Community housing

Mission Australia Housing submission to the National Commission of Audit.

In this paper, Mission Australia comment on the overall intent of the resource allocation, as well as the impacts of adopting the methodology described and to put forward suggestions for ways to improve the methodology to better reflect the needs of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Mission Australia welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Review of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 Discussion Paper. Our extensive experience working with people who are homeless and in the housing sector, as well as our research, informs our comments.

Mission Australia supports the intention of the Housing Improvement Bill 2012 to provide for measures to address housing that is unsafe or unsuitable for human habitation. We concur with the comment in the Foreword to the Explanatory Paper that "an affordable place to live should meet minimum standards to ensure that the property remains safe and suitable for occupants".

Mission Australia considers the SA Government to be forward thinking and progressive in relation to housing. While we agree about the limited capacity of the not-for-profit housing sector in the state, we would be keen to help grow that capacity particularly given MA Housing has demonstrated a capacity to effectively manage growth.