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Aboriginal Housing Board of Victoria you are in: ahbv > policy & procedures > section 3 |
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3.1 IntroductionWhen the Board was established in 1981, after two years of Steering committee meetings, the original purpose and aim was for it to direct full community control and eventual ownership of the Victorian Aboriginal Rental Housing Program.The Victorian Aboriginal Rental Housing Program was previously managed and controlled by the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. However, following the Transfer of Functions Bill passed during 1974, the program was transferred to the Housing Commission of Victoria. (Now known as the Department of Human Services) Although the Board assumed management responsibility, whilst the Department of Human Services retained administration responsibility, over the years little attention was given to the original purpose and aim of the Board - that is to help achieve full community control and ownership of the program. Instead, the Board concentrated on developing its housing management expertise and knowledge as well as improving its working relationship with the Department of Human Services. The Board steadily increased its say over the program. However, during the 1988 year there was a storm of protest and concern about Aboriginal tenant evictions which in turn lead to much debate about the role of the Board and how it should be doing "something" about achieving full community control and ownership of the program. No one knew what that "something" should be or how it was expected to take. 3.2 Feasibility StudyIn response to these events, the Board convened a statewide Housing Conference during December, 1988 and it was at this conference that the Board presented and received endorsement for the Feasibility Study proposal.The idea behind the Feasibility Study proposal was that there needed to be some proper consultation and detailed documentation on what management options were available and how much was it all going to cost if ownership was transferred over to full community control. The Feasibility Study went ahead during 1989 and included extensive consultation with major communities throughout Victoria. The Feasibility Study report was completed in February, 1990 and after much discussion at workshops the Board finally developed a proposed Forward Plan that set its future direction as well as aims for full community control and ownership of the Aboriginal Housing Program. The Forward Plan proposal was circulated throughout communities and in late 1990 extensive consultations again occurred through local community meetings organised by the Board. 3.3 Implementation of the Forward PlanDuring 1991 the Board commenced the implementation process of the Forward Plan by convening its own workshops on what it wanted to achieve from the Forward Plan within the following twelve months. The Board identified three major projects which have received funding and each year further projects will be identified so that progress on the Forward Plan regularly proceeds.It is expected that once all areas of the Forward Plan have been fully implemented both the management and administration of the Victorian Aboriginal Rental Housing Program will be completely carried out by the Board and the handover of title to all properties will be a formality. For more details, see the main Forward Plan Section |
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