Question On Notice No. 3142 asked in the Legislative Council on 19 August 2020 by Hon Peter Collier
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Housing
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the Department of Communities concentration of housing in individual suburbs and whether these are being evenly spread across the community, including the suburb of Karawara in the electorate of South Perth, and I ask:
(a) will the Minister advise the percentage of Department of Communities' public housing in the suburb of Karawara;
(b) will the Minister advise the percentage of Department of Communities' public housing in other suburbs of South Perth, Como, Kensington, Manning, Salter Point and Waterford;
(c) will the Minister provide a table to indicate where Karawara sits alongside other Perth metropolitan suburbs with regards to public housing numbers;
(d) will the Minister advise what plans the department has to lower the percentage of Department of Communities' public housing in Karawara; and
(e) is the Minister aware of the significant resources of Western Australia Police being used to assist the Department of Communities to investigate and moderate the anti-social behaviour of tenants who are currently being accommodated in some of its properties?
Answered on 13 October 2020
(a) – (c) The Department of Communities undertakes an annual Market Presence Report which provides data on the number of Department of Communities’ stock as a percentage of the
total number of residential dwellings in Local Government Authorities (LGAs) throughout Western Australia.
The suburbs of South Perth, Como, Kensington, Manning, Salter Point and Waterford fall within the City of South Perth LGA.
As at 30 June 2020, the average percentage of public housing across the City of South Perth LGA is 4.27 per cent.
The Department of Communities only reports on market presence by suburb during Census years. As a result, the most recent data available by suburb is as at the 2016 Census (9 August 2016).
The market presence by suburb for the requested suburbs as at Census 2016 is below:
|
Suburb
|
Density
|
|
Karawara
|
23.98%
|
|
South Perth
|
1.57%
|
|
Como
|
3.45%
|
|
Kensington
|
6.73%
|
|
Manning
|
14.47%
|
|
Salter Point
|
2.80%
|
|
Waterford
|
0.0%
|
The top ten suburbs by percentage of public housing market presence as at the Census 2016 are as follows:
|
Karawara
|
23.98%
|
|
Willagee
|
21.35%
|
|
Ashfield
|
19.28%
|
|
Midvale
|
17.96%
|
|
Brentwood
|
16.00%
|
|
Mirrabooka
|
15.27%
|
|
Bentley
|
14.64%
|
|
Manning
|
14.47%
|
|
Hilton
|
13.99%
|
|
Saint James
|
12.90%
|
(d) There are no current targeted plans to reduce the public housing presence in Karawara. The Department of Communities attempts to ensure a diverse mix of housing is provided that
meets community need.
As properties become vacant, the Department of Communities considers whether the site should be retained for further use or sold.
(e) The vast majority of public housing tenants have no reports of disruptive behaviour made during their tenancies. While disruptive behaviour can and does occur in public housing properties,
it also occurs in private rentals and owner-occupied properties.
The Department of Communities has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Western Australian Police Force that provides for the provision of information sharing during the course of a disruptive
behaviour investigation against a public housing tenancy.