Question – Housing Tasmania Tenants, Modifications & the NDIS
Questions by Hon Meg Webb MLC asked on 16 Oct 2019 answered for the Govt by Hon Roger Jaensch MP Minister for Housing on 20 Nov 2019
Question (1) How many current Housing Tasmania tenants are National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants?
ANSWER: Not all social housing is managed by Housing Tasmania. For example, a large number of Housing Tasmania properties for people with disability are leased from Housing Tasmania and managed by disability support providers. These providers manage tenancy arrangements for their clients and as a result it is not possible to provide an exact figure for the number of NDIS participants who are tenants of Housing Tasmania.
Out of the properties managed by Housing Tasmania, 701 tenants are NDIS participants and there are a further 806 rooms in 273 supported accommodation properties for people in the NDIS. Not all of the 806 rooms will be occupied by people with disability, as a proportion of the rooms will be used by disability support workers or by people with disability who are over the age of 65 and therefore ineligible for the NDIS.
(2) (a) How many Housing Tasmania tenants requested accessibility or disability modifications to their current accommodation in each of the years from 2014-15 to 2018-19?
(b) How many of these requests resulted in modifications being made to the tenant’s property?
(c) How many of these requests were made by a current Housing Tasmania tenant who was also an NDIS participant?
(d) Of the requests made by tenants who were also NDIS participants, how many resulted in modifications being made?
ANSWER: Housing Tasmania modifications are not classified into categories such as ‘disability’ modification. Therefore, it is not possible to separate general modification requests from disability or accessibility modifications.
(3) (a) Under Housing Tasmania policy, what process, other than tenant request, could initiate or trigger accessibility or disability modifications to be made to Housing Tasmania properties?
(b) In how many instances have accessibility or disability modifications been made to Housing Tasmania properties as a result of a process other than tenant request in each of the years from 2014-15 to 2018-19?
ANSWER: A tenant request is the most common source of a request for a modification to a particular property and this must be accompanied by an assessment from an occupational therapist. However, accessibility or disability modifications can arise from the planned maintenance processes such as when –
• additional funding may become available that could be best spent on a related set of modifications – for example, a general upgrade on an ageing property;
• a general review may be conducted of a particular aspect of many properties, such as heating or access issues, which could initiate an upgrade of that particular attribute across a range of properties; or
• a regular inspection of a property could conclude that some aspect of the property is not suitable for the target cohort and it would be upgraded accordingly.
(4) (a) How many Housing Tasmania properties have had accessibility or disability modifications made which were self-financed by the tenant in each of the years from 2014-15 to 2018‑19?
(b) In how many instances were these self-financed modifications made by a tenant who was also a NDIS participant?
ANSWER: Under the current policy, if a request for accessibility or disability modification is assessed as appropriate, it is approved and the work is undertaken by Housing Tasmania. If the modifications are not approved, the tenant would not be able to have the work undertaken in line with the tenant alteration policy and therefore would not be paying for the alterations themselves.
There have been occasions where historical arrangements have allowed for some level of tenancy alteration in the past. However, these requests have been approved on a case-by-case basis for the particular arrangement. Unfortunately, there is no way to identify the number of modifications of this type.
Some minor works are permitted to be undertaken by tenants following approval, such as installing picture hooks and internal painting.
(5) (a) In how many instances were tenants required to remove accessibility or disability modifications they had made to the property when exiting a Housing Tasmania lease in each of the years from 2014-15 to 2018-19?
(b) In how many of these instances were tenants moving to another Housing Tasmania property?
(c) In how many of these instances was the tenant also an NDIS participant?
ANSWER: It is not possible to determine on how many occasions a tenant has been required to return the property to its original state.
(6) (a) How many Housing Tasmania tenants have requested to be moved from one Housing Tasmania property to another due to escalating accessibility or disability needs in each of the years from 2014-15 to 2018-19?
(b) How many requests were made by a tenant who was also an NDIS participant?
(c) How many requests made resulted in a move from one Housing Tasmania property to another?
(d) Where a tenant moved to another Housing Tasmania property due to escalating accessibility or disability needs, in how many instances were modifications made to the property into which the tenant was moving?
ANSWER: The department does not record the request in a way that allows these specific instances to be distinguished from other reasons.
