Improving accommodation with help from Census and ABS data
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and each Census is helping SEARMS Aboriginal Corporation manage how their organisation may best serve the Indigenous community.
Census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is helping SEARMS Aboriginal Corporation provide affordable and culturally appropriate housing for hundreds of people living in properties on the Far South Coast of NSW.
Census data helps Batemans Bay based SEARMS understand the size and nature of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and make critical decisions about best use of the limited housing available. It provides evidence when advocating for an increase in housing options and support services.
SEARMS is an owner/manager of 43 residential and 2 commercial properties in the region. It also manages another 133 properties on behalf of 10 Aboriginal Community controlled organisations and 66 NSW Aboriginal Housing Office properties and is head leasee of 2 properties from private owners.
Most of the tenants in these properties are welfare dependent because employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the area is difficult to secure. On top of that, a lack of public transport options to training and employment adds to the household costs.
Kim Sinclair is CEO of SEARMS.
‘When providing service for our tenants we have to be aware of the official and unofficial occupants,’ Kim said.
’Kinship ties, responsibilities and expectations often leads to overcrowding and temporary structures. This adds more stress on the household and wear and tear on the property’.
‘Tenants are housed – from cradle to grave – including many with poor health as well as a high percentage suffering from a range of health conditions that require other professional support services.’
Kim said that officially there are on average about 4 occupants in each property but that the number is likely to be higher.
This overcrowding exacerbates existing health related problems in the community. Housing design is also an issue. It must reflect the health issues and family composition of the tenants.
When there is enough properly designed places to live there is a payoff in health and socio-economic outcomes.
The number of people dependent on SEARMS to assist them to sustain their tenancies, or find suitable housing is considerable. When you add the complications created by loss and damage of existing housing due to the recent fires on the South Coast, the difficulties in managing the portfolio are obvious to see.
‘The data sets lets us know where social housing stock is located to compare it Aboriginal households in the area and our own demand data,’ Kim said.
‘It allows us to focus our growth on areas currently within our geographical region (local ties and knowledge). Increasing in scale will not only improve our financial viability it will also enhance our ability to recruit, train and retain a professional Aboriginal workforce.’
Census data helps SEARMS know what is needed now and into the future.
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The Australian Government recognises that housing is the cornerstone to a range of positive economic and social outcomes. It works closely with state and territory governments – who are primarily responsible for housing in Australia – to deliver better housing outcomes for Indigenous Australians.