Q Shelter Ebulletin - 18th June 2010

Delivering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing and Service Infrastructure

Queensland Shelter attended the Criterion Conference on “Delivering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing and Service Infrastructure” at the Mercure Hotel Brisbane on the 8th and 9th of June. The conference included a wide range of speakers and attendees from federal government departments, local councils, community housing organisations, and non-governmental organisations.

Sybille McKeown from the Australian Bureau of statistics, National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics, began the conference with an overview of data on Indigenous housing, highlighting the level of overcrowding present in many Indigenous households, and the sub-standard conditions including major structural problems with dwellings which a high proportion of Indigenous Australians live in. Sybille was followed by a range of speakers from various organisations, with a very interesting case study being presented by John Mofflin, General Manager and Founding Director of the Jack Thompson Foundation. John presented on the Foundations’ model of using the ‘living ground’ for sustainable remote housing, and the success in many communities in the transfer of essential skills back to individuals in communities, leaving them with the knowledge and experience in using raw available materials to build essential and sustainable housing in remote Australia. The conference brought together a range of individuals and representatives, and was a real opportunity for networking and sharing of knowledge.
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National Community Housing Standards Manual

This week, Minister Plibersek and Carol Croce from CHFA released the 3rd edition of the National Community Housing Standards Manual which outlines benchmarks for good practice in community-managed housing.

Queensland Shelter conducted the Queensland based consultations for this process last year, and will also be involved in updating attendees at the HHAN meetings of the changes.

Please keep an eye on the ebulletin and website for more information and dates.
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Applying for an NRAS property

To apply for an NRAS property in Queensland, potential applicants must first contact the department of Housing and Homelessness Services. If eligible, applicants will be placed on the department’s housing register and then referred to appropriate tenancy managers.

To determine if you are eligible, refer to the following fact sheet from the Queensland Government, Housing and Homelessness Services website, (http://www.public-housing.qld.gov.au/renting/pdf/nras_prospective_tenant...).

Application forms are available at (http://www.housing.qld.gov.au/renting/pdf/nras_tenancy_application.pdf).
Currently available NRAS properties can be found on both the Queensland Government, Housing and Homelessness Services website, (http://www.housing.qld.gov.au/renting/info/nras_locations.htm) and Realestate.com (http://www.realestate.com.au/rent/by-kcmupu/list-1).

If you would like to speak with someone directly regarding eligibility or available properties you may also contact the department's call centre on 1300 880 882.
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Homelessness Planning & Coordination - Funding Announced

After a long wait QCOSS has been identified as the preferred provider to deliver the NGO Homelessness Planning and Coordination initiative funded under the Homelessness National Partnership Payment Implementation Plan.

The purpose of the NGO Homelessness Planning and Coordination initiative is to coordinate the non-government sector input and involvement in local homelessness community action planning and service system development activities with a focus on reducing homelessness and improving pathways and outcomes for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in specific locations across Queensland.

Through a centrally based Team Leader for the project, QCOSS will manage and coordinate seven locally based NGO Coordination positions in a number of regions. The NGO Coordination positions will work closely with a delegated Government Coordination positions and other stakeholders in the relevant region to develop, implement and monitor a homelessness community action plan for the region.

The first step in getting the project off the ground is the recruitment of the Team Leader (advertised this weekend), followed by the Regional Coordinator positions. The timeframe for this is the next few months. In the meantime we will establish a state-wide reference group of relevant peak agencies to provide input into the project, and start to make linkages centrally with relevant Government agencies that will need to be involved at the local level.

Tanya Hall, the QLD SAAP Networking Coordinator is available at tanyah@qcoss.org.au
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Queensland Shelter PO Box 214, Spring Hill 4004
Ph: (07) 3831 5900 Webpage: www.qshelter.asn.au
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