The Audit Office of New South has conducted a performance report on the NSW social housing system, focusing on whether: 

• Social housing is effectively and efficiently prioritised to meet the needs of ‘vulnerable households’. 
• Social housing tenants are effectively supported to establish and sustain their tenancies. 

The NSW Auditor General report to Parliament was released on 24 June and is available online. For people who have experienced applying for or living in social housing, or who are familiar with the system, its findings are not surprising. 

The report highlights that: 

• The application process is complex and cumbersome, making applications difficult without support services, especially for applicants currently experiencing homelessness or other forms of disadvantage. 
• The allocation process is inefficient. Only 60% of offers are accepted, largely because they do not meet the needs of applicants. And this creates additional administrative burden on both applicants and the Department.  
• DCJ has limited oversight of the support needs of new tenants, and no clear strategy and processes to support tenants to sustain their tenancy. This is particularly concerning given that most new tenancies are allocated to people on the priority list, who often have high and complex needs.  

The report also paints a picture of a system under duress. With long waiting times – over 30% of applicants have been waiting for over five years in 10 out of the 16 DCJ districts – and little chance for people on the general waiting list to ever be offered a social housing home, with 76% of new tenancies being allocated to people on the priority list. And DCJ, due to Client Service Officers extremely high workloads, has limited capacity to identify tenancies that might be at risk early.  

Shelter NSW is strongly supportive of the recommendations made by the NSW Audit Office to simplify the application process to reduce barriers for eligible applicants, review and improve the allocation process, and develop a clear practice framework as well as local collaborative approaches to support tenants to sustain their tenancies. This largely aligns with Shelter NSW analysis and recommendations.  

We are pleased to see that the Department has already accepted the recommendations and committed to implementing them. And we will work to advocate for a better application and offer process, and in-house support and coordination roles similar to the ‘Tasmanian model’. 

Homes NSW can and must become the best landlord in NSW 

The report stops short, however, of making recommendations for increased investment in the social housing system – as this would be outside of its scope. But at Shelter NSW, we are not afraid of saying it. It is because of decades of under-investment and neglect from successive governments that the Department is now left constantly rearranging rationed resources. There is simply not enough social housing to house more people than those in extremely difficult and urgent situations. And while DCJ processes and policies could certainly be improved and streamlined, the Department does not have the adequate funding it needs to properly support tenants and match the right property to the right person.  

In the aftermath of a NSW budget that focused on general private housing supply to solve the housing affordability crisis, we continue to call for ambitious, at scale investment in the social housing system.  

So, we may go beyond a threadbare safety net and provide housing to all of those who need it, not just people who have already gone through the traumatising experience of homelessness. A social housing system good enough that NSW Government can proudly claim that they are the best landlord in NSW, setting a standard for private housing providers and amateur landlords. How good would that be? 

Access the full NSW Social Housing Performance Audit