Remote Housing Funding? – Shelter SA
Posted on: Fri 23 Mar 2018
This week’s Anangu Lands Paper Tracker radio show focuses on housing and, in particular, remote housing. We’re interested in this topic because the Commonwealth Government’s 10 year National Partnership Agreement on Remote Housing (NPARH) comes to an end in June 2018 and no further funding for remote housing has yet been negotiated between the State and Federal Government.
The National Agreement with the Commonwealth has included South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Under this National Remote housing agreement, the Commonwealth Government nationally allocated a total amount of about $776 million each year. South Australia has been getting about $25 million each year for remote housing in this state.
To find out more about what’s happening with housing in South Australia, we talk with Dr Alice Clark, the Executive Director of Shelter SA, which is the South Australian peak body for housing.
Alice tells us about Shelter SA and the work that it does and then provides us with an outline the current situation regarding funding for housing in South Australia and particularly for remote housing.
We talk about the Commonwealth Government’s Closing the Gap report and the need to reduce overcrowding, poor-quality housing and homelessness in order to close the gap. Closing the gap won’t happen if there is no commitment to funding remote as well as transitional and affordable housing.
Our interview touches on the move by the Commonwealth to promote home ownership and that individuals should own and therefore maintain their own homes. We asked Alice about her thoughts on this, particularly in relation to remote communities where the land is often communally owned, where few people have jobs, and where it’s very difficult and expensive to maintain and repair houses.
If people would like to find out more about Shelter SA or get in touch, you can phone them on (08) 8223 4077 or check out their website and Facebook page: http://www.sheltersa.asn.au/ and https://www.facebook.com/ShelterSA/
This program includes the song, ‘Homeless’ by Ladysmith Black Mambazo off the album Graceland.
