CHO-BIZ Newsletter – Community Housing SA Partnerships and Growth

CHO-BIZ Newsletter
Housing SA – Community
Partnerships and Growth
Level 4, 136 North Terrace Adelaide SA 5000 | GPO Box 292 Adelaide SA 5001
Phone 1300 700 561 | Fax 7424 7390 | Email [email protected]
www.sa.gov.au/communityhousing
Director’s Welcome: October 2014 Edition
Alison Kimber
Contents
It has been another busy
month in community housing.
The New Ideas for Growth
projects are starting to get
underway. We have
continued transfers of
Transitional Housing Program
properties and consultation on
the draft Community Housing
Agreements and Core Operating Policies.
Director’s Welcome: Alison Kimber .... 1
We are currently working through your feedback and
making improvements to both the draft Agreements and
Policies. The next drafts will be on the website in early
October. We expect at that stage the Community
Housing Agreements will be near final but there will be a
further opportunity to provide feedback on the Core
Operating Policies. We acknowledge it is a busy time in
the community housing sector and we appreciate your
participation and the thoughtful feedback provided.
Public and Community Housing
Appeal Unit Closure .............................. 4
Amelia Traino and I greatly appreciated the opportunity
to chat to larger providers about the next tranche of
public housing transfers at a recent workshop arranged
by the Community Housing Council. We talked about the
intention for a second tranche of properties to go to
tender next year with transfer in 2016. Final approvals for
the transfer of the first two parcels in Mitchell Park and
Elizabeth Grove/Vale are being sought. We expect an
announcement in November and transfer in the first half
of 2015.
Important Changes to PGP Financial
Reporting Template .............................. 2
Operating Arrangements and
Information Sharing between
Community Partnerships and Growth
and the Office of Housing Regulation 3
Continuing exemption from stamp
duty and Real Property Act fees for
community housing transfers ............. 3
NRAS regulations changes –
September 2014 .................................... 4
CHCR updates ....................................... 5
Staff Updates – CPG Welcomes
Rebecca and Stacey ............................. 6
Sector Development Update ................ 7
Workshops for October - November
2014 ........................................................ 8
Regular Items
Subscribing to CHO-Biz
Key Due Dates
CHCSA E-Bulletin
Own Your Own Home
TIAS
Acronyms commonly used in CPG
CPG Contact List
Office of Housing Regulation
Home Standards
1 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Subscribing to CHO-Biz
Visit www.sa.gov.au/communityhousing, under the heading ‘Resources’ click on ‘Subscribe to
Mailing Lists’ or contact Maria Tilbrook on 7424 7360 or [email protected] to
arrange to have one forwarded to you and confirm your subscription.
Key Due Dates
Due Date
Item Due
Contact Person
21 October 2014
Rent/Funding Report – including capital contribution
payments, vacancy and arrears reporting
Dustin Lu
Important Changes to PGP Financial Reporting Template
Preferred Growth Providers (PGPs)
Reporting Requirements for Master Deed
Until now, Community Housing Providers (CHPs) that are party to the Not for Profit Housing
Provider Master Deed have been required to submit the ‘Housing SA NFP Housing Provider
Financial Reporting template’ as part of their reporting requirements to Community Partnerships
and Growth (CPG).
In view of reporting requirements under the National Regulatory System (NRS), CPG has
scaled back this template and will only be capturing information relating to Capital Contributions.
CPG previously requested this information through the ‘Supplement – Debenture FA’ section of
the report.
The revised template is now titled the ‘Capital Contribution Reconciliation template’ and this is
due by 31 October 2014. Completion of this template is mandatory for all PGPs.
The template is available from the Reporting Requirements for Master Deed section of the
community housing website at www.sa.gov.au/communityhousing
If you have any enquiries about the Capital Contribution Reconciliation template for PGPs,
please contact Matthew Zetlein, Contract Manager (7424 7383 or
[email protected]).
2 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Operating Arrangements and Information Sharing between
Community Partnerships and Growth and the Office of Housing
Regulation
The Community Housing Providers (National Law) (South Australia) Act 2013 (the National
Law) was passed by the South Australian Parliament on 12 November 2013. The Act
commenced on 1 April 2014 and replaces the South Australian Co-operative and Community
Housing Act 1991 (the SACCH Act).
A key principle of the National Regulatory System agreed to by the participating jurisdictions is
the clear separation of regulation and funding of community housing. To achieve this
separation, on 4 November 2013, an independent Office of Housing Regulation was established
in South Australia to regulate the operations of community housing providers registered under
the National Law.
Community Partnerships and Growth (CPG) and The Office of Housing Regulation (OHR) have
reached formal agreement about the operating arrangements to ensure the effective funding
and regulation of community housing in South Australia. These arrangements are summarised
in a communique including:






Key principles for interaction
Governance and accountability arrangements
The roles for both parties
Areas of mutual interest and how these will be managed
When and how information can be exchanged
Where to find further information.
The communique is now available on www.sa.gov.au/communityhousing
Continuing exemption from stamp duty and Real Property Act
fees for community housing transfers
Under certain conditions, community housing providers registered under the South Australian
Co-operative and Community Housing Act 1991 are entitled to stamp duty and certain
Registrar-General fee exemptions when taking ownership of a property.
Section 34 of the new Community Housing Providers (National Law) (South Australia) Act 2013
enables these exemptions to be given subject to the Treasurer’s approval.
Approval for continuing exemption from specific fees (including stamp duty and Real Property
Act fees) for certain community housing asset transfers has been provided by the Treasurer.
This advice was published in the Government Gazette on 11 September 2014.
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Public and Community Housing Appeal Unit Closure
The lease on the office of the Public and Community Housing Appeal Unit expired in September
and will not be renewed. The office was closed to the public from Monday 1 September 2014.
There will no longer be an office open to the public for general enquiries. Future Housing
Appeal Panel hearings will be heard at Level 3, 182 Victoria Square until the implementation of
the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The Appeal Co-ordinator can be contacted on 8207 0325, or Freecall 1800 676 350 for country
callers.
NRAS regulations changes – September 2014
The Commonwealth Government recently amended the National Rental Affordability Scheme
(NRAS) Regulations 2008. The amendments were implemented on 23 September 2014.
Housing SA is advised that the key amendments were as follows:

Stage 1: There will be a three month transitional period to allow applicants time to
prepare for the new requirements of the scheme (ending 22 December 2014).
During this period all applicants planning to change the dwelling location, style, size, special
attributes or agreed rental availability date will also be required to disclose all commercial
arrangements associated with the change.
Applicants will also be able to change the agreed rental availability date for a dwelling in respect
of an allocation. After the transitional period ends, only one further change to the agreed rental
availability date is possible, and not for more than three months past the current agreed rental
availability date.

Stage 2: Once the transitional period is over, no further applications to vary the location
or style of dwellings will be accepted (with the exception of variations to locations of
dwellings necessitated by natural disasters).
In both stages, applicants will not be able to extend beyond the agreed rental availability date
for rent as follows:
Shovel Ready funding 2013 round – applicants will not be able to extend beyond 31 July 2015
All other rounds (one to four rounds) – applicants will not be able to extend beyond 30 June
2016
Provisional allocations – After the transitional period ends, provisional allocations will be made
in respect of dwellings that are not delivered by the agreed rental availability date. This means
the 10 year incentive period will commence, even though the dwelling has not yet been
completed and made available for rent. The dwelling, whilst subject to a provisional allocation,
cannot meet the conditions of allocation, and is therefore not eligible to receive any payment of
an incentive.
4 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Form of incentives – Approved participants that are endorsed charitable institutions have until
31 December each NRAS year to elect whether they wish to receive the NRAS incentive as a
monetary payment or as a refundable tax offset certificate. Once an election is made this will
become the default incentive type until another election is made.
Lodgement dates – At the conclusion of an NRAS year (on 30 April), Approved Participants
previously had two weeks in which to lodge a Statement of Compliance as required under
Regulation 17. The final date for lodgement has been changed from 13 May each year to 30
June each year. The Regulations do not allow the Department to accept a Statement of
Compliance after this date.
For more information relating to the recent changes, please visit the following website:
www.dss.gov.au/nras
Payment of Commonwealth and State NRAS contributions
The Commonwealth Department of Social Services has informed us that there are compliance
issues with some NRAS participants in terms of these participants not meeting the old
Regulations. DSS are in the process of changing the Regulations and these changes are likely
to come into effect in the next month or so. DSS appears not to be authorising payments until
the amendments to the Regulations have commenced. DSS also advises that they have
developed an automated payments system which they are having technical issues with.
DSS has informed us that payments may not be made until November this year for the 2013/14
NRAS year. The State cannot make its payment until the Commonwealth confirms that an
applicant is compliant.
We will process the State payments as soon as we receive the required authorisation from the
Commonwealth. In the meantime, those with questions regarding the 2013/14 payment should
be directed to the DSS website (www.dss.gov.au/nras).
CHCR updates
Community Housing Providers without NRAS properties are now able to enter
Community Housing and NRAS registrations in the one process.
Nominated Providers have already been directly contacted with details on how to do this.
If you would like further information please contact [email protected]
Viewing registrations – reminder
Enquiries from Registrants or Support Workers seeking confirmation about the status of a
registration on CHCR should be directed to Supervisors at the Housing SA Contact Centre
(Ph. 131 299), as only they have ability to search for ALL registrations regardless of the
program type, status, eligibility criteria, nominated areas etc.
COMMUNITY HOUSING COUNCIL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC (CHCSA) WEEKLY E-BULLETIN
To access the latest Weekly E-Bulletin from CHCSA go to http://www.chcsa.org.au/publications/e-bulletins
5 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Staff Updates – CPG Welcomes Rebecca and Stacey
I have a background in federal government and the non for profit sector
and am excited to be commencing with the Better Places, Stronger
Communities project. My experience includes:

working with migrant settlement services at the Department of
Immigration and Border Protection in Canberra

early childhood program management at the Department of
Social Services

Rebecca Whellum
service development and improvement at Australian Red Cross.
I am passionate about the outcomes possible through strong government and not for profit
partnerships. I look forward to increasing my knowledge of the community housing sector and
supporting successful transfers.
Stacey Theologou
I commenced working with Housing SA in the late 70’s in Whyalla.
In 1982 I relocated to Adelaide and commenced work in the
Revenue Section collecting rents and maintain rent ledgers. Since
then I have worked in most of the Metropolitan regional officers in
many roles that provide direct customer and tenant services. I
have spent some years in the role of Operations Manager in the
Western Adelaide Region before moving to the Recovery Unit to
manage the Benefit Review and Rent Assessment teams. Most
recently I have been part of the team managing the implementation
of Chintaro for the Aboriginal Communities housing program. This
was a valuable experience working with regional staff who manage
the remote and non-remote Aboriginal Communities. I am pleased to now be a member of the
Community Partnerships & Growth team particularly working on the stock transfer to Community
Housing Providers project.
OWN YOUR OWN HOME!
Do you wish to own your own home? As a community housing tenant, you may be able to access a number of
HomeStart and South Australian Government products and programs. These include:
HomeStart Home loans: HomeStart has a number of loan products and also encourage people to take
advantage of the new construction grant. For further information about HomeStart call 1300 636 878 or visit
www.homestart.com.au.
South Australian Government’s Affordable Homes Program: This program offers available public houses up for
sale as well as new built home both at affordable prices. To view details about the Affordable Homes Program
go to: http://www.affordablehomes.sa.gov.au
Purchase your house: You may be able to purchase the community housing property you are currently living in
if you have met all the conditions. Please refer to the Community Housing Property Sales Policy and Procedures
on the community housing website for more information. See under ‘Property and Asset Management’ at
sa.gov.au - Property and asset management
6 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Sector Development Update
Welcome to the October update of the Sector Development program. September has been the
month for CHP’s Annual General Meetings and we congratulate all newly appointed Office Bearers.
This month the program focusses on workshops targeting new Office Bearers/Sub-Committee
Members and specifically, Rent and Tenancy Co-ordinators and their committees. It will also
feature a number of Information Sessions conducted by Consumer and Business Services (CBS)
staff (incorporating Residential Tenancies Reforms from March 2014) and the Sector Development
Forum for Education Officers and individuals interested in keeping abreast of program changes.
New workshops for Managing Appeals and how to use the new CBS Residential Bonds Online
Service will be offered during November. Make sure you check the Summary of Workshops for
October and November (over) and enrol to secure your place as soon as possible.
Sector Development recently provided the following report on the program’s activity for Housing
SA’s annual report.
In 2013-14 more than 1600 participants (an increase from 1380 in previous financial year)
representing community housing providers attended workshops or information sessions. This
includes private training and information sessions delivered to individuals and groups in their
agency/community housing organisation. Capacity building opportunities offered during 201314 included Organisational Health Checks for Community Housing Providers and the Sector
preparation program for National Regulatory System 2013-2014.
CPG also continues to support representatives of the community housing sector to undertake
formal studies in Housing Management and Policy through scholarships to Swinburne University
of Technology. In 2013-14, two scholarships were awarded to applicants from the community
housing sector.
If you have any questions about a specific workshop, or would like to discuss program opportunities
for yourself or your organisation, please contact Sector Development on 8207 2612 or email
[email protected].
Phone: (08) 8305 9459
Country callers (toll free): 1800 060 462
Email: [email protected]
More information about TIAS can be found at www.tias.org.au
TIAS provides free and independent information, advice and advocacy. TIAS acts on behalf of tenants where
there is misunderstanding, or tenants/members are unhappy with a decision, for example with issues such as
complaints, eviction, housing applications, maintenance, membership issues, and appeal processes.
Tenants Information and Advocacy Service Factsheet is available on our website at
www.sa.gov.au/communityhousing
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Workshops for October - November 2014
Date
Workshop
Wednesday 1st October
CBS Information Session – Introduction to Residential
Notes
Tenancies Act
Friday 3rd October
CHCR for Co-operatives
Monday 13th October
Sector Development Forum
Wednesday 15th October
CBS Information Session – Terminating Tenancies,
completing forms 2&7
Monday 20th October
Office Bearer/Co-ordinator Roles and Responsibilities
Tuesday 21st October
Tenancy Management 1
Tuesday 28th October
Tenancy Management 2
Wednesday 29th October
Fire Safety Awareness
Tuesday 11th November
Managing Appeals for Member-Managed CHPs
Wednesday 12th November
CBS Information Session – Residential Tenancies Tour
Friday 14th November
Rent Management 1
Monday 17th November
CBS Information Session – Residential Bonds Online
Tuesday 18th November
Managing Assets for Member-Managed CHPs
Thursday 20th November
Membership Management for Member-Managed CHPs
Friday 21st November
Rent Management 2
Friday 28th November
Rent Management 3
For workshop details please contact Sector Development on8207 2612 or email us at
[email protected]
8 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Acronyms commonly used within CPG
AFS
Audited Financial Statements
HNA
AHIF
Affordable Housing Innovations Fund
HSA
AHIP
Affordable Housing Innovations Program
HSCC
Housing Needs Assessment
Housing SA (service component of
South Australian Housing Trust)
Housing SA Contact Centre
ASL
Australian Institute of health and Welfare (annual
data collection)
Additional Service Levies
ATO
Australian Taxation Office
ICT
AFS
BH
Audited Financial Statements
Boarding House
IPP
IT
BHP
Boarding House Program
L&D
BPSC
Better Places, Stronger Communities
MOAA
CAT
Category of housing need
MOU
CC
Capital Contributions
NAHA
CEO
Chief Executive Officer
NBESP
CEHSA
Common Equity Housing SA
NGO
Homelessness Strategy Division,
Housing SA
Introduction to Community Housing
Information, Communication,
Technology
Information Privacy Principles
Information Technology
Learning and Development Program,
for Community Housing
Organisations
Memorandum of Administrative
Agreement
Memorandum of Understanding
National Affordable Housing
Agreement
Nation Building Economic Stimulus
Plan
Non-government Organisation
CHCSA
Community Housing Council SA
NOB
Notice of Breach
CHCR
Community Housing Customer Register
NRAS
National Rental Affordability Scheme
CHPs
Community Housing Providers
NRS
CO-OPS
Co-operatives
OHS&W
National Regulation System
Occupational Health Safety &
Welfare
AIHW
CRA
CROs
Community Partnerships and Growth: Directorate
within Housing SA (SAHT)
Commonwealth Rent Assistance
Customer Relations Office (unit)
CWTH
Commonwealth Government
CPG
DCSI
DFC
Dept. for Communities and Social Inclusion, of
which Housing SA forms a part
Former Dept. Families and Communities, of which
Housing SA was a part
HSD
ICH
PGP
Preferred Growth Providers
PH
PIS
Public Housing
Public Information Session
Private Rental Assistance Program
(Housing SA)
PRAP
PSP
Preferred Support Providers
ROI
Registration of Interest
DHP
Disability Housing Program
SACCH
Act
DSA
Disability SA
SAAHT
DV
ED
SAHT
SHP
SMP
Summary Maintenance Plan
FA
GSS
Domestic Violence
Executive Director
Dept of Families, Housing, Community Services
and Indigenous Affairs (Cwth)
Funding Agreement
Governance Support Services
SA Co-operative & Community
Housing Act, 1991
South Australian Affordable Housing
Trust
South Australian Housing Trust
Specialised Housing Program
SRF
STS
GST
Goods and Services Tax
TIAS
HMAC
Housing Ministers Advisory Council
UML
Supported Residential Facilities
Supported Tenancy Scheme
Tenant Information & Advocacy
Service
Unfunded Maintenance Liability
FaHCSIA
9 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
Community Partnerships and Growth Directorate
Staff
Alison Kimber
Peter Stojanovich
Position
Director
Senior Project Officer
Phone
742 47371
742 47380
Email
[email protected]
[email protected]
Business Services
Philippa Sanderson
Kerry Benson
Natalie McCreight
Maria Tilbrook
Lorraine Newport
Business Services Manager
Executive Support Officer
Reception & Information Officer
742 47378
742 47371
742 47360
742 47374
742 47388
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
742 47391
742 47363
742 47368
742 47365
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
742 47397
[email protected]
Sector Innovation and Practice
Amanda Watson-Tran
Manager, Sector Innovations & Practice
Lynley Street
Senior Policy & Project Officer
Liz Hodgman
Senior Policy & Project Officer
Laura Cullip
Senior Policy & Project Officer
Mary Bradford
Policy & Project Officer
Monique Pringle
Policy & Project Officer
Frances Richards
Sector Development Coordinator
Kylie Brock
Admin Support Officer
820 72696
820 72638
820 72692
820 72629
820 76234
820 72635
820 72617
820 72612
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Accountability & Contracts
Carmel King
Manager, Accountability & Contracts
Andy Clough
Senior Contracts Manager
Matthew Zetlein
Project Officer
Teena Hantke
Project Officer
Esther Caprez
Project Officer
Julie Stoker
Assistant Project Officer
Dustin Lu
Assistant Project Officer
742 47376
742 47382
742 47383
742 47375
742 47369
742 47384
742 47361
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Capital Programs
Tim Irvine
Graham Nightingale
David Burnett
Janithri Wickramaratne
742 47372
742 47366
742 47381
742 47367
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
742 47387
742 47386
742 47362
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Better Places, Stronger Communities (BPSC) Transfer Project
Amelia Traino
Manager, BPSC Transfer Project
Stacey Theologou
Senior Project Officer
Rebecca Whellum
Senior Project Officer
Julie Ashton
Project Officer
Gregg Ryan
Manager, Community Housing
Manager, Capital Programs
Senior Project Officer
Asset Co-ordinator
Graduate Officer
Business Systems & Reporting
Manager, Business Systems & Reporting
Yvette Stuyt
Project Officer
Nathan Lee
Project Officer
Arun Sharma
10 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Office of Housing Regulation
Phone: 1300 700 329
GPO Box 292
Adelaide SA 5001
Email: [email protected]
John Herrmann
Craig Thompson
Vince Carr
Liz Scott
Carol Vu
Yasushi Nishioka
Claire Thomson
Housing Regulator
Manager, CH Regulation
Senior Regulation Analyst
Regulation Analyst
Regulation Analyst
Financial Analyst
Graduate Officer
1300 700 329
742 47208
742 47205
742 47207
742 47204
742 47210
742 47211
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Home Standards
As a tenant of a Co-operative or Association, your landlord, i.e. the Co-operative or Association, has an obligation
to ensure
your home is in a reasonable state of repair at the beginning of your tenancy, and to keep it in a reasonable state
of repair taking into account its age, character and prospective life during your tenancy.
If you have questions about more general maintenance issues, you can contact the Tenancies Branch
Phone 131 882
If the officers at the Tenancies Branch feel that your home may be substandard they will refer you to the
Housing Improvement Branch of Housing SA.
Housing Improvement Branch
Phone 131 299
If you feel your Co-operative or Association has not reasonably attended to repairs or maintenance issues related
to
gas or electricity supply, report this by contacting the
Office of the Technical Regulator
Phone 8226 5500
11 | DCSI | CHO-BIZ Newsletter October 2014