feedback on the operation of their social housing schemes and how well it meets the statutory requirements for approval.

The sorts of issues NSWALC will be considering through the pre-application assessment and the final assessment application will include:

• Is the housing scheme fair and equitable?
• Is the housing scheme managed in a responsible way?
• Will it be administered in a transparent way?
• Is the income sufficient to meet all the expenses for long term maintenance?

These are some of the statutory requirements for approval of a social housing scheme and NSWALC has been discussing these issues in detail with the network.

NSWALC is committed to sustainable, Aboriginal controlled housing, and inquiries in the meantime can be directed to the Zone Offices that cover your regions.