ARGYLE HOUSING COLLABORATIONS

Argyle Housing and Anglicare working together

Collaboration is key to serving our community better. In 2019, for the first time, Anglicare and Argyle Housing are sharing space in order to meet the needs of the people of the Southern Highlands through combined expertise, all under one roof.

In order to better serve the people of the Southern Highlands regional area, Anglicare decided to close their office in Moss Vale and deliver a more flexible service.

As many Anglicare clients are Argyle Housing tenants, Sandra McCue was provided space within the Bowral office to work alongside Simone Phillips, our Tenancy Action Worker. Working in the Argyle Housing offices three days a week has resulted in better communication between our two organisations and this has benefited Argyle Housing tenants. Sandra and Simone have been able to attend tenant meetings together and assess tenants with their needs in a more-timely manner.

An example of this is where an applicant needs to sign a lease and does not have the full amount to secure a tenancy at an Argyle Housing property. Most applicants will have the two weeks rent but not the two weeks bond that is required. In these cases, Simone can discuss the applicant’s situation and Sandra is able to assess the client to provide two weeks of bond and a quick outcome of approval to start a new tenancy.

For Simone, having Anglicare in the office means being able to go directly to Sandra with a problem and together they can come up with a solution.

Another example of where the two organisations recently worked together was when an elderly tenant had to be re-located urgently due to Domestic Violence in the home. For the safety of our tenant, she had left her property with “just the shirt on her back”. With the help of Anglicare, we were able to provide our tenant with food, food vouchers and toiletries to see her through the night, until permanent support services engaged.

Together, Sandra and Simone have attended the Soul Food Warmers Café in Mittagong to volunteer, sit and have a coffee with mutual tenants to discuss their wellbeing and how we may enhance their lives for the better. This has been successful, as our collaboration has made positive changes for tenants.

Sandra is the organiser of the Emergency Relief meeting which Simone attends every month, and they both attended the interagency meetings and collaborated with local support services to plan the Wingecarribee Community Services Expo 2019. The emergency relief meeting has provided Argyle Housing and Anglicare with the platform to discuss organising a working group to lobby for funding in the Wingecarribee area for hoarding. The Wingecarribee area does not have any kind of support when it comes to helping people to declutter their homes. This is a much-needed service which has been recognised by both organisations so it makes sense that Anglicare and Argyle Housing spearhead this initiative. Homelessness in the region is also a topic being addressed by the emergency relief group.

Simone is currently in discussions with Anglicare regarding their new training programs which they are rolling out that will also benefit Argyle Housing tenants.

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. Argyle Housing embraced the opportunity to be involved through the following activities.

NAIDOC DAY PCYC

The Argyle Housing Young office attended the NAIDOC celebrations at the local PCYC in July. There were approximately 300 participants in the day. On the day there were a number of stalls represented by the Young Community from Health, Welfare, Housing, Aboriginal Services, and Education. Argyle Housing were asked to be a part of the day  and our stall had information on Rent Start Bond Loans, Applications for Housing, Information on Housing Pathways, Looking for Housing, and the Argyle Housing Promise. We had a number of enquiries from the general community and service providers relating to how people can apply for housing. This was an opportunity to introduce our service and what we do and interact with tenants and the general community.

Highlights of the day included participation in a smoking ceremony, Aboriginal children providing entertainment showcasing some Aboriginal dance styles, Aboriginal language, and bush tucker. 

NAIDOC Official Flag Raising Ceremony

Bernadette Welfare and Simone Phillips, Argyle Housing staff members, attended the NAIDOC flag raising at the Wingecarribee Shire Council, Moss Vale in July. In attendance were local community members ranging from Support services, Southern Highlands Police, Council members, local preschools and members from the Ngaran Ngaran Tribe from the South Coast of NSW. The morning started with the Welcome to Country, a smoking ceremony to bless the site followed by Ngaran Ngaran Awareness dancers. Local members of the community raised the four flags with one of the flag bearers being an Argyle Housing tenant, Natalie Murray.

Leggett Park Mural

As part of NAIDOC Week celebrations, Argyle Housing team members were invited by Goulburn Place Plan to the official opening of the Aboriginal Mural at Leggett Park.

The mural was designed and painted by local Aboriginal artist, Aryssa McAlister. Young people from the Goulburn area assisted the artist with the support of Pejar Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Queanbeyan Celebrations 

Our Queanbeyan team participated in the Reconciliation Walk which occurred in May. The event attracted over 2,000 walkers, who walked from the Queens Bridge to Reconciliation Garden. This is a highly regarded local event that attracts Australians from all backgrounds. The walk is a public expression of support for meaningful reconciliation between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The participants from our Queanbeyan office were Judy Boyd, Sally Phillips, and Joan Radford.

Griffith Flag Raising Ceremony

The Griffith Tenancy Action Worker attended the flag raising ceremony of Leeton Shire Council in July 2019.

The Welcome to Country was given by an Elder of the Wiradjuri Country in local language.

Local schools produced artworks to celebrate NAIDOC Week and the 2019 theme of Voice, Treaty, Truth – Let’s work together for a shared future. These artworks were on display for the remainder of NAIDOC Week in the Leeton Visitor Information Centre and the Council Chambers.

Leeton and District Local Aboriginal Land Council also held a Family Fun Day in July 2019 where our Griffith Tenancy Action Worker held an information stall of Argyle Housing services in the Leeton area.

HUMANITARIAN SETTELMENT PROGRAM

Argyle Housing and Red Cross working together

Home can take many forms but leaving a country of birth, often under traumatic circumstances, is a challenge increasing numbers of people are facing worldwide.

The Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP) provides support to refugees and humanitarian entrants into Australia by providing safe housing and building the skills and knowledge they need to become self-reliant, respected and active members of the Australian community. Red Cross partnered with Argyle Housing and won the five year tender to deliver Humanitarian programs. This is the first time that a Community Housing Provider is providing accommodation in partnership with a large multinational company.

The partnership with Red Cross and Argyle Housing is very important for the success of housing security for the incoming entrants into Australia. During 2018/19, the program housed 1,099 individuals or 223 families with Wagga Wagga housing 429 individuals equating to 245.1% increase on the locational Annual Indicative Referral Level (AIRL) for the year.

Arrivals under the HSP are a highly vulnerable cohort of tenants who can very quickly end up in housing stress, have multiple tenancy failures and subsequently end up placing additional pressure on the social housing system to meet their long term housing needs. Argyle Housing and Red Cross understand that this cohort is a particularly resilient, capable and resourceful tenant group and given the right support on arrival they are highly successful in their future tenancies. Our partnership with Red Cross provides safe, affordable housing that allows tenants to learn to manage and source housing within the Australian context for a sustainable housing future independent of the social housing system.

Within the program, Argyle Housing is able to source privately owned properties that are suitable to the incoming entrants before they arrive in Australia. Some of the criteria that needs to be considered are the size of the family, location to services and affordability.

Argyle Housing is then able to support and teach entrants on the best ways to manage their tenancy in a safe and supportive environment, without the repercussions that they may encounter as a tenant in the private market. The private market can leave tenants with life long black marks against their name if they are taken to the tribunal for making mistakes they did not know they were making. In the private market, entrants may encounter multiple tenancies in a short amount of time and this causes a lot of strain on waitlists and affordable housing.

Throughout the HSP, it is known that entrants are very capable and do have a lot of success when they are shown what the expectations of a tenancy are, right from the beginning.

The successful partnership between Red Cross and Argyle Housing is clearly demonstrated when HSP participants leave the program and assimilate into the community and start their own journey in the private housing market.

New home for a new life

Samir Aziz Ali and family, Wollongong NSW

Living in Syria as a Kurdish person was difficult but after 2011, things went from bad to worse. Talking with Samir about his family’s experience he likened being Kurdish in Syria to being a criminal. He explained that the language and practices of the Kurdish people had become political issues and that it was as if his culture was outlawed. His family and his people were deprived of celebrating their beliefs including the Nowruz, an important Ismaili Muslim celebration marking the beginning of a new year and the first day of spring. To have used their Kurdish language outside of the home would be to risk jail.

In pursuit of freedom from persecution for their culture, the Ali family fled to Iraq, where they lived for four years in a refugee camp. It was from Iraq that Samir, who has two children with physical and developmental disabilities, was assisted to come to Australia.

Initially when the Ali family arrived, not a lot of information about the family’s medical requirements was provided to Red Cross and Argyle Housing. Unfortunately, this resulted in the family being housed in a suburb that required multiple buses to access the Wollongong CBD. Continuing to strive for a better life, the family worked hard to source alternate accommodation and found a house in West Wollongong that they felt had the specifications and location that would better meet their needs. Argyle Housing worked with the family to secure this property to sub-lease to the family whilst they are in the Humanitarian Settlement Program.

Samir has said that having a home in Australia means that they are free and that living here you do not experience discrimination. It does not matter whether you were born here or whether you immigrated here, we are all equal. His family, including his youngest daughter who is just four, speak Kurdish at home and in public. They are happy and live quite comfortably. The family also mentioned that they were happy to have received a new oven at their house before the Eid al-Fitr ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast’ holiday so that they could cook their traditional food to celebrate.

According to Samir, the best thing about calling Australia home is everything.

Compliance and registration

Argyle Housing registration and compliance results for 2018-2019

NRSCH Registration – Maintaining Compliance for Growth and Sustainability

Argyle Housing is a Tier 1 Registered Community Housing Organisation under the National Regulatory Scheme for Community Housing (NRSCH) in NSW and the ACT.

The vision of the NRSCH is to ensure a well governed, well managed and viable community housing sector that meets the housing needs of tenants and provides assurance for government and investors.

Argyle Housing has consistently maintained its registration as a Tier 1 Community Housing Provider under the National Regulatory Scheme for Community Housing (NRSCH) in NSW and the ACT.

Working collaboratively and respectfully with the Registrars in both jurisdictions, Argyle Housing has improved services, maintained robust corporate governance, ensured strict probity policies and procedure are in place and remained a financially strong organisation.

The vision of the NRSCH is to ensure a well governed, well managed and viable community housing sector that meets the housing needs of tenants and provides assurance for government and investors. Argyle Housing has been able to leverage its standing in a Tier 1 Provider with government and private investors and to increase the supply of affordable housing in the locations where we work.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Grant applications for our tenants

Argyle Housing – NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission Provisional Registration

Argyle Housing has been successful in obtaining provisional registration with the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission (the Commission).

To obtain this certification, Argyle Housing underwent an in-depth certification process carried out by an authorised external auditor.­ The process involved measuring Argyle Housing’s policies, procedures and practice against a set of standards set by the Commission. Whilst onsite, the auditor spoke with staff and board members, scrutinised policies, procedures and contractor arrangements. Our modification process was reviewed and redacted tenant records checked to ensure best practice.

Overall, Argyle Housing performed very well with only two recommendations to be completed within the next 12 months.

This success follows on from previous registration with the NDIA and will allow Argyle Housing to provide Modification and Tenancy Support to our tenants who have an applicable NDIS package.

In the 2019 Tenant Satisfaction Survey, 61 per cent of the tenants who responded reported that they, or another occupant at the property, lived with a disability. Registration as a Provider with the Commission provides an outstanding opportunity for Argyle Housing to explore how we can use our registration to facilitate better outcomes for our tenants who live with a disability.

All Argyle Housing staff will receive ongoing NDIS training and will be supported to work closely with mainstream disability services to ensure tenants have choice and control over their lives. The NDIS Code of Conduct and the Argyle Housing Code of Ethics and Conduct will guide our service and ensure that at all times people with a disability are respected, listened to and supported to achieve their full potential.

Commonwealth Bank Collaboration

One of the pressing concerns for women as they mature is future financial security and knowledge they will have somewhere to live that is affordable and safe.

CBA Financial Wellbeing for Women

The Commonwealth Bank held their first seminar for Women’s Financial Wellbeing on Tuesday 20 August 2019 at the Mittagong RSL Club. The seminar looked at some of the financial challenges that women face and how to overcome them by providing tools and information to build and maintain financial independence and become financially secure and enhance their wellbeing throughout their lifetime. 

Some of the information provided was about managing day-to-day finances, building savings, being ready for unexpected expenses and how to make financial goals a reality. The CBA women spoke about getting help through financial counselling, saving for life events, loans and retirement. A small group of tenants attended and found the evening to be very useful.