NCOSS response to the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning (DUAP) regarding the Review of Developer Contributions under Section 94 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

NCOSS Submission: Housing is more than a marketable commodity and more than simply shelter. It is fundamentally linked to people's social and physical health and well being. For disadvantaged people on low incomes, access to affordable, stable and secure housing often means the difference between their participation or dysfunction in society.

Excerpt from the report examining barriers for entry to private rental by disadvantaged consumers.

NCOSS Submission: A focus on the links between SAAP and community housing.

Given the impact of development pressure at the same time as increasing reliance on caravan parks for permanent housing, or housing of last resort, development of an interagency protocol to assist in the co-ordination of government responses to park closures is most welcome. However, the draft protocol released by the DOH falls short of a comprehensive response.

The future of social housing across Australia is in the balance as State and Territory Governments seek to negotiate a new Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement (CSHA) with the Commonwealth Government.

Following a submission last year, NCOSS has received funding from DoCS to enable four rural SAAP services to participate in the NCOSS SAAP Rural Consultation Project.

NCOSS Submission: The Productivity Commission Inquiry into Affordable Housing ( home ownership) has just released its intermin report and has been generating a lot of press interest. This document is the NCOSS and Shelter NSW joint submission to the Inquiry.

Residents of the Erskineville estate and community have won their campaign to save the housing estate from the governments proposed redevelopment.

For several years NCOSS has been calling for tighter regulation of Tenancy Databases both to protect tenants privacy and also to posit the issue in the housing access debate. Both the Commonwealth and NSW governments are now considering options for reform. Read NCOSS's submission to the Commonwealth Inquiry (December 2003) and look out for a NCOSS submission to the NSW government in February 2004.

The NSW Government decision to transfer the administration of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) from the Department of Community Services (DoCS) to the Department of Housing (DOH) is causing much concern and debate amongst SAAP funded non-government organisations (NGOs).

NCOSS Submission: Five years on and the Residential Parks Act is up for review. As development pressure and housing unnaffordabilty strike a double blow to low income residents of caravan parks, is the law adequately coping with these pressures? This document is the NCOSS submission to the Office of Fair Trading review of the legislation.

NCOSS Submission: For several years NCOSS has been calling for tighter regulation of Tenancy Databases both to protect tenants privacy and also to posit the issue in the housing access debate. Both the Commonwealth and NSW Governments are now considering options for reform. This submission to the NSW Government calls for a comprehensive legislative model to better balance the interests of tenants and landlords.

NCOSS supports appropriate regulation of key tenancy arrangements of concern to disadvantaged groups, including private rental tenants, public housing tenants, people living in residential (caravan) parks and boarders and lodgers.

NCOSS Submission: The current SAAP agreement (SAAP IV) ends in June 2005. Under the SAAP Act, in order for a new agreement to be development for the following five years, this current agreement (SAAP IV) must be evaluated. This document is NCOSS's submission to the SAAP IV national evaluation

NCOSS Submission: Reshaping Public Housing Targeting and Tenure Reforms: Proposed Access, Allocation and Tenure Framework

NCOSS is concerned that the Accord has essentially been released for consultation as a fait accompli. There was no input by the sector or tenant and consumer groups prior to the Accord framework being finalized by the Human Services CEOs Group.

The Department of Housing released an information paper providing more detail on the policy framework for eligibility, allocation, transfers and tenancy duration in public housing. The package was progressively rolled out from 1 July 2006.

NCOSS Briefing Paper

NCOSS Submission: This submission concentrates on the first three terms of reference for the inquiry: current levels of funding for the development of new housing stock; the effectiveness and appropriateness of housing allocations, and the role of community housing in meeting the demand for social housing.