How we do it
More than just walls and windows
A good home is about more than just walls and windows. Working in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia means that we are well placed to reach the most excluded and break down the barriers that prevent some people from achieving their long-term aspirations.
Every community has those issues that just won’t go away, but in Clarence Plains in Tasmania the community is determined to make a difference! Just over a year ago a group of community services and local residents met to look at the ongoing issues facing Clarence Plains. It was clear that what the community wanted above all was to address a number of safety issues impacting the community. The result was a collaborative effort called 'One Community Together'. You can find out more about Clarence Plains and One Community Together here
As a part of the One Community Together work, this year the Clarence Plains community launched their GROW garden. Featuring an orchard, vegetable gardens, bush tucker, community spaces, artwork, a pizza oven, and “break out” educational and performance spaces, along with disability access, this project was a “labour of love” overseen by a committee of local community members with the support of Mission Australia Housing and other community partners. You can see more about the GROW community garden here.
You can read more about the journey towards change for Clarence Plains here:
Changing the story of community
Our approach
Mission Australia Housing has a wide portfolio of new social and affordable housing, units in strata complexes, social housing in planned housing estates, metropolitan and regional portfolios where we have successfully provided asset management services in a variety of communities with varying issues and characteristics. We also manage Common Ground which requires a whole of building metro/dense approach to a mixed tenure, mixed income community, whilst ensuring the assets are appropriate to surrounding neighbourhoods and nearby private housing developments.
We believe effective asset management services need to be delivered over the long term by registered Community Housing Providers in accordance with the relevant regulatory and policy frameworks.
Mission Australia Housing’s approach to asset management is driven by the following principles:
- quality and responsive service
- efficient use of resources
- value for money through a strategic emphasis on planned maintenance
- transparent work practices and clear, respectful communication with tenants
This is delivered through a Total Asset Management approach, taking into account the asset life cycle. Driven by Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP), Asset Management Plans (AMP) and 25 year Maintenance Plans, this approach ensures that we implement streamlined asset management systems that rely on a strategic, pro-active and data driven methodology, complemented by the robust systems and processes currently in place as a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider.
Our approach highlights the reciprocal nature of a tenant’s relationship to his/her home and surroundings. This approach is designed to empower and encourage tenants to take care of items in their home.
Mission Australia Housing is committed to delivering quality social and affordable housing that is responsive to people’s needs and drives social inclusion. We deliver a high level of service for all our tenants and household members so that they can sustain their tenancies, live independently and actively engage with their community. We aim to increase tenants’ stability and satisfaction with their current housing and improve their wellbeing and that of the community, while also supporting some tenants to transition out of social housing as and when appropriate.
To help tenants and household members to lead healthy and independent lives, Mission Australia Housing’s tenancy services are designed to be flexible and personalised. We draw on our experience as a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider, managing mixed tenure dwellings, working with older people and assisting the formerly homeless, among other groups to tailor tenancy services to diverse communities and cohort needs.
In Tasmania, across Clarendon Vale and Rokeby, Mission Australia Housing manages over 500 properties and has successfully invested in community transformation through the pilot Tenancy Engagement Program. This role supports Housing Managers through routine tenancy management tasks whilst contributing to care case coordination, actively connecting tenants to appropriate support services, providing tenant information and assisting with the development of and participation in community events.
We believe that in order to provide more people with a decent home, access to opportunity, and vibrant communities where everyone has a strong sense of belonging, we haveto work together.
To achieve this, we are determined to work in partnership with local communities, drawing on their strengths, linking people with informal networks of support and creating opportunities for everyone to thrive. We do this through our dedicated Community Development teams and positions in each state who are critical in providing advocacy supports to tenants and ensuring “tenant voice” shapes the delivery of our housing programs. At the same time, these teams support tenants to access services and promote interaction within place through tenant led community events and projects.
Strengthening this, we work with over 50 support and community agencies around Australia including Mission Australia Specialist Homelessness Services and Camperdown Support Services), Domestic Violence Service NSW, Muslim Women’s Association, Christ Mission Possible, Fusion, Hillsong, and Saint Vincent De Paul in NSW. In Tasmania we work with local organisations such as Rokeby Neighbourhood Centre, Sustainable Living Tasmania, Food In My Backyard, Youth Beat, and local primary schools and community centres. We also work in close partnership with other Community Housing Providers such as Evolve Housing in NSW.
At Mission Australia Housing we work with tenants, government agencies, community organisations and other stakeholders to enable our tenants to participate fully within their communities. We do this by:
- Establishing local and state based tenant committees and action groups
- Working in partnership with local organisations to run tenant events
- Connecting tenants with support services
- Holding information workshops
- Working with local councils
- Recognising tenant achievements
Community engagement activities
- Establishment of Tenant Action Group (TAG) in NSW and Resident Steering Committee in TAS
- Community Centres established at two Mission Australia Housing locations in Western Sydney
- Annual tenant survey
- First Mission Australia Housing tenant forum held in March 2015
- Customer Service Charter established
- Annual tenant Christmas party
- Regular tenant events including Harmony Day, NAIDOC week and school holiday activity days
- Tenant working bees
- Tenant involvement in recruitment and feedback on policies
For Mission Australia Housing (Mission Australia Housing), excellence in customer service is more than providing a good home. Working in some of the most disadvantaged communities alongside one of Australia’s largest community services provider, Mission Australia, we tailor housing and homelessness solutions to local need, making people, families and communities more engaged, connected and resilient.
Across all Mission Australia Housing offices, we co-locate with Mission Australia services, offering tenants immediate access to a holistic suite of services. Collectively, through this co-ordinated and integrated service approach, Mission Australia Housing and Mission Australia staff work together supporting tenants across all life domains. At the same time, Mission Australia Housing is able to leverage off in depth partnerships and networks of Mission Australia, developed 160 years of community service delivery.
Together, Mission Australia and Mission Australia Housing believes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should enjoy quality of life with every opportunity to succeed. We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are among the most disadvantaged groups in our society.
Mission Australia’s vision for reconciliation is that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this country will be restored to a place of equity, dignity and respect. We long for the healing of our national soul as we see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures fully valued, broken relationships restored and social inequalities eradicated.
Working closely with local communities – in metro and regional areas, Mission Australia Housing works in partnership with Mission Australia, combining expertise in property and tenancy management with capability in social services delivery specific to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Fostering Mission Australia’s commitment to reducing the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians through its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), Mission Australia Housing aims to improve the housing needs and standards in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in which we work.
Our Reconciliation Action Plan or RAP is an agreed strategy of how Mission Australia and Mission Australia Housing intends to contribute to the huge task of reducing the disturbing gap in living standards between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
The results
Impact Measurement is a process that enables us to understand the contributions our services make towards improving the lives of our tenants and communities. See Impact Measurement in action in our housing services in Cairns.
