An Aboriginal organisation representing Indigenous people in 16 communities across Western NSW is pushing for “root and branch reform” in Aboriginal social housing.

The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly says the remote regions – home to more than 10,000 Aboriginal people – have largely failed to benefit from a remote Indigenous housing agreement.

The National Partnership Agreement on Remote indigenous Housing allocated more than $396 million to the NSW government over a ten year period when it was established in 2008.

The Regional Assembly recently conducted a survey of 1400 Aboriginal households across the region.

It found “wildly” varying standards of service delivery, complaints of unresponsive housing managers, deteriorating homes and substandard repairs.

Regional Assembly Chairperson Des Jones says they are pushing to establish a new regional model for social housing with greater Aboriginal control.

 

FEATURED IMAGE ( Serendigity, Flickr)