The Northern Territory’s peak body for the Aboriginal community-controlled housing sector is calling on the Northern Territory Government to rethink its reform of managing public housing tenancies announced today.
Aboriginal Housing NT (AHNT) CEO Leeanne Caton says the approach proposed by the NT Government to manage public housing will see an increase in evictions which will increase the already high rates of homelessness in the NT:
“The Northern Territory already has the highest rates of homelessness in the country, at 12 times the national average. By fast-tracking evictions and increasing the powers of Public Housing Safety Officers (PHSOs) we will see Aboriginal people increasingly targeted and criminalised.”
These proposed reforms will disproportionately and overwhelmingly target Aboriginal Territorians. The reforms run counter to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap targets to reduce homelessness and overcrowding.
There has been zero consultation with AHNT as the housing peak or the Aboriginal community-controlled housing sector about the impact of these reforms. We call on the government to engage meaningfully with the housing sector to ensure approaches are evidence-based.
These reforms will join other racially discriminatory reforms introduced on 6 February 2023 through the NT Government’s Remote Rent Framework. The framework saw the NT’s public housing model shift from an income-based arrangement to a per-bedroom based rent model whereby tenants pay a rate of $70 per bedroom. This makes the NT the only jurisdiction with a public housing model based on bedrooms – not income.
It is widely accepted across every jurisdiction nationally, that public housing rents should not exceed 25% of a household’s income to avoid forcing households into entrenched poverty and hardship. The room-based model in the NT Government’s Remote Rent Framework is inequitable and is driving households further into rent debt.
Analysis of the available data shows that while the change in rent rates for a standard 25% of household income for one- and two-bedroom dwellings is perhaps manageable, the increase to three and four bedroom dwellings (which are the majority dwelling-type across remote NT) is staggering, especially when considered in the context of the current already high cost of living in the NT.
These are households largely comprised of Aboriginal Territorians. Households who typically comprise low-income earners or are in receipt of a government benefit as the main source of income.
The NT Government did not undertake any modelling on the impacts of the Remote Rent Framework prior to being rolled out. It was implemented with no examination of the broader cost of living impacts on remote Aboriginal families.
Despite assurances from the NT Government that the increases in rent rates would not have a detrimental impact on Aboriginal people’s cost of living and that the increase is moderate, analysis of the available data shows an increase of the proposed amounts has translated to a substantial increase, making public housing rent largely unaffordable.
The proposed reforms of stricter policies and increased evictions announced by the Minister today will only criminalise and marginalise Aboriginal tenants further. The proposed reforms do little to support and sustain complex tenancies nor address the poor condition and long-term neglect of NT remote public housing.
Media contact
Nathan Evans, Deputy CEO, Aboriginal Housing NT, 0428 094 626