Mistress Nicole wrote on Jun 10
th, 2016 at 2:55pm:
Quote:According to the Aboriginal Housing Policy Manual For Remote & Town-Based
Communities (WA)
Quote:
Tenants are responsible for the cost of:
All internal and external maintenance and repairs to a property caused intentionally or through neglect or recklessness (whether by misuse or otherwise).
Heavy cleaning and rubbish removal, including derelict vehicles and car bodies.
Damage will be repaired as per the policy in which the item falls under however tenant liability will be charged if the damage was caused intentionally or through neglect or recklessness.
During occupation or on vacation:
A tenant liability charge may be incurred during occupation or on vacation.
Ok I see the policy, but I question it's enforcement. Perhaps Aboriginals trashing houses that the governments then pay to repair is a myth?
Cheers,
Nicole
Oh it's enforced
As stated the tenant is responsible for all damage to properties other than fair wear and tear.
In many States tenants have the option of fixing any damage themselves or contacting the Housing Authority and they will arrange repairs and apply a debit to the tenants account. Any repairs done by the tenants must be completed to an acceptable standard deemed so by the Housing Authority.
Deliberate or reckless damage to properties results in the Housing Authority taking action to end tenancy.
Any unpaid debts from ex-tenants will be followed by a debt collection agency to recover the money.
If anybody has debts for damage owed to the department they will not be provided with further housing until this debt is paid in full.
But the fact is Aboriginal people do not willingly destroy homes they live in.
Sara Hudson from the Centre for Independent Studies in St Leonards, NSW, says that
Quote:Although vandalism to houses is evident in some communities, the widespread assumption that Aborigines destroy their houses is false [3]. Rather, studies conducted over a seven-year period (from 1999 to 2006) found that the major causes of ‘house failure’ were lack of routine maintenance and faulty construction and design.
Of the 4,343 houses surveyed in 132 communities, only 11% passed national standard safety. In 50% of houses, there was no tub or bath to wash a child in, and only 35 per cent of houses had a functioning shower.
Architect Paul Pholeros has 30 years’ experience in Aboriginal housing. He says that 60% of housing problems arise from poor maintenance, 25% from poor initial construction and only 8% from damage and abuse by its tenants.
He goes on to say
Quote:Builders cause many housing defects when they use solutions that work in coastal areas but not in remote Australia. Heater elements which operate for years in water used in coastal areas of Australia are covered with a solid salt crust after a few years of operation in Central Australia.
Only 30% of the showers he has seen work, only 10% of the houses had safe electrical installations.
Builders are poorly supervised during the construction process, Mr Pholeros told, and houses not tested after completion. Some builders “take off after 95% of the work is done” leaving the house incomplete: tabs without water, toilets without drains. Some people pay rent for a house that has no running water, no toilet or shower.
So it comes to no surprise that Aboriginal people are fed up with their housing conditions. On July 15, 2009 dozens of Ampilatwatja people, three hours north-east of Alice Springs in the centre of Australia, abandoned their community altogether because the sewerage system failed. Raw sewage flooded the streets, a condition described as “the worst he’s ever seen anywhere in the nation” by Adam Giles, then Northern Territory opposition spokesperson on Indigenous Policy now Chief Minister.
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