Maningrida, Northern Territory. Maningrida Subdivision in early construction In addition, by 30 June 2012, 4707 refurbishments or rebuilds had been delivered. Since this time, the total number of rebuilds and refurbishments delivered is over 5200 houses – sometimes to add more bedrooms or a bathroom – but primarily to ensure houses are safe, healthy and secure for the families living in them. This has exceeded the NPARIH 2014 target of 4876 refurbishments two years ahead of time. There is now an increased target for refurbishments of 6696 for delivery by 2014, an increase of more than 1800 over the original target. This has been possible because of the willingness and commitment of some jurisdictions to deliver more refurbishments than the original targets required, and others to deliver at a quicker pace than expected. Implementation started slowly as the preparation and ground work for construction was undertaken, with some factors in particular making a significant impact on increasing momentum: • The introduction of a biennial competitive bids process, following the renegotiation of the NPARIH in late 2009, provided added incentive to meet agreed targets. • The competitive bid arrangement allows for up to 25 per cent per year of a jurisdiction’s capital works funding to be reallocated if agreed targets are not met. • It provides flexibility over an amount of funding for housing authorities to tailor investment to emerging need within their jurisdictions and to take up opportunities for innovative approaches as they arise. • There has been a high level of public scrutiny of the program, mainly focussed on capital works progress in the Northern Territory, with intense interest from the media and various parliamentary committees, both Commonwealth and Northern Territory, including several reviews conducted into aspects of the program. • While responding to this level of scrutiny has at times been resource intensive for those involved, it has also provided additional incentive to consistently strive to lift performance across all jurisdictions.
Maningrida, Northern Territory. 3.4.2 Employment Related Accommodation (ERA) Output (f): accommodation such as hostels and subsidised rental housing in regional areas to support people from remote communities to access training, education, employment and support services. NPARIH Benchmarks are: ‘bilateral arrangements between state government agencies and employers to partner phased roll-out of construction of employment and training related affordable rental accommodation for people from remote areas of high employment need – number of hostel-style accommodation facilities constructed by 2018 – number of family- style accommodation facilities constructed by 2018’; ‘100 per cent availability for Indigenous people from remote communities’. The provision of affordable accommodation in regional centres to support people from remote Indigenous communities to access training, education and employment opportunities is an important component of the NPARIH. The NPARIH requires a phased roll-out of this type of accommodation by 2018. This initiative recognises people living in remote Indigenous communities do not always have access to these opportunities within their communities and like other Australian citizens, can benefit from mobility in and out of their home community to take up such opportunities. The NPARIH allows for the provision of affordable accommodation through a range of mechanisms, such as construction of new hostels, the purchase of existing hostel accommodation and construction or purchase of existing family homes. The different types of accommodation can cater for a variety of personal circumstances and support the needs of individuals and families which maximises access to the program. Achievements to Date Through the ERA initiative a total of 88 houses and units providing over 275 bedrooms and four hostels with 68 beds are now in place in regional areas across the country. In addition, ERA has partly funded a police officer training facility with 30 beds in Darwin. The Cape York Australian Football League (AFL) facility in Cairns has also been funded and opened for business with 27 students in residence, achieving 100 per cent attendance at training and education activities.
