Increasing Aboriginal involvement in housing 1982-1996
From the 1980s, Aboriginal people had increasing involvement in housing policy, decision-making and management. The newly established Aboriginal Land Councils became involved in owning and managing housing for Aboriginal people, alongside other Aboriginal community housing providers.
In 1983, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) (ALRA) commenced. It introduced a system of Local Aboriginal Land Councils, Regional Aboriginal Land Councils, and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to hold and claim land (). When passing the Bill, the Parliamentary debate included significant discussion about the substandard state of housing for Aboriginal people in NSW and recognised housing as one of the key issues needing improvement ().
The ALRA gave Local Aboriginal Land Councils a specific function to upgrade and extend residential accommodation (). It also gave the NSW Aboriginal Land Council the function of managing the housing on the former reserves which had previously been managed by the Aboriginal Lands Trust (with the agreement of the relevant Local Aboriginal Land Council) ().
This period also saw increasing input by Aboriginal people into the development of housing policy and programs:
- In 1982, an Aboriginal Housing Advisory Board to the Housing Commission was established, ‘as a source of advice on the needs of Aboriginal applicants and tenants’ ().
- In 1983, the Advisory Board recommended the appointment of eight Aboriginal Liaison Officers to work with the Housing Commission in areas with a significant Aboriginal population ().
- During this time Aboriginal people were represented on Housing Application Committees (formerly Tenancy Advisory Committees) ().
The Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement of 1984 included specific provisions regarding Aboriginal people. The Agreement was made law in NSW by the Housing Agreement Act 1985. This Act said that public housing should reflect the needs of Aboriginal people and allowed the Minister to grant specific rental housing assistance to Aboriginal people ().
The Housing Act 1985 NSW () abolished the Housing Commission and established the Department of Housing and the NSW Land and Housing Corporation. The Act did not mention Aboriginal people ().
During this period, houses continued to be built or purchased under the Commonwealth funded Aboriginal Housing Rental Program (known in NSW as ‘Housing for Aborigines’) and the Regional Community Housing and Infrastructure Program, which was administered by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission after its establishment in 1989 ().
In 1987, a new initiative called the Homes on Aboriginal Land program was directly administered by the NSW Department of Housing. The program built houses on Aboriginal-owned land using Commonwealth funds for Aboriginal housing allocated under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement. The program was short-lived. It ended after the change in State government in 1988. The program was unique at that time in that the design and sizing of the homes reflected the ‘wide range of circumstances and aspirations of [Aboriginal people] across the State’ ().
In the early 1990s, the Housing Aboriginal Communities Program was implemented with funding from the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement. The program allowed Local Aboriginal Land Councils and incorporated Aboriginal housing organisations to acquire dwellings for Aboriginal people. Between 1991 and 1995, over 700 dwellings were completed (). See SUB0385 for more information about Aboriginal community housing.
A series of inquiries and surveys throughout the 1990s exposed systemic problems in the public housing sector. The 1992 Mant Inquiry identified corruption in the NSW housing department that led to its complete restructuring (). The 1993 Industry Commission Report identified problems with the delineation of the roles of each level of government and said that shared responsibilities under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement ‘provide opportunities for each level of government to escape scrutiny’ ().
In 1992 the NSW Government signed the National Commitment to Improve Outcomes in the Delivery of Programs and Services for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders () which ‘committed all Australian governments to streamlining and co-ordinating the delivery of all Aboriginal services and emphasised the critical role of self-determination by Aboriginal people in the planning and delivery of services.’ (). This commitment in relation to housing programs and services was reaffirmed by Housing Ministers, including the NSW Housing Minister, in Darwin in September 1996 ().
Following those inquiries and commitments, the NSW Government appointed the Aboriginal Housing Development Committee which consulted Aboriginal people and communities throughout NSW in 1995 and made recommendations about the provision of Aboriginal housing in NSW in 1996, including that a single State level agency should be established to administer Aboriginal housing programs in NSW ().
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Local Aboriginal Land Councils continued to own and manage housing on former reserves. See SUB0305 for more information about housing on former reserves.