Indigenous Housing/Accommodation
FaHCSIA is committed to working with other Commonwealth agencies, State, Territory and local governments and Indigenous communities to provide safe, healthy and sustainable housing for Indigenous people.
Each year, FaHCSIA provides funding to help address Indigenous housing disadvantage through the Aboriginal Rental Housing Program (ARHP), which is administered by FaHCSIA under the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement. FaHCSIA has also enhanced its capacity to improve housing and infrastructure for the Aboriginal communities through the Community Housing and Infrastructure Program.
ARHP funding is directed towards construction and purchase of housing, providing essential health-related housing infrastructure, maintenance and upgrading of housing stock, and funding of strategies to enhance the housing management capacity of Indigenous communities (for example, training in asset and tenancy management).
In 1996, Commonwealth, State and Territory housing ministers established the Commonwealth State Working Group on Indigenous Housing to develop practical strategies to improve housing outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
The level of coordination and cooperation within each state and territory and nationally has improved considerably since the Working Group was established. A highlight of this collaboration is the development of the National Framework for the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Indigenous Housing and the National Indigenous Housing Guide. The Guide is a practical tool to help ensure that housing health hardware (the physical infrastructure necessary to keep healthy) is safe, functional and sustainable.
At the Housing Ministers' Conference on 4 May 2001, all Ministers adopted a 10 year statement of new directions, Building a Better Future: Indigenous Housing to 2010, and a new policy of safe, healthy and sustainable housing for Indigenous Australians. Through the partnership of the Commonwealth, States and Territories, FaHCSIA will work to ensure the provision of better housing for Indigenous people, and improved coordination of housing programs and services.
FaHCSIA not only administers a number of Indigenous-specific housing programs but also keeps a focus within mainstream programs on Indigenous services and projects that support communities, families, young people and children. For example, each of the following initiatives funds a number of Indigenous-focused projects: