Accusations Housing ACT inappropriately using emergency line to request property repairs

Housing ACT has been accused of using the State Emergency Services’ hotline to request volunteers carry out property repairs.

A senior member of ACTSES told Region it was common for Canberrans to call the 132 500 line for issues with their homes that weren’t an emergency, no matter what kind of accommodation they lived in.

This can include calling up for repairs outside of emergency weather periods, issues that don’t impose an immediate risk, and issues that would otherwise be carried out by professionals.

They described Housing ACT as one of the “worst” culprits.

When Region approached the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA), a spokesperson explained that volunteers carry out “temporary emergency repairs” to protect homes or businesses and prevent further damage.

“The ACTSES respond to jobs based on a priority basis, not who called first; therefore, crews will respond to the most urgent jobs first,” they said.

This may occur if a tree has fallen on or blocked access to a property or driveway (or is at risk of doing so), if a property is flooded or in danger of flooding, or if a roof is damaged or leaking due to a storm.

The ESA would not confirm if the allegations against Housing ACT were true.

Region sent questions to both the Community Services Directorate (which oversees Housing ACT) and Housing Minister Yvette Berry.

An ACT Government spokesperson said in the event of a weather emergency, Housing ACT’s on-call team worked with ACT Emergency Services to “mitigate risk and prioritise the immediate safety of tenants”.

“Housing ACT appreciates that during severe weather events, there is extensive communications encouraging the community to contact the SES for support,” they said.

“However, it is Housing ACT’s policy that tenants directly contact Housing ACT’s maintenance provider Programmed for assistance with maintenance work.”

More than 53,700 scheduled maintenance works were carried out on Canberra’s public housing properties in the 2023/24 financial year to March 2024, including 23,942 urgent repairs across a portfolio of approximately 11,600 social housing dwellings.

The last ACT Budget included $177 million for Housing ACT to grow, renew and maintain public housing over four years.

$60 million was spent on repairs and maintenance during 2022/23 and $80 million in 2021/22.

Housing ACT maintenance is managed under a Total Facilities Management (TFM) services agreement with Programmed Facility Management.

The company manages, allocates and performs urgent, priority and routine maintenance, and manages a subcontractor workforce of more than 80 businesses within the ACT to get the jobs done.

The government spokesperson said, “Leaking roofs and the removal of overgrown branches are types of maintenance that Housing ACT regularly conducts through our maintenance policy.

“Maintenance affecting the health, safety or essential security of a tenant is considered urgent and is always completed first.”

Urgent ‘make safe repairs’ are expected to be attended to within four hours, priority ‘next day’ jobs are to be seen by 6 pm the following day, priority works are to be completed within five days, and routine repairs are to be completed within 20 days.

The accusations have left the government’s opponents unimpressed.

Shadow Housing Minister Mark Parton said he had also received unconfirmed reports that emergency volunteers were carrying out property repairs on ACT public housing premises. He said if this has been happening, it “doesn’t really surprise me”.

“It is remarkable that the Community Services Directorate is so far behind on its maintenance schedule that it’s expecting volunteers to get the work done,” he said.

“If it’s true that tenants have been given the SES number to call for these jobs, then that is absolutely unforgivable.

“My only defence of the Minister [Yvette Berry] is that she’s so disconnected from what’s happening on a day-to-day basis in this portfolio that she’s probably not even aware of it.”

ACT Greens deputy leader and Housing spokesperson Rebecca Vassarotti said she hadn’t personally heard any reports of Housing ACT misuse of the SES line, but that if it were true, it would be “deeply concerning”.

“It is most definitely not appropriate for failures in housing maintenance to result in calls to volunteer-run emergency services for backup,” she said.

“The ACT Greens have raised significant concerns about the impact of contracted maintenance repairs on the quality of experience for tenants and ongoing building quality of public homes in Canberra.

“For public housing tenants, it’s been clear for a while that outsourced public housing maintenance has failed. Even if repairs happen quickly, they often don’t fix the problem outright.”

She called on all levels of government to “reverse the rot” caused by privatisation and outsourcing work, and for them to take care of issues such as keeping their own public housing stock up to scratch.

If you are a Housing ACT tenant and need maintenance on your property, Programmed can be contacted directly through 6207 1500, texting 0438 100 500 or emailing 62071500@act.gov.au.

More information on lodging maintenance requests can be found on the Community Services Directorate’s website.

Tenants who aren’t satisfied with the maintenance on their homes can send a copy of their complaint to Housing ACT’s Complaints Management Unit at Housing.Complaints@act.gov.au, along with any records they have kept of the maintenance issue and any communication with Programmed.