Establishment of the Aboriginal Housing Office 1998
In 1998, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office was established to plan and develop housing programs and services for Aboriginal people.
In 1998, the Aboriginal Housing Act 1998 (NSW) () began. This was a result of a number of inquiries in the 1990s and was a key recommendation of the Aboriginal Housing Development Committee (see SUB0428).
When introducing the law, the Minister said ‘the establishment of [the Aboriginal Housing Office], combined with [pooling funds for Aboriginal housing programs], will provide, arguably, the strongest model yet adopted across Australia for reforming administration of Aboriginal housing’ ().
The law’s objects include to:
- ensure access to affordable and quality housing
- ensure housing that is culturally appropriate
- enhance the role of Indigenous people in relation to housing policies and programs
- ensure that Aboriginal housing organisations are accountable, effective and skilled and the Aboriginal Housing Office’s programs and services are efficient ().
The law established the Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO), a statutory body governed by a Board of Aboriginal people appointed by the Minister for Housing (). It is subject to the control and direction of the Minister ().
When the law was made, the Minister identified three main functions of the AHO:
- to plan and develop housing programs and services for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders,
- to deliver these programs, and
- to monitor and evaluate them to ensure they continue to effectively meet the housing needs of their clients ().
The law also introduced the concept of ‘registered Aboriginal housing organisations’ (). The AHO can fund these organisations and, if the Minister approves it, transfer or lease properties to them or construct houses for them. The AHO can also lease housing or provide rental subsidies to Aboriginal people directly (). For more information about the AHO’s role in regulating Aboriginal Community Housing Providers, including Local Aboriginal Land Councils, see SUB0385.
One of the objectives of establishing the AHO was to pool Commonwealth and State funding for Aboriginal housing programs (). The Government also intended to transfer the ownership of approximately 3800 ‘Housing for Aborigines’ homes to the AHO from the Land and Housing Corporation (). The Housing for Aborigines program was a longstanding program that built or acquired houses for Aboriginal people (see SUB0427). This transfer was a key recommendation of the Aboriginal Development Housing Committee to allow for culturally appropriate management of these assets and for enhanced self-determination ().
When the Government introduced the law, it foreshadowed the possible future transfer of the management and ownership of these properties to community based providers ‘over the medium term’ (). The transfer of the management of some of these properties to Aboriginal community housing providers started in 2021 (see SUB0385 for more information about these transfers).