Reconciliation Action Plan

Argyle Housing Journey to Reconciliation

In early 2022 Argyle Housing embarked on the development of an Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). This RAP will run for two years through 2023-24 and outlines actions and goals for achieving Argyle Housing’s vision for reconciliation.

The Innovate RAP is a logical continuation of Argyle Housing’s Reconciliation journey and builds on the achievements and outcomes of the previous Reflect RAP. Choosing to develop an Innovate RAP will provide tangible actions and goals with a focus on developing and strengthening relationships with First Nations peoples, engaging staff and stakeholders in reconciliation, and developing and piloting innovative strategies to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

At the date of this annual report there have been three RAP Working Group workshops including an all staff (including Board members) workshop in May 2022 facilitated by Alfie Walker, a First Nations educator and storyteller. The all staff day was a real journey for all attending as we explored how reconciliation can be a part of everyday business and how we can celebrate our shared histories, culture and diversity through mutual respect and empowering self-determination amongst our First Nations peoples.

At Argyle Housing we are committed to advocate, support and build a better future to deliver quality social and affordable housing options in partnership with our First Nations communities. We believe that reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility.

Working towards an Innovate RAP

Vision Statement

Our vision for reconciliation, and everyday business, is to celebrate our shared histories, culture and diversity through mutual respect and empowering self-determination amongst our First Nations Peoples. We value change, inclusivity, and respect all our differences on our journey to equality.
We are committed to advocate, support and build a better future to deliver quality social and affordable housing options in partnership with our First Nations communities. We believe that reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility.

RAP Relationships Statement

Argyle Housing believes that investing, building, and sustaining relationships with First Nations peoples is everyone’s responsibility. We commit to building relationships with people; valuing and celebrating shared histories, culture and diversity. Through celebrating our shared histories, we foster a culture of mutual respect, curiosity, shared resources and understanding each person’s unique perspective and journey.

RAP Respect Statement

Through being curious and courageous around embedding First Nations traditions, protocols, customs, and connection to Country into everyday business, we will create a One Argyle of respect and inclusion through a shared journey of healing. This model of respect and trust informs our decision making, relationships and our service delivery. (We value treating each person with dignity, building trust and being open minded in our approach to decision making, relationships and service delivery)

RAP Opportunities Statement

As One Argyle we will provide, promote and empower opportunities for First Nations people and businesses to enrich our business, communities, and the economy. We will partner with First Nations peoples and providers with the goal to strengthen self-determination and close the gap in educational, employment, health, and housing outcomes.

Justin Nyholm Update

Milan Ostojic

Staffing

During 2021-22 FY the Assets Team had several Staff changes.

We welcomed Suzannah Ritchie (Maintenance Coordinators), Michael Maldonado (Maintenance and Assets Manager), Jamie Berriman (Maintenance Officer) and Tamara Woodward (CHIA Cadet) to our Team. Suzannah left the industrial sound-proofing industry and Michael was managing large industrial and complex facilities. Both enjoy working closer to home. Jamie had his own small business and enjoyed being part of a bigger Team. We welcome all our new people and feel lucky they have chosen to work for Argyle Housing. As a part of the organisational redesign and Strategic Plan we undertook changes to the Executive structure creating greater opportunity to focus on a One Argyle approach to service delivery Combining the Housing Services Manager and Property and Asset Services Manager positions into a combined General Manager Operations role. In addition, was the creation of a new role of General Manager Asset Management and Growth. This role will see a strategic focus on the management of our assets and a dedicated resource to developing new projects and opportunities for our business to grow.

After four years as our Property and Asset Services Manager, Justin Nyholm left Argyle Housing to pursue a long-term personal goal in business. We thank Justin for his hard work and wish him all the best.

Appointed to the position of GM Operations is Milan Ostojic.

Milan has over 18 years of experience in the community housing and real estate sectors, including over 15 years in senior leadership positions. Skilled in Non-profit Organisations, Budgeting, Government, Social Housing, and Team Building. Strong professional graduate in Project Management. Experience in managing integrated teams comprising frontline business operations, tenancy management, support coordination and place-making in SGCH’s operation. Possessing expertise in the areas of project and contract management, Assets and compliance, strategic partnership management, consortium building, and community engagement and participation to deliver exceptional customer service, strong operational and compliance results, and outcomes contributing to customer wellbeing.

Client engagement

A couple of major changes were implemented by the Assets Team during the year, starting with a new Works Management System known as Maintenance Manager being implemented. This new system enables improved text and email communication with both our Clients and Contractors, with Clients having the opportunity to confirm works are complete and rate the Contractors performance. The new system automates some formerly complex processes and enable our Contractors to directly upload before and after photos of their work and raise new issues within the system.

In addition, anyone that has called us with a Maintenace Request since Easter will know that we are now taking and logging all Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) calls in a central location as a part of our organisational redesign and informed by feedback from our Clients on how we could improve our service in this area. This change allows us to engage in a more detailed and technical conversations with our Clients regarding their R&M needs, ensure all the required information is captured into the system and the Team that need to review these requests are better informed to triage and action them. Now when calling Argyle Housing with an R&M issues, press 1 and you will be greeted with one of our friendly Team members ready to help you!

Housing

Argyle Housing have progressed or completed several major projects in the past year that have, or will, provide more housing for our Clients. These projects include:

Young

At Miro Street in Young NSW we purchased and renovated six, two-bedroom units for use as Affordable Housing. This is the first time Affordable Housing has been available in Young and it have been well received by our new Clients. The total project value on this was $1.5m.

In addition, Argyle Housing worked with NSW Land & Housing Corporation for them to plan and have a re-development of an older fire damaged bedsit complex at 8 Gordon Street, Young. This project is projected to be finished by early 2023 and will replace the eight bedsits with four new villas.

Yass

Argyle Housing sought and received agreement to purchase a large development site from NSW Land & Housing Corporation in the first half of the year and in the second half of the year sought partners to develop the site as a mix of private and Affordable Housing.

Griffith

Argyle Housing and Griffith City Council continue to progress the Building Better Regions Griffin Green Project. During the first half of the year, Council undertook the part of the required road and infrastructure works and Argyle Housing obtained Development Consent and a building contractor for the 20 Affordable Housing Townhouses. In the second half of the year, more detailed planning and approvals were obtained, and JOSS commenced the construction works. This project is planned for completion in mid 2023. In addition, Argyle Housing obtained a Development Consent for a proposed Community Hub as part of the Griffin Green Project and at the end of the year final designs were being completed ready for tender.

We have been able to progress our project to deliver four Affordable Housing Townhouses on the corner of Wakaden and Crossing Street’s after an extensive process to find a design and builder that can be economically delivered. We hope to have this completed with the next year.

Queanbeyan

With the support for NSW Department of Communities & Justice and utilising surplus funds from our CHLP Program, Argyle Housing were able to purchase two units in Queanbeyan later in the year for use as Social Housing.

CHIF

Argyle Housing were advised that we were successful in receiving $2.6m in funding from NSW Department of Communities & Justice under their Community Housing Innovation Fund towards a mixed Social & Affordable Housing project we were planning on purchasing in Goulburn. Unfortunately, in February the Developer withdrew from the project and Argyle Housing are now planning on delivering this project by the required deadline of 31st December 2022 in Southwestern Sydney.

Other

Argyle Housing also progressed a number of other projects in various areas (e.g. Wagga, Picton, Temora) that will help ensure an ongoing pipeline of new housing opportunities.

Market Street Goulburn

Market Street Goulburn

Our Goulburn office has officially moved onsite to Market Street, Goulburn. Market Street Lodge is a privately owned 38 room Boarding House located in the Goulburn CBD. This is an exciting opportunity for Argyle Housing to manage an essential service to those in the highest need in Goulburn, to work more closely with local service providers on improving outcomes to individuals with barriers to long term housing. A big thank you to Renetta who has been working tirelessly on this project.

The service will be delivering accommodation to men and women who are sleeping rough, experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

“Argyle Housing welcomed the opportunity to re-introduce this much needed accommodation to the men and women of Goulburn who are looking for a warm place to stay.”

“The facilities have been refurbished and Argyle Housing now has a permanent office within Market Street Lodge. This will ensure that our Staff can take referrals for accommodation and ensure that Clients are supported to achieve their housing goals”, said Carolyn Doherty.

Griffin Green Sod Turning Ceremony

To cleanse the ground and welcome the new Griffin Green Affordable Housing development to Griffith, local Wiradjuri People performed a welcome to country and smoking ceremony.

Griffith City Council members and Lord Mayor, Argyle Housing executives and residents from Pioneer Village were all in attendance. The ceremony was a wonderful opportunity to bring the community together to celebrate the creation of this new housing project.

Griffin Green Partnership

About the project

The Griffin Green Affordable Housing Project will create 20 new medium density affordable rental housing units and 42 new housing lots in South Griffith.
The site is close to the Griffith city centre, and the development will include a full basketball court, playground, park and new community centre. Cul de sac roadways are being connected to improve access through the neighbourhood.

Ten percent of the affordable rental dwellings will be prioritised for First Nation key workers. The 42 housing lots will be a mix of affordable homes to purchase, through shared equity schemes and other options to provide housing for key workers.

How the project began

The working relationship between Argyle Housing and Griffith City Council began with the development of Council’s Local Housing Strategy.

Griffith City Council had become increasingly aware of the housing shortage in the region, particularly for key workers, with seasonal fruit workers, health workers and others finding it hard to secure and afford suitable housing. Council was motivated to address the need for affordable housing through its housing strategy and engaged closely with Argyle Housing to identify opportunities for innovative projects.

Griffith City Council knew of Argyle Housing as the local Community Housing Provider, and through their advocacy to Council on housing affordability issues in the area.
Council identified an underutilised portion of land, Dave Taylor Park, owned by the state government. Council purchased the land and, with Argyle Housing’s support, placed a bid for funding from the Commonwealth Government Building Better Regions Fund.

Roles and contributions

Affordable and social housing projects are generally not financially viable without some level of subsidy. Contributions or concessions may come from a range of sources. The project has been made possible through four funding sources:

• The Commonwealth Government provided $6 million through the Building Better Regions Fund.
• Griffith City Council provided $3.1 million which included the cost of purchasing the land, which will be sold to Argyle Housing.
• Argyle Housing provided $3.1 million.
• Argyle Housing is building a Community Hub.

Griffith City Council is the consent authority. Project construction, including expenses and variations, is being managed through a project control group led by Griffith City Council and Argyle Housing, along with the architect, builder and civil contractor. Once the civil works are completed, the title of the 42 serviced lots will transfer to Argyle Housing for residential development. Argyle Housing is working on a plan for these lots which will include the sale of some lots, with a covenant requiring build commencement within a fixed term to prevent land banking. These sales will fund the building of additional affordable housing on the remaining lots.

Community education and training

Argyle Housing is conscious of the lack of contractors in the building trades in regions, causing additional concern for housing supply and affordability. As an adjunct to Griffin Green, Argyle Housing has been working closely with TAFE to develop a skills-based training program aimed at training young people in the Griffith community to work in construction. Argyle Housing is exploring the use of one of the housing lots for a TAFE project allowing students to get experience in the trades.

Ongoing management

Argyle Housing and Griffith City Council spent a lot of time jointly working with the local community to address concerns about the loss of the existing basketball court and community centre on the site. As a result, Argyle Housing is funding and gifting to Council a new basketball court and Community Hub which Argyle Housing will manage. Argyle Housing will open an office in the Community Hub, to remain part of the community.
At the completion of works, the 20 affordable townhouses at Griffin Green will be owned by Argyle Housing and rented as affordable rental housing for a minimum of 10 years. This will likely run for a longer period, if not in perpetuity.

Council will remain involved at Griffin Green through maintaining the new basketball court and public park. This will be a vibrant space with a particular focus on an Indigenous interpretation garden and play equipment with ease of access for the existing and new community.

Future opportunities

The success of the Griffin Green project has led to further opportunities for Council and the Community Housing Provider to work together. Council has gifted Argyle Housing a block of Council-owned land close to the Griffith CBD, on which Argyle Housing will be building a further four affordable dwellings in the next 12 months. The land is situated next to an emergency services precinct and was not necessarily something appealing to a private developer – but Argyle Housing sees it as an opportunity to increase affordable housing close to the city centre.

Griffith City Council offers a range of other incentives for affordable housing supply in the region, including waiving Section 11 and Section 12 contributions for affordable housing developments and waiving Development Application fees for secondary dwellings.

“Griffin Green shows that Councils can be incredibly responsive, creative and innovative in meeting the needs of their communities. We are incredibly grateful to the Griffith City Council Team for its commitment and willingness to look outside the box and do something positive for the community.” Carolyn Doherty, CEO Argyle Housing.

Eventide

Eventide Homes
Argyle Housing Update & Submission to Leeton Shire Council
FY22 – presented August 2022

Eventide Homes Background

Located in Binya Street Yanco, Eventide Homes is a facility that provides low-cost housing to older community members. The complex is owned by Leeton Shire Council and comprises of 14 x 1-bedroom units. The complex was constructed in several stages, commencing in 1973 with the final units being completed 1996. The complex consists of seven individual buildings of brick and tile construction and there are two units per building.

The Eventide Homes complex is well located within 6.5km or 8 minutes to the central business hub in Leeton.

In 2015, Leeton Shire Council, by way of a formal Management Agreement, engaged with Argyle Housing to undertake the tenancy management and facilities maintenance responsibilities of the Eventide Homes complex.

At the time the complex was in a poor state of dis-repair, and it was agreed that Council would put aside funding for the undertaking of urgent repairs, backlog maintenance and upgrade works. Whilst urgent repairs and maintenance has been undertaken, upgrade works continue to ensure the units meet the current social housing standards and provide the Client with a home that is safe, functional, and comfortable.

Upgrade works and planned Client Activities were interrupted for the best part of 2020 – 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the uncompleted projects form part of those proposed for FY21-22.

This Update and Submission is to provide Leeton Council with an update on the asset – what works were completed (pre-pandemic) and what works are recommended (including estimated costs) for the upcoming year.

Eventide Homes BBQ

Leeton Council hosted a BBQ meet and greet with the Clients of Eventide homes.

This was well received with eight Clients attending, some of these Clients were happy and proud to take some of the council members through their homes.

The BBQ was attended by Councillors Michelle Evans, Melissa Seymour and Jackie Kruger. Argyle Housing CEO Carolyn Doherty and Tenancy Officer Jenny Chapman.

At the BBQ Clients raised some maintenance issues regarding large trees and flooding of the driveways, causing some mobility issues. Council has since rectified these issues and Clients have advised that they are incredibly happy with all the work done by Council.

Common Ground Gungahlin, Conder

Staffing

• Tenancy Officer appointed to role to of Site Manager, November 2021
• Administrative Support role added, January 2022
• Fire Warden Training Goulburn, February 2022
• NCAT – Understanding the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, March 2022
• OneLink Evaluation Workshop, March 2022
• Administrative Support role removed, June 2022
• National Homelessness Conference, August 2022

Client Engagement

A COVID care package drop – packages for Clients isolated during the Canberra lockdown period consisting of games and activities, food items, relevant COVID information and services available.

A COVID Vaccine mobile clinic was arranged collaboratively with Northside Community Service Support Service and available to unvaccinated Common Ground Clients and Staff.

The COVID Vaccine mobile clinic was available to for those Clients and Staff that required their second dose.

The establishment of the Common Ground Community Facebook Group (with Northside Community Service) was created solely for Clients and support services as another means of communication during lockdown and COVID isolation.

The regeneration of a weekly Common Ground Breakfast was a great success and has created a regular event for Client interactions. Focusing on Client involvement, invited guests from Rotary and Northside Community Service (NCS) came along to contribute towards cooking and provide provisions. Argyle Housing and NCS take turns funding each week.

Common Ground Spring Clean day February 2022

An invitation was sent to Clients for their assistance in helping to tidy up gardens, spring clean their units and dispose of any bulky waste. This was a Client initiated request and was well attended and appreciated.

Common Ground Community Garden volunteer program

Established in collaboration with Northside Community Service, volunteers were organised each week to provide support for Common Ground Clients and to provide garden care throughout the complex.

Quit Smoking Seminar

In August 2022, Northside Community Service organised a Quit Smoking seminar for our Clients to educate them on the benefits of giving up smoking. They were given the opportunity to ask questions and also shown ways and given the tools to assist them in their journey to better health.

Client meeting/dinner, quarterly 2022

Client meetings were re-established after the COVID lockdown with a focus on positive and productive talks, information sharing and receiving, and which were followed by a community dinner. The community dinner was created with Client involvement utilising community space.

NAIDOC week Art Grant for Mural – completed June 2022

Local Aboriginal artist Linda Huddleston and business partner Greg Joseph were commissioned for a piece in the foyer of Common Ground to celebrate NAIDOC Week representing Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people coming together as one. Clients and Staff were invited to provide handprints to be included in the piece.

Conder

Garden and Community Care Volunteer Team established in June 2022 with Clients taking pride in their village are acknowledged for their hard work and commitment to making their space a better place. Subsidised rents were offered as incentive for their involvement.

In January this year, regular (average eight weekly) Client Meetings were re-established after COVID lockdown, where Clients are invited to join with Staff for a morning/afternoon tea to share ideas and talk about future village plans. Our Resident Liaison Officer arranges guest speakers who offer Clients information and education around important and relevant matters such as Legal Aid and ADACAS Advocacy services.

Argyle Housing Assets Team Site Visit / Morning Tea and Coffee Van, March 2022

Clients were invited to attend a morning Question and Answer session with the Assets Team. This was a great platform for Clients to express their concerns directly to the Assets Team and has certainly given the Conder Clients some guarantees around getting their Repairs and Maintenance jobs completed.

Conder Community Christmas in July at Dickson Tradies Club

Clients were invited to join Staff for a special lunch provided by Argyle Housing at the Dickson Tradies Club. Clients were involved in the selection and planning of the day, and they are already talking about the next one!

Projects undertaken

COMMON GROUND/CONDER

• NAIDOC week Art Grant for Mural – completed June 2022
• Good works Garden collaboration with Vinnies

Support Services

COMMON GROUND

• Support service Northside Community Services
• Flourish Cancer Council (Quit Smoking Seminar)
• Helping ACT (Community Pantry)
• Housing ACT, several visits to Common Ground for information sharing sessions for Common Ground Dickson planning

CONDER

• Legal Aid ADACAS
• Advocacy Capital Region Community Services Annecto
• Community Connections

Other

• New Blinds at Common Ground 50% installed, 25% waiting on delivery and install and 25% still to quote
• Conder lock upgrade to all units

Southern Region

Staffing

Staff in the Southern Region of the Operations Team have all successfully completed training with Community Links Holistic Housing Support. The training provided key elements to holistic care and support for Clients with resources included to be able to make referrals and understand some of the challenges that some of our Clients may face every day. Topics included understanding mental illness, hoarding and squalor, identifying family and domestic violence, mandatory reporting, alcohol and other drugs, addictions including AOD and gambling, self-care, burn out and risk assessment.

Staff from the ACT have attended the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Homelessness Conference in Canberra with the emphasis of the conference around Affordable Housing in Australia.

Staff from multiple areas across the Southern Region have been selected to represent the organisation as the nominated Fire Wardens, HSR Reps and First Aid Officers. Training has continued throughout the year to ensure Staff hold current certifications in which their title relies.

The organisational realignment has seen many changes to the staffing numbers across the Southern Region. The flexibility from Argyle Housing to allow Staff choice to provide expression of interest in key roles throughout the Teams has seen a significant change in the types of roles undertaken in the Southern Area, as many Staff have been awarded their selection to be in some of the newly assigned Teams. We have welcomed two new Staff to the Southern Region. Tayla Basei is the new Client Support Specialists for Griffith and Bernadette Fanning is the new Client Support Specialist for Young.

Staffing Performance highlights should be mentioned for Luisa Smart in Griffith who has worked tirelessly to assist in the transition of the realignment. Luisa is now the sole Administration Officer for the Griffith, Young, Wagga areas and has been instrumental in assisting new Staff and leads in their roles and taking on workloads outside of her comfort zone.

Corinne Sydes from the Young Team has successfully completed her training in NCAT and was an active participant in the RAP group for Argyle Housing. Corinne has been assisting in the onboarding of the new CSS Staff person for the Young area.

Garth Barrett has been an essential and reliable source of knowledge for our new CSS Team and has provided much needed relief in the Wagga office during Staff shortages. Garth has also assisted in the hand over from CSS to Transitions Team with mentoring for our new CSS.

Jaime Grant has worked tirelessly to provide support to the Southern Team and is a continued presence for the Young Office to assist with training, hand over and ongoing mentoring. Jaime also participated in the Homelessness Sleep Count alongside the Young Crisis Centre.

We thank all of the Staff who have assisted the Southern Team during this transition phase of the realignment.

Client Engagement

The Southern Teams have maintained contact with our Clients as much as possible during the year, and with the lifting of restrictions we have seen more of our Clients in the office popping in to say hello and resume their usual daily business.

Resident Liaison Officer, ACT organises a monthly resident engagement BBQ at Ainslie Village where several service providers like ADACAS, Community Options, Legal Aid, Night patrol Team, Social Worker from ACT Health, City mental health, etc. to name few, attend the event. It provides a window of opportunities for residents of Ainslie Village to engage with services and the Staff in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) also assists the Site Manager of Conder to organise a monthly Client meeting for our senior Clients at Conder. During such meetings, RLO invites a guest speaker from services relevant to the age group to educate/discuss different services they can avail of. Argyle Housing also organises events like Coffee and conversation gathering where a coffee van is hired, Clients can come and catch up with other Clients and Staff over a free coffee about their tenancy, maintenance issues, etc. Argyle Housing hosts a Christmas lunch and BBQ every year Argyle Housing hosts a Christmas lunch and BBQ to all the Clients and Residents in the ACT.

Client News

The Southern Team are happy to report that many Clients have secured employment following the many job losses during COVID.

Young Clients have been successful in working with Support Providers to obtain packages of care from the NDIS which will allow them more independence in their own homes with the engagement of local providers to supply in-home supports and modifications that have been approved by Argyle Housing.

A long-term Client from the Young region was successful in obtaining full time employment after more than a decade of raising children and unemployment. This Client was very proud to notify Argyle Housing of her news and Staff were delighted to share her excitement and congratulate the family.

A Together Home Program Wagga Wagga Client has successfully transitioned out of social housing and into the private rental market thanks to the assistance of CSS Lachlan Davis, Marathon Health and Young Staff.

Similarly, in Griffith, a Youth Headleasing Client has successfully transitioned into a private rental following supports from the Griffith Team and support provider LCN. Her former property will now house another Youth Headleasing Client who is currently on the waiting list.

Projects undertaken

Ainslie Lodge started as a pilot project for single men aged over 18 years sleeping rough in ACT in May 2022. Since commencement, Ainslie Lodge have housed more than 650 Clients and more than 110 Clients transitioned into longer term accommodation within the Ainslie Village, shared private rental and other community housing. More than 90% out of 110 Clients transitioned into Ainslie Village.

The Good Works Garden in Fyshwick has commenced works to build a Community Garden. Volunteers from Common Ground and Ainslie Village will be participating in the maintenance of the garden where all the produce will be available to the community and also to supply Ainslie Village Blue Door with fresh produce to supply to the residents. Sod Turning ceremonies are scheduled in Spring.

Support Services

Marathon Health in Wagga Wagga have played key roles in supporting our Together Home Program participants. With the assistance of our CSS Lachlan, we have successfully completed the process of exiting Tranche 1 participants with many of them securing either Social Housing placement or being able to transfer the lease from a leasehold property into their own agreement.

The Youth Accommodation Support Services in Griffith is at capacity and performing well alongside support agency Linking Communities Network (LCN). There has been successful transition of tenancies from leasehold properties with Clients able to support their own tenancies after intensive coordination from LCN.

The Youth Headleasing and Support Program for Wagga Wagga and Albury will require extra time to fulfill their goals. With the current rental crisis being experienced across the state, Wagga Wagga and Albury have seen huge impacts being reflected upon the Youth Headleasing program. The primary cause of this is Staff and leasehold shortages.

Thursdays at Ainslie Village is a busy day. Directions Health visits Ainslie Village with a mobile clinic with a nurse and a GP to assist the Residents of Ainslie Village. They provide non-emergency medical assistance, which is bulk billed, providing an essential service to the residents. AOD service is also available through Directions Health every Thursday.

Since July 2022, a Psychiatrist from Directions Health visits Ainslie Village once a month provides assessments, advice, and short-term treatment.

CAHMA outreach BBQ group visits Ainslie Village fortnightly on Thursday to educate the residents on AOD related issues and supports.

Legal Aid also provides legal advice and referrals to relevant legal services to Ainslie Village residents. They visit Ainslie Village fortnightly on Thursdays.

Blue Door at Ainslie Village continues to provide fantastic service to Ainslie Residents and community Clients who are seeking a warm meal. Paul and his Team are able to provide Residents with referrals to additional external supports within the ACT area. The Blue Door Team will be participating in our upcoming Emergency evacuation Drills onsite at Ainslie Village as they form part of our broader Ainslie Community and contingency plans.

Young Argyle Housing and Margaret House are working in collaboration to provide housing for Clients escaping domestic violence or who find themselves homeless due to crisis.

Other

The Southern Team have seen a number of our valued Clients pass away in the last 12 months. We would like to pay our respects to them and their families. We care about our Clients and feel their losses. Each and every one has brought something into our lives, and we remember them and their stories.

Northern Region

Bowral

Support Services

The Bowral Argyle Housing Team, work collaboratively in partnership with St Vincent de Paul’s in an outreach capacity from the Bowral office. This service is vital in assisting our Clients with early intervention when people are at risk of homelessness by providing referrals to financial counselling, arrears brokerage, meal and electricity vouchers. They are a fabulous service with a focus of sustaining our Client tenancies.

The Argyle Housing Team at Bowral are proud to be a part of the Youth Transitional Housing program in collaboration with St Vinnies Homelessness and Housing Services. The Program aims to support young people and young people escaping family domestic violence from the Southern Highlands into secure accommodation with appropriate supports in place.

Community Connections

Every Tuesday in the Bowral office, an Anglicare Senior Caseworker attends our Argyle Housing office at Bowral in an outreach capacity. They work alongside our Clients when they are at risk of losing their homes by providing referrals to financial counselling, arrears brokerage, meal and electricity vouchers. Having Anglicare on site is a valuable resource for our Clients, who find their support service welcoming and easy to relate to.

Community room in Moss Vale Highlands Community Centres INC

Program name – My Life My Dreams 2022

Run by a community worker, our Clients meet in a community room on a regular basis. Outcomes from the program include participation in the workforce and volunteering, better relationships with family and friends, greater understanding of and access to services, and improved mental and physical health. This is a valuable service for our Clients who have really grown since being a part of this amazing program.
Nicole Blaik who runs the program, recently wrote thanking Argyle Housing for the access to the meeting space in the Railway Street Complex.

Campbelltown

Staffing

Training with Community Links

All Operation Staff were invited to attend the training with Community Links. This was an amazing opportunity for our Staff to gain a better understanding of different mental health diagnosis in order for us to understand how we can provide a trauma informed service to our Clients experiencing mental health issues.

Client Engagement

NAIDOC Week (National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee) occurs annually in July, and celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year the theme was Get up! Stand up! Show up!
The Argyle Housing Team at Campbelltown held an event for Clients and Staff to attend. Lucky door prices were won, poetry was read, fantastic artwork was displayed and community connections were made, all in the spirit of NAIDOC Week.

Projects undertaken

The Campbelltown Argyle Housing Team are proud to be a part of the program that is a key initiative of the Premier’s Priority to halve street homelessness by 2025. The Together Home Program (THP) funded by the NSW government, aims to support rough sleepers across NSW into secure accommodation with service support in place. Argyle Housing works closely in partnership with Uniting Care to achieve this. Since the program started, we have housed a range of people into long term housing.

Argyle Housing is proud to be contributing to the Premier’s Youth Initiative (PYI). PYI is a support service for young people leaving out-of-home care, who are identified as being vulnerable to experiencing homelessness on exit from care. The Campbelltown Team work closely in partnership with Anglicare and have achieved many successful outcomes for young people.

Housing

• Picking up 43 properties from DCJ
• Completed Claymore redevelopment stage 4
• Looking at buying 6 units in Campbelltown- Camden LGA
• Looking to buy a unit with PYI

Support Services

• THP 1 is wrapping up and we have been able to sustain 10 tenancies
• WE ARE COMMUNITY – hampers provide to our Clients that are most in need. Fabulous service!
• Morning tea in our office with Clients and support workers
• School holiday colouring competition in September

Community Connections

• Value Learning and Employment Working Group
• CLAYMORE FUSION: Supporting Claymore Families
• CLAYMORE FUSION: Steering Committee

Rent Services

Staffing

The Rent Services Team has been developed as part to the Argyle Housing Staff realignment. The Team was previously the Rent Review Team. The new Team that has been developed now deals with all financial aspects of the tenancy, including rent review, rent arrears and non-rent debt. We also assess eligibility for affordable properties, complete money movements and other tasks relating to Client rent accounts. The Staff realignment was a wonderful opportunity to bring all the Client’s rental needs under the one Team so that they could be directly accountable for all issues that may occur regarding a Client’s rent, and to assist in sustaining tenancies under financial stress.

The Rent Services Team is made up of:

Jenny Chapman – Rent Services Lead
Dawn Nixon – Senior Rent Services Specialist
Cathy Lowden – Rent Services Specialist
Natalie Barnett – Rent Services Specialist
Bethany Mifsud – Rent Services Specialist
Jade Pawlisz – Rent Services Specialist

Housing Access Team

Staffing

• July 1st marked the expansion and renaming of the Team.
• The Access and Demand Team will now be known as the Housing Access Team – HAT
• We have doubled in size with three new Staff joining the Team.
• We now have three Staff sitting in the Bowral Office – Bernie, Rachel and Nicole
• Tony, Alana and Julie are now located in the Campbelltown Office along with the Teams Administration Officer, Rachel.

Our role has also grown, with us now focusing not only on the allocation of properties to Clients off the Social Housing waiting list but also the lease sign up and handover to Argyle Housing Client Support Teams across all regions.

This has led to some in-depth training being carried out and a sharing of knowledge within the Team. Team members have been mentoring each other with their individual skills sets and learning from each other. I am extremely proud of the Teamwork and enthusiasm shown for our new Team and its new responsibilities.

The Team housed approximately 180 Clients, some single some families, across the 21-22 financial year. Of which 51 were at the time, experiencing homelessness.

Client News

As Team Leader, my highlight would have to be the assistance my Team gave to the Campbelltown Tenancy Team, in relocating some 43 Clients from the Claymore area due to the area’s redevelopment by Land & Housing Corporation. This involved in-depth interviews with each Client around their eligibility, needs and concerns. We then processed all transfer applications onto the Social Housing waiting list. We monitored and recorded all Clients until their moves were completed. A call out to Bernadette welfare, for her hard work throughout this project.

Support Services

The Team have been attending Domestic Violence meetings and Interagency meetings throughout the year. We have attended several agency Staff meetings to exchange information and better understand each other’s roles. This has led to better outcomes for our mutual Clients.

Community Connections

Due to COVID rearing its head again recently, events have been on hold for much of the year. The Team is looking forward to getting back there, wherever and whenever we can.

Other

The Team members here in the Campbelltown office are excited about our upcoming move to a new office space in Gregory Hills, in the greater Macarthur region, in November.

Transition Team

Staffing

The Transitions Team is a brand-new Team which has been created to manage end of tenancies and Tribunal matters for all of NSW. As luck would have it, all of the Team members from Young have moved into Transitions, maintaining the strong relationship within the office and providing consistency for management of these matters. Jaime Grant is the Lead of the Team, with Garth Barrett (former Tenancy Officer) moving into the specialist role and Corinne Sydes (former Administration Officer) taking a step up to become a specialist as well. Corinne is about to complete her NCAT training in order to become delegated for the organisation.

All of the Team members bring something special to the table and are positive and willing to make the changes work. Our goal is to attempt to sustain tenancies wherever possible for the best outcome for our Client and colleagues alike.

Client Engagement

Our goal is to sustain tenancies whilst utilising the NCAT process, and to ensure that all tenancies are finalised in a timely manner. We hope to be included in Client engagement activities where possible, so that Clients can put a face to our names, and we won’t be seen as an adversary.

Client Services

Staffing

Argyle Housing Client Services Team undertook intensive Community Links training that focused on mental health, wellbeing, self-care, and trauma informed practice. This training was very informative and collaborative on helping our Team to understand and gain insight into the everyday challenges of working within the sector of community housing and homelessness. It has improved our emotional intelligence, and empathy skills as well as understanding some of the barriers and impacting factors associated in the challenges we face with our most complex and vulnerable Client base.

Argyle Housing Leadership Team has undertaken training in the last 12 months pertaining to “Having Difficult Conversations” which provided the managers and senior leaders with the skills and strategies needed to address some of the conversations we need to have on a day-to-day basis with our Clients, Employees and Stakeholders. This was key to adding to our toolkits for ongoing development. As managers and senior leaders within the organisation, we all acknowledged that no one is comfortable or enjoys having the hard conversations. This training has seen a lot of our leader’s role modelling appropriate conversation skills and having the confidence to deal with situations as they arise and not to put it off.

During the last 3-4 months Argyle Housing has undergone a realignment process that has a strong focus on ensuring our service delivery to our most important Stakeholders, and our Clients is improved whilst distributing tasks and functions in the organisation more evenly, and within the confines of specialised Teams. This change was made with our strategic plan in mind, and to ensure that our Client Value Proposition can be achieved and put into everyday action. The realignment has been the biggest change that Argyle Housing has endured in many years and places a strong emphasis on our commitment to caring for our Employees and their workloads, as well as our Clients and the service they are receiving from us. We want to ensure our Employees are learning a much more refined set of skills as opposed to the broad set of skills we asked of our Tenancy Officers in the past. Argyle Housing are looking forward to seeing the changes take place, and solidify a best practice framework for our Teams moving forward, we do hope this has a direct impact on our Employee retention and Client satisfaction.

Our Common Ground site manager, along with our Ainslie Village Resident Liaison Officer and I have attended the National Homelessness Conference in Canberra ACT, sponsored by AHURI and Homelessness Australia. This conference has highlighted for us that housing and homelessness are not separate issues, and there needs to be a national or federal plan to ensure housing is available for all as a fundamental human right. Topics such as “has COVID given us the building blocks to ending homelessness, ending homelessness for Indigenous Clients, workforce, Staffing and recruitment issues and a new focus needed here, as well as lived experience and the value this adds to our workforce as a peer led support initiative.

Housing first principles have also been discussed but highlighting the need to ensure the support for our Clients continues as housing is just the foundation to wellbeing and our specialist homelessness services are a crucial aspect of our roles as community housing providers to ensure positive outcomes for our Clients in the long-term and see tenancies sustained. Argyle Housing were very grateful for the shout out given by Minister for Housing in the ACT Yvette Berry, who identified our Ainslie Lodge program as a crucial homelessness support project in the ACT. Thank you, Minister, for your kind words about this program and the invaluable work our Team do on site at Ainslie Village each and every day. We also would like to thank the Minister for her tribute and condolences to former Argyle Housing CEO Wendy Middleton. It was a great morning to be at the conference.

Pema and Linda both enjoyed themselves and networked with the sector, both ended the conference saying “all Argyle Housing Staff should get involved in conferences like this as it is a clear reset around our values, the work we do, the people we impact, the value we add, the lives we change, and it shows we are headed in the right direction as an organisation, and that the work we do is above average in comparison”. Both Linda and Pema were proud to be in Argyle Housing representation and they both acknowledged Staff retention would increase if were all constantly reminded about our work and its value.

I would like to acknowledge that whilst we have undertaken valuable training opportunities this year. We have redefined and refocused our purpose as an organisation, we have brought on new business, and we have realigned our roles and functions. We have also completed numerous tenders, meetings, and created new projects and programs whilst delivering on existing ones. What I believe is a key to highlight this year, is the resilience, passion and commitment of the Client Services Team. We have battled natural disasters, COVID-19, the loss of a leader, a housing crisis, a lack of housing stock, many new programs, limited Staffing, and a whole new structure and rebranding but the management Team within Client Services has not faulted and has renewed their commitment to our Clients and the invaluable work they do each and every day. It has been the most challenging year in my time at Argyle Housing but the most rewarding one at that. To be able to witness first-hand the growth of all of our Staff and our Leadership Team, as well as the can-do attitude and positive perspectives to everything we have done. We have thrown an insurmountable amount of change at our Teams, and our Clients and they have all not only accepted this, but continued to perform at a high standard, and continued to achieve some amazing things together.

Whilst I acknowledge and value our entire Team, I want to point out the following individuals or Teams for their commitment over the last 12 months to different areas of our business.

Pema Sedon – Resident Liaison Officer ACT – Pema has worked tirelessly at running the Ainslie Lodge since its opening in 2020. Pema’s passion is working towards ending homelessness and helping to support our Clients with Mental health concerns. Pema has multiple accolades from Clients on the support she has offered, and she has been able to successfully help 650+

Clients in this crisis shelter since 2020 with the help and support of the Ainslie Village Team. Thank you, Pema, for your hard work and commitment to such a valuable cause and for your advocacy for our Clients who sometimes don’t or can’t have a voice for themselves.

Ainslie Village and ACT Team – COVID Lockdown was exceptionally difficult for our ACT Staff who all manage dense housing sites where our Clients live on the same location as our offices. During the height of COVID, Common Ground and Ainslie Village faced challenges with outbreaks, and the health and crisis responses needed to respond to this. Much like our Campbelltown Team I need to fully acknowledge your commitment and passion to our Clients and meeting their needs. At a time when it was extreme risk to yourself and your families, you did not think twice about coming to work, donning and doffing your PPE and making sure our most vulnerable and at-risk Clients were cared for. Ainslie Village had a lockdown where ACT Health had to come and take over the site, and our Staff oozed professionalism, knowledge and the relationships they have with our Clients just blew away our ACT Government and Health colleagues. You make such a difference each and every day and thank you for your hard work.

Chantell Wyszenko – Chantell was promoted to Team Leader of our Campbelltown Argyle Housing office in the last 12 months. Chantell has had a challenging year or two without the presence of a permanent leader when she was a Tenancy Officer to leading and guiding her Team through the challenging bounds of COVID while living in Sydney. At a time when the rest of our sector and support services included, were working from home and closed, the entire Campbelltown Team remained committed to coming to the office, and ensuring they were out in the community supporting our Clients during the crisis, and at some of the most vulnerable times of their lives. Despite the risk this presented to our Campbelltown Team and their families during lockdown, I want to thank you for your commitment to our work, and our Clients during that time, and for filling the role of support worker and housing officer. You guys are so talented, and I commend you highly for your efforts. You have all persevered through low Staffing, sickness, and challenging times – thank you.

Julie Roberts and the Housing Access Team. Julie has successfully obtained the lead position for our new Housing Access Specialist Team, I need to acknowledge and highlight both Julie, and her Teams’ achievements in the past six months. This Team was formerly known as Argyle Housing’s Access and Allocations and they are responsible for the allocation of social housing from the waitlist, as well as transfers and former Client categorisation, and many other things. During our realignment, Julie and her Team were the only Team that doubled in size and were faced with additional responsibilities and tasks as opposed to other Specialist Teams that were either brand new or reducing in terms of responsibilities. I cannot commend and thank Julie and her Team for their positive attitude, their acceptance throughout the change, and commitment to learning a whole new skill set, as scary as it is to change, you have done it so well and promoted working as one Argyle Housing which will have the biggest direct impact on our Clients and their housing. You guys are doing a great job in your new Team, and you are great role models for the rest of the organisation who have struggled with the changes to date.

Jaime Grant and the Transitions Team. Jaime has successfully obtained the position of Transitions Lead and has a Team under her of very experiences and skilled members. Throughout the realignment process the Transitions Team have led the change and really committed to it from the first mention. Jaime, you are an exceptional role model for our people and you, and your Team committed to being innovative and resourceful. With the smallest Specialist Team in the realignment, you have had to create this Team from scratch, inclusive of its processes, flow, and procedure with limited resources. You have not only led the way in creating your Team and reporting and processes first, but you are always committed to helping and supporting the other Teams, as are your Team members. Thanks to Corinne and Garth for supporting the creation of flows, covering other offices, and creating excel spreadsheets. Your leadership as a Team is highly commendable.

The Rent Services Team and Jenny Chapman and Dawn Nixon. The last three months have been a big shift for the former Rent Review Team who have had to take on an additional responsibility of arrears management, physically relocating your Team and a change in Team members. I would like to formally acknowledge that you have done this with professionalism, integrity and I appreciate your shift from the finance Team over to the Client Services Team. You have already been successful in your first month as a new Team, with new reporting requirements, in reducing organisation arrears by around $40k. This is going to be a very productive, specialised, and thorough Team. I have full faith in your ability to be a tight functioning, excelling Team with the leadership of Jenny Chapman and Dawn Nixon who have proved they can work exceptionally well together. Thank you for the difference you have made to date, and I can’t wait to see what you do together over the next year. I know that engaging with our Clients is the most rewarding function and I believe you are the right people for the job to ensure that our Clients can pay their rent on time, and have their rent reviewed regularly and accurately.

Kristy Stevenson and Jacob Connor have both been recognised for their leadership qualities and work over the last few months, with a promotion to our Client Support Managers. Kristy is the manager for Argyle Housing’s Southern Region which consists of Griffith, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Young and the ACT. Kristy has been working as a training manager for Argyle Housing, however, her skills were aligned with a management and leadership role, I am eager to see the wonderful work she will undertake with her Teams, and our Clients in this region. Jacob Connor had been working as the Team Leader for our Bowral office, and his Client Support Manager role now covers our Northern Region being Campbelltown, Bowral, Goulburn, and Queanbeyan. Jacob was identified as having the skills to be a fair and understanding leader who can nurture and develop strong working relationships that are key to our roles here at Argyle Housing. Jacob and Kristy complement each other well and work together as a Team to ensure the best possible outcomes are achieved for our Clients and Employees across our Northern and Southern Regions. Congratulations to you both and well deserved.

Projects undertaken

Market Street Lodge

Argyle Housing have worked with a private owner of a boarding house in Goulburn to commence a fee for service management of the building from 1st August 2022. This building has 38 single rooms that can assist us in filling a gap for homeless men and women with an escalation in market rent affordability, stock supply and demand crisis, and the increasing homelessness rates across NSW. Until recently Market Street Lodge was one of three short term accommodation options for men and women experiencing homelessness, approximately four months ago, two of these facilities (separately operating) were shut down due to breaches of health and fire regulations, leaving Market Street Lodge as a critical service to the community. There is a women and children’s refuge in the community, however, the male refuge was closed due to lack of funding more than five years ago.

The current owner has sought out a community partner to manage the site on a long-term basis to ensure good outcomes for Residents and the wider community.

This site is unique and will see Argyle Housing work closely with Anglicare in the region of Goulburn accepting referrals from as far south as Queanbeyan, the Southern Highlands, Sydney and even out west towards Young, Yass and Wagga Wagga. Argyle Housing makes no income from the management of this site, but it is a clear commendation to our commitment to helping our communities with affordable housing options, and wholistic support ongoing with our specialist partners to ensure long term, stable accommodation is able to be achieved by our Clients.

Recent interagency meetings on homelessness, rough sleeping, and housing crisis concerns within the Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Eden/Monaro, Pallarang, ACT, and the Southern Tablelands definitely support that there is a gap in refuges and crisis or short-term accommodation options.

Recently I attended the Queanbeyan Homelessness Forum that speaks to recent statistics and figures within the area which are quite concerning. Local support providers in both Queanbeyan, and Goulburn reported that they have attempted to drive Clients across the border to ACT for access to Ainslie Village and the Ainslie Lodge. Key points to highlight are the following:

• Rough sleeping has increased by 40% in the last six months in the areas mentioned above. This has been majorly impacted by both the bush fires and COVID-19.
• Queanbeyan offers a ‘Safe Sleep Bus’ that can sleep people overnight in a safe place. They have successfully provided 563 safe nights of sleep to people in the Queanbeyan area in the last six months. As there is a continuous high demand, they have extended their operating to being six nights per week. The sleep bus has had incidents of turning people away due to full capacity.
• There is a majority of need in 30–49-year-olds age bracket, however, it is described that there has been an influx of people over the age of 75 who are homeless/rough sleeping, and also 16–18-year-olds.

It is self-reported by the sector in each of the mentioned locations that supports have exhausted all outsource options. There is no accommodation in Queanbeyan, and they are sending Clients to Goulburn or Yass, only to reveal no affordable accommodation options there either.

Waitlist

There are currently 165 people waiting for single bed properties in the Goulburn area alone, with 34 of those applicants being Priority approved, and needing an urgent accommodation option. These applicants have been waiting for a significant period of time for housing, with the oldest application still waiting since 2006. 1 x 2009 ; 1 x 2011 1 x 2013 and several in 2015.

There is no relief in sight for the current housing and rental market, with a competitiveness never before seen. In areas such as Goulburn and Yass where housing options are already limited, COVID and the bushfires have forced the sector to get creative and try to do their part in housing those who are rough sleeping and homeless.

Argyle Housing were approached to manage the Market Street Lodge site by the Private owner, but it was Anglicare in the Goulburn region who had spoken to him about our professionalism, and ability to manage that site tightly, effectively, efficiently and produce real positive outcomes for both men and women in crisis. This word of mouth is an extremely powerful thing, and with the stigma attached to Market Street Lodge, we believe that Argyle Housing will be able to manage the site at no risk or cost to the organisation, and fill gaps in the housing sector and within the community.

Argyle Housing have also received support from IKEA, GIVIT and local businesses who have donated beds, bedding, and other essential items for our Clients who may enter this program from rough sleeping or homelessness. This project would not have been possible without the commitment of Argyle Housing’s Assets Team and in particular Michael and Jaime and I would like to commend them on their involvement in getting this off the ground for us. Renetta Miller, and her Goulburn and Queanbeyan Team have also been outstanding in taking on this extra project in a high workload environment for Argyle Housing with all of our realignment changes. Thank you so much for your hard work and I cannot wait to see what amazing work you do with some of our most vulnerable Clients in our NSW communities.

Good Works Garden

Another project the Client Services Team has worked on this year is the Good Works Garden in Fyshwick ACT. This project is in partnership with St Vincent de Paul (SVDP) in Canberra, and Dirty Janes Fyshwick. It is the commencement of a garden that will be volunteer led, jointly between SVDP and Argyle Housing Clients. It promotes inclusivity, self-sustainability, education towards healthy eating and cooking, programs for all around reducing isolation and building community connections. This Garden is on site at Dirty Janes in Fyshwick. Scott Dunstan has been instrumental in securing the Queen’s Jubilee tree planting grant that will allow us to plan a tree pergola on the site and make it an inviting and environmentally friendly and beautiful space. Argyle Housing hopes that the garden will assist in our mutual Clients being able to provide produce back to the sector and in particular to our SVDP partners running the Blue Door on site at Ainslie Village. Our commitment is that majority of our produce will be donated here, allowing the blue door to continue to provide lunch 5 days per week to our Clients and the community in Canberra. Any extra produce is earmarked to be donated to services such as Oz Harvest and the roadhouse who continue to provide meals and services to those on low incomes who are homeless in Canberra.

Housing

In our Queanbeyan location, Argyle Housing have successfully purchased two new properties that will be used as affordable housing. These properties were purchased from our surplus funds and will significantly assist in the local area crisis with homelessness. A sleep bus operates for homeless individuals in the Queanbeyan area and is reported to be at capacity every single night. You can refer to the statistics mentioned under the Goulburn Market Street Project. This shows that Argyle Housing have worked tirelessly in doing our bit to ensure that we know what areas there is opportunity to increase our supply and try to alleviate pressure on our sector partners and the waitlist.

Griffin Green

As I mentioned earlier there is a Griffin Green Project in the location of Griffith where Argyle Housing are working closely with the local council and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to ensure we are working in the best interest of the community. This project will see the development of a community where there are 20 townhouses with all being allocated to affordable housing, with 10% of these being for Aboriginal identified families. Argyle Housing are working to build a community centre, basketball court, and park in partnership with Griffith city council at this location as well. The Griffin Green project will see 42 vacant lots left over and we are looking at selling to the market for development, including affordable housing development.

New Opportunities

In Young we have successfully completed the development of Miro Street which is six new units affordable housing to the local community. Argyle Housing Client Services Team have fully tenanted all of these units in less than a month after they were considered ready. This is a great result from our Assets Team, and from the Young Client Services Team consisting of Jaime Grant as the lead, Garth Barrett and Corinne Sydes.

Argyle Housing have secured funding this year from DCJ and in partnership with SVDP in Wagga Wagga, YES Unlimited in Albury, and LCN (Linking Community Network) for a Youth Accommodation Support Model of housing. This has seen approximately 10-12 young people permanently housed by Argyle Housing throughout the year. Youth Accommodation Scheme – Wagga Wagga, Albury, and Griffith.

Argyle Housing have also been successful in securing more packages for Tranche 3 of the Together Home Project in the Murrumbidgee and Southwest Sydney areas.
Extension of the Ainslie Lodge program by the ACT Government until EOFY 22-23. Ainslie lodge is our crisis accommodation located at Ainslie Village ACT. To date we have successfully support 650+ Clients at our Ainslie Lodge since its opening during COVID in 2020.

Claymore relocation project. We relocated 43 Claymore residents from 2021-2022 this is a phenomenal effort, and we did in a time frame quicker than our DCJ counterparts in the same location to allow for the revamp of this dense social housing suburb. We will be entering stage 2 in September this year. Thank you, Campbelltown and our Housing Access Team, led by Julie Roberts for your hard work and phenomenal effort in getting this task completed. Stock management transfer of 43 social housing properties from DCJ to Argyle Housing in 2022 to replace the 43 lost in our Claymore relocation project.

Support Services

Argyle Housing have entered into a partnership/agreement with St Vincent De Paul and Dirty Janes for the Good Works Garden in Fyshwick. Grants grow community gardens – Our Canberra (act.gov.au)

Argyle Housing will enter an MOU with Anglicare Goulburn for the Market Street Project. Argyle Housing have entered partnerships with LCN in Griffith for the YAS program and YES Unlimited in Albury and SVDP in Wagga for the same program.

Argyle Housing have also multiple informal partnerships such as with community options in Southwestern Sydney for food and brokerage support for our Clients suffering with the cost of living and inflation, and rental prices. We also work closely with Uniting in Southwestern Sydney for our Together Home Program. Marathon health in Murrumbidgee for our together home program, Marathon and Argyle Housing have worked together to successfully start to exit our tranche 1 Clients after some positive outcomes and growth.

Other

Argyle Housing Staff have consistently communicated their excitement about the direction that Argyle Housing is heading, with a strong focus on our Clients, and the people we work for and with. One of our biggest achievements this year as an organisation was appointing the Chief Executive Officer role, at a difficult time after the passing of our former CEO. I think I can speak on majority of our organisation in saying that it couldn’t have gone to a more well deserving, inspiring, experienced, humble, fair, and knowledgeable leader. Carolyn has built a strong rapport with all of our Staff and has the confidence of the majority of the organisation in believing that the best of Argyle Housing is yet to come.

Operations General Manager

With one month completed as the Operations General Manager, I am gaining traction on my implementation plans to maintain and where required improve on the current performance results with the intention of ensuring the Operations and Assets Teams are successfully operating within the new structure, aligned with the business strategic plan and Client Value Proposition.

As a new employee and the Operation General Manager, I am currently working with all Staff across the Teams, to understand the business plan and the Team’s requirements under the new structure. I will also be working with the Teams in developing different tools and ways that will help our Staff get a better understanding and expectations around the delivery of our KPI’s.

I have been attending Tenant Forums over the past weeks and the changes from a Client perspective appear to be positive.

Whilst there are still some challenges ahead, we anticipate that the next six months will see a significant improvement across all areas of operations and will intern provide a greater Client service.