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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 2426 asked in the Legislative Council on 3 September 2019 by Hon Jacqui Boydell

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Housing
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the towns of Broome, Derby, Wyndham, Kununurra, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, and I ask:
(a) will the Minister provide the number of houses in each town owned and/or leased by the Department of Housing annually for the last five years;
(b) on how many occasions in the last 5 years have each of the houses in (a) had noise complaints/disorderly conduct and/or damage complaints lodged against them; and
(c) will the Minister outline what, if any, response came from the Department of Housing on each of the occasions in (b)?

Answered on 15 October 2019

(a) Number of houses in each town:

Public Housing

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Broome

834

879

888

870

883

Derby

301

322

325

324

324

Fitzroy Crossing

53

52

54

54

54

Halls Creek

195

195

212

216

216

Kununurra

297

291

327

326

321

Wyndham

86

86

89

86

82

TOTAL:

1766

1825

1895

1876

1880

 

Community Housing

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Broome

94

94

100

100

100

Derby

3

3

3

4

3

Fitzroy Crossing

1

1

1

1

1

Halls Creek

9

16

16

16

16

Kununurra

38

38

43

44

53

Wyndham

1

1

1

2

2

TOTAL:

146

153

164

167

175

 

GROH

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

 

Owned

Leased

Owned

Leased

Owned

Leased

Owned

Leased

Owned

Leased

Broome

110

405

97

409

86

398

84

392

80

378

Derby

153

117

141

115

141

117

131

124

130

122

Fitzroy Crossing

78

3

78

3

78

3

80

2

81

3

Halls Creek

108

1

107

1

104

0

104

1

104

0

Kununurra

114

146

108

150

92

152

85

158

85

166

Wyndham

40

5

40

4

37

5

36

4

37

4

Sub Total:

603

677

571

682

538

675

520

681

517

673

TOTAL:

1280

1253

1213

1201

1190

 

All Property Types

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

TOTAL:

3192

3231

3272

3244

3245

Please note: Figures are based on data as at end of each financial year (i.e. 2018-19 FY - refers to date as at 30 June 2019).

(b) The Department of Communities (Communities) reports on disruptive behaviour by financial year by region. The towns of Broome, Derby, Wyndham, Kununurra, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing fall within the East Kimberley and West Kimberley regions. Complaints are not broken down by category as complaints may encompass multiple behaviour types including, but not limited to; excessive noise, abusive language, physical violence, trespass and property damage.

Financial Year

Number of Complaints

East Kimberley

West Kimberley

2014-15

181

429

2015-16

136

316

2016-17

224

320

2017-18

236

322

2018-19

218

340

Please note: Complaints Received includes multiple complaints for the one incident and complaints not verified. Complaints Received includes disruptive behaviour & illegal use of premises.

(c) When disruptive behaviour complaints are received, Communities investigates in accordance with its obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 and its Disruptive Behaviour Management Strategy.

As a landlord, Communities must prove an incident has occurred as reported before taking action against a tenant. As part of its investigation, Communities will seek to corroborate complaints with independent witnesses and the WA Police where appropriate. It will also make all efforts to discuss complaints with the tenant and provide the tenant with an opportunity to respond via natural justice.

Should complaints be corroborated, Communities will issue a formal strike against the tenancy, which remains active for a 12-month period. Tenants who receive strikes are linked with supports to assist them in sustaining their tenancy, such as the new Thrive program and, where appropriate, Aboriginal Customer Services Officers.

The Disruptive Behaviour Management Strategy is working to curb disruptive behaviour and sustain tenancies. Once a first strike is issued, there is a significant reduction in tenancies receiving further strikes. This is represented in the data below.

Public Housing Disruptive Behaviour Strikes - Kimberley Regions

Region

Strikes

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

 

East Kimberley

First Strikes

37

31

28

35

39

Second Strikes

22

11

11

8

13

Third Strikes

8

3

5

2

2

 

West Kimberley

First Strikes

78

48

50

47

46

Second Strikes

33

18

13

17

18

Third Strikes

8

8

2

1

6

Please note: Data is subject to revision – backdating may occur as a result of report capture and timing delays.