- $83 million committed towards Aboriginal housing strategy
- Strategy aims to increase Aboriginal homeownership by 10%
- $10 million Elders Village to be built
Yesterday, Queensland announced its First Nations housing body yesterday, a ‘peak body’ designed to advocate for indigenous Queenslanders.
Today, the South Australian Government announced that it would embark on its own $83 million strategy to boost home hownership and “[tackle] everything from crisis services, social housing and increased job opportunities in housing.”
The state government also announced that it will commit $4 million to a $10 million village designed to support Elders “age in place”.
The strategy
South Australia set the timeline for the strategy delivery over ten years, with $83 million committed over the next five years.
Titled South Australian Aboriginal Housing Strategy 2021-31, the strategy sets out to increase Aboriginal homeownership by 10% over the next ten years.
It also includes a number of other initiatives such as $34 million committed to remote area housing maintenance over five years, and $28.4 million towards remote housing replacement program over six years.
Money is also being spent on new social and affordable housing, with $17 million set aside, $4 million of that will go to the 40-unit Elder Village in Bedford Park to house Aboriginal Elders.
The Elder Village
Michelle Lensink, Minister for Human Services, said “The new Elders Village has been designed in partnership with Aboriginal people and will provide 40 individual homes for our Elders at risk of homelessness, in housing built and managed by Aboriginal people,”
“This initiative will provide more choices for Elders who would otherwise be accommodated in public housing and enables us to help other South Australians at risk of homelessness as people transition from public housing properties to the village.”
Michelle Lensink, Minister for Human Services, South Australia
Aboriginal Community Housing Limited (ACHL) Chair Maureen O’Meara said the village was a welcome move.
“ACHL is proud to be a part of this unique and much needed project as it will provide a secure, stable, affordable, accessible, supportive and culturally appropriate ‘ageing in place’ opportunity for the older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Adelaide,”
Maureen O’Meara, Chair, ACHL
