Public Housing Shadow Minister Chiaka Barry pushed for an inquiry into the decisions made regarding Housing ACT and the NDIS’s Specialist Disability Accommodation fund. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Housing ACT never used funding to make custom modifications to the homes of tenants with high physical needs, despite being registered as a provider under the NDIS’s Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) fund.
A committee inquiry will now be held into the service’s delivery through Housing ACT, which is expected to examine whether tenants with disabilities had essential home modifications delayed or denied as a result.
Public Housing Shadow Minister Chiaka Barry brought forward the motion this week, stating she had been “inundated” with communications from contractors and constituents about the ACT Government’s management of specialist accommodation needs since she took on the portfolio.
“It appears their frustrations arise from problems of coordination between Housing ACT, iCBR [Infrastructure Canberra], the NDIS and housing tenants,” she said.
“It would be appalling if the ACT has been missing out on Commonwealth funding which it was eligible to receive.”
SDA funding is included in the packages of some NDIS participants. It is paid to their housing provider to make custom modifications or investments in housing developments that are suitable for their needs.
It’s unclear if Housing ACT was paid the money and never used it (either at all or for its intended purpose), or had access to the funds but never opted to follow through. It’s hoped an inquiry will answer these questions.
It is not accessible to everyone who receives NDIS support and is only for people with high physical needs.
The inquiry was supported by the Homes and New Suburbs Minister, Yvette Berry, who informed the Legislative Assembly that Housing ACT had registered as an SDA provider in 2017 and enrolled 112 dwellings in the program in 2020.
“Despite registering these properties, Housing ACT never operationalised the SDA,” she said.
“People with a disability are much more vulnerable to system failures, which is why I absolutely welcome an inquiry … into this important matter.”
Ms Berry originally referred this matter to the ACT Auditor-General after it came to light during annual report hearings on 10 November.
The Auditor-General has since confirmed it will not be looking into this issue.
It’s hoped the inquiry will also examine how the SDA is applied and provide the community with an understanding of whether Housing ACT could have accessed any funding.
ACT Greens disability spokesperson Laura Nuttall also expressed her wish that the inquiry examine communications between Housing ACT and Ms Berry, questioning how she couldn’t have been aware of the failure to utilise the program until now.
“The most important issue right now is working out how the tenants of these homes have been impacted,” she added.
“We need a better idea of the revenue foregone; we need to understand how it might have helped people.”
Ms Barry was pleased her motion passed unanimously, stating “fixing this mess” had to be an absolute priority.
“With public housing stock deteriorating and maintenance backlogs growing, it is incomprehensible that the government failed to access funding designed for these upgrades,” she said.
“Without proper mechanisms between Housing ACT, its tenants and the NDIS, the ACT Budget incurs unnecessary costs, Housing ACT properties miss out on essential improvements, and tenants face long and confusing delays.”
Housing ACT’s registration as an SDA provider will expire on 14 December.
