Contents
- Part 1 Executive Summary
- Part 2 Performance reporting
- Part 3 Corporate governance and accountability
- Part 4 Appendices
- Part 5 Financial Management
Annual Report 2008–2009
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Annual Report 2008–2009
Annual Report 2008–2009 »Chapter 9: Outcome 4 » Output Group 4.1
This section outlines, by output group, how the Department performed against the key performance indicators set out in the 2008–09 Portfolio Budget Statements and related Budget documents. Where relevant, achievement against key performance indicators is summarised in tables that provide estimated and actual results for targets set out in the FaHCSIA 2008–09 Portfolio Budget Statements.
Output Group 4.1 contributes to Outcome 4 by assisting low- and moderate-income households to access appropriate affordable housing and providing support services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
The 2003 Commonwealth State Housing Agreement (CSHA) provided Australian Government grants of around $5.23 billion over five and half years (approximately $951 million each year) from July 2003 to 31 December 2008 to state and territory governments to provide housing assistance. The aim was to assist those people whose housing needs could not be met in the private rental sector to access appropriate and affordable housing.
The CSHA was replaced by a new National Affordable Housing Agreement on 1 January 2009.
| Number of dwellings funded through the CSHA | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 340,000 | The variance is +54,290. This is due to the estimate only including public housing. The actual figure includes public housing, community housing, state-owned and managed Indigenous housing dwellings, and crisis accommodation dwellings funded through the CSHA. |
| Actual | 394,290 | |
| Proportion of new applicants accommodated in social housing who are Indigenous | ||
| Estimate | 13% | The variance is +4%. This is due to the estimate only including public housing. The actual proportion includes community housing and state-owned and managed Indigenous housing. The result also reflects higher proportions of Indigenous households accommodated than estimated. |
| Actual | 17% | |
Homelessness and Housing includes measures to reduce homelessness and improve housing affordability. Under this administered item, work includes supporting and developing housing policy, increasing the availability of affordable rental properties and using innovative approaches to reducing homelessness, including demonstration projects to help families and individuals to maintain housing through early intervention, financial counselling and other support.
| Number of households assisted to live in affordable housing | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 3,500 | The variance is –1,250. The variance is due to the late passage of National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) legislation and regulations (passed November 2008) and the subsequent late take up of NRAS by applicants. |
| Actual | 2,250 | |
| Percentage of households receiving services within the relevant national housing standards | ||
| Estimate | 80% | The variance is +20%. All applicants must ensure that NRAS-approved dwellings meet jurisdictional standards. |
| Actual | 100% | |
| Number of new houses | ||
| Estimate | 3,500 | The variance is –1,250. The variance is due to the late passage of NRAS legislation and regulations (passed November 2008) and the subsequent late take-up of NRAS by applicants. |
| Actual | 2,250 | |
| Number/proportion of households in bottom two income quintiles paying no more than 30% of gross income in housing payments | ||
| Estimate | 78% | Data not available for 2008–09 at time of publication. |
| Actual | See variance explanation | |
| Percentage of tenancies in A Place to Call Home properties reported as stable over 2008–09 | ||
| Estimate | 90% | This program is now part of the Homelessness National Partnership Agreement and subject to the reporting requirements of that agreement. |
| Actual | Not yet available—see variance explanation | |
| White Paper on homelessness prepared by FaHCSIA, including a national action plan to halve homelessness between 2008 and 2020 | ||
| Estimate | White Paper publicly released and national action plan launched September 2008 | The timing variance is three months. The delay of the White Paper release was due to the large number of submissions received through the consultation process and the COAG discussions on the National Affordable Housing Agreement. |
| Actual | White Paper publicly released on 21 December 2008 | |
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Rent Assistance is a non-taxable income supplement payable to eligible Australian residents who rent accommodation in the private rental market. To be eligible for Rent Assistance, a person must first qualify for an income support payment or receive more than the base rate of Family Tax Benefit A and must pay a minimum amount of rent, called the rent threshold.
Rent Assistance complements broader income support objectives by providing supplementary income (recognising the additional cost of private rental housing) and by improving housing affordability.
| Number/proportion of households in bottom two income quintiles paying no more than 30% of gross income in housing payments* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 630,000/64% of recipients | The actual proportion of Commonwealth Rent Assistance customers paying no more than 30% of gross income in housing payments is less than the estimated proportion, mainly as a result of rents having risen by an average of around 7% between June 2008 and June 2009. |
| Actual | 608,814/59% of recipients | |
| Control of incorrect payment and fraud: accuracy of administered outlays (total dollars correctly paid) as measured by the Random Sample Survey | ||
| Estimate | Accuracy of administered outlays is greater than or equal to 95% | The ‘estimate’ is the agreed benchmark between FaHCSIA and Centrelink. The ‘actual’ figure is the estimated accuracy of administered outlays derived from Random Sample Survey data. |
| Actual | 98.1%** | |
* Notwithstanding the title of this indicator, given that household level data and income quintile data are not available, the most meaningful way to report against this indicator is to report the proportion of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance income units paying 30% or less of their income in rent.
** Extrapolated from the data in 2005–06 (98.4%) and in 2006–07 (98.1%).
The Social Housing Subsidy Program is a long-term pilot project that subsidises the recurrent costs of financing additional rental accommodation for low- and moderate-income earners. Under the program, one pilot project operates to expand community housing opportunities in New South Wales.
| Number of dwellings funded to provide rental accommodation to low-income households | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 253 dwellings | No variance. |
| Actual | 253 dwellings | |
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The National Affordable Housing Agreement subsumed the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), including the SAAP Innovation and Investment Fund, from 1 January 2009. This program was jointly funded by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments under the SAAP V Agreement (October 2005 to December 2008).
The program provided crisis accommodation and support to people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. It aimed to help people who were homeless to achieve self-reliance and independence by resolving crises and re-establishing family links and the capacity to live independently. As a consequence of the shortening of the SAAP program to December 2008 and the extensive Green and White paper evaluation process, which included an examination of the functioning of the SAAP, the planned SAAP V program evaluation did not proceed.
Funding to agencies that help the homeless is now provided under the National Affordable Housing Agreement with additional funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness to implement changes in the homelessness sector and mainstream services. From 2008–09 the COAG Reform Council will monitor performance by state and territory governments under the National Affordable Housing Agreement.
| Number of clients assisted annually | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 104,000 | The variance is +21,600 (data is for 2007–08). The increase in client numbers in 2007–08 is due to a number of factors, including an increase in the number of SAAP agencies, changes in economic conditions and also an underestimate of the actual number of clients (118,000) helped in 2006–07. |
| Actual | 125,600 | |
| Percentage of clients who exited SAAP support to independent housing and did not return within six months | ||
| Estimate | 45% | The indicator was reviewed in the light of the changes to SAAP. Due to the complexity of the data and the time required to gather it as a result of the review, none was commissioned. |
| Actual | See variance information | |
| Number of occasions of support | ||
| Estimate | 173,000 | The variance is +47,300. The variance is due to an increase in clients and changes in economic conditions. Data is for 2007–08. |
| Actual | 220,300 | |
Next: Output Group 4.2
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