Land reform, housing reform, home ownership The Cape York Welfare Reform initiative is supporting Cape York communities to reform the housing system and reduce their complete dependence on the social housing welfare model, which inadvertently promotes and supports passivity. Currently, no individual or family owns their home on Indigenous land on Cape York or elsewhere in Queensland in a form and with the rights and responsibilities that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Queenslanders living on non-Indigenous land have long taken for granted. Cape York Institute (CYI) supports Indigenous people to have choice for their housing and the opportunity to use Indigenous trustee land and housing as an asset and as a source of equity that is secure and portable. It does so by advocating for land reform and investment in land administration systems, and by building the capacity of Indigenous trustees and beneficiaries to develop their own planning tools and engage with markets and systems that support viable and sustainable home ownership. It is the aspiration of the leaders of Cape York that, in the long term, social housing will only be needed to support a minority of families, as people’s economic and social circumstances improve and they move out of welfare housing into home ownership or private rental accommodation. Our work seeks to achieve this by: • supporting local aspirations for home ownership and building the capacity of community members and leaders so that they can collaboratively address land tenure, native title and planning issues to achieve home ownership and other types of development and investment on their land • working closely with Traditional Owners (TOs), trustees, mainstream banks, valuers, Indigenous Business Australia and all levels of government to overcome deeply-entrenched structural barriers and policies affecting Indigenous land and recognise the strong aspirations that local people have for home ownership and economic development. In those locations where we have traditionally worked, we continue to make good progress through the support we provide to local leaders and in collaboration with government partners. Several other communities across the Cape are now also interested in working with CYI and we are making steady progress working with these communities. We are focussed on providing the best support we can for the housing aspirations of local leaders and families across Cape York. Overall the passive service delivery model for housing in remote and discrete Indigenous communities in Cape York and Queensland remains intact. Therefore, a redoubled clear focus on land and housing reform and supporting investment is required to catch up to the mainstream home ownership benchmarks and significantly improve the support of families through improved tenancy management.
COMMUNITIES WE WORK WITH
HOW DOES CYI SUPPORT LAND REFORM AND HOME OWNERSHIP OUTCOMES?
CYI works closely with TOs, trustees
UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL VALUE OF COMMUNITY-LED HOUSING AND
SCOPE OF OUR WORK
and government at all levels to settle
HOME OWNERSHIP
and pursue collective objectives
Owning your own home is billed as ‘the great Australian dream’ and is widely accepted
for enabling local aspirations for
as bringing many benefits to the individual, the family and society more broadly.
improved housing outcomes, home
While social housing is currently the predominant option available for families on Cape
ownership
and
other
economic
development opportunities. We are working on land reform, housing reform (including tenancy reform) and home ownership opportunities at the Cape York regional level. During January–June, we continued our existing intensive work with the communities of Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge while also preparing to
support
other
communities,
including Kowanyama, Mapoon and the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA).
York, CYI has developed a pilot social impact measurement framework to quantify the impact that local management of housing and tenancy management has on school attendance, employment and health indicators. These social benefits can be expressed in monetary terms and a financial return on investment determined, which assists with decision-making and allocation of resources. In February, CYI presented the framework to the Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Aboriginal Corporation (BBNAC) Board. The Board was very positive about the application of the framework and agreed to progress with a survey of residents to measure current wellbeing and residents’ perceptions of housing in Mossman Gorge. In April, the survey was drafted and trialled with a few residents during the COVID-19 lockdown of the community. The survey is currently being administered by BBNAC with the results expected to be known in September. A series of meetings have also been arranged between BBNAC and CYI to continue working towards the community’s future vision for housing.
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