Winter 2024
2023/24 Resident Survey Actions P3 Minister Collins comes to town P4 Meet new TRAC member, Tony P7
HChoicesTAS
From the General Manager Hello everyone, As always, it’s been a busy few months at Housing Choices Tasmania. We were thrilled to have
Good Neighbour Award
We’ve also had some big internal milestones with the launch of our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan, and celebration of our 10-year anniversary in North West Tasmania. You can find out more in our Housing Choices update on page 6.
Do you know someone who: is friendly or helpful? provides assistance to others and contributes to the community? is respectful and mindful of others? maintains their property well? volunteers in the community? Now is your chance to recognise them! Anyone can nominate a Housing Choices Tasmania resident for this award. All nominees go in the yearly draw for our Neighbour of the Year award. To nominate your Good Neighbour, please contact our Community Development Team via email communitydevelopmenttas@ hcau.org.au or by calling 1300 312 447.
the Honourable Julie Collins MP, Minister for Housing and
Homelessness visit two of our properties in May. After a site tour of our new 48-unit development in West Ulverstone, she dropped in to visit residents Pam, Leanne and Kevin in Latrobe.
Kind regards,
Kim Bomford General Manager Housing Choices Tasmania
In the spirit of reconciliation Housing Choices Tasmania acknowledges the Traditional Acknowledgement of Country
Custodians of Country throughout lutruwita (Tasmania) and their connections to land, sea
Save the date
and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
2 nd Every Tuesday
Thali Tuesday at Burnie Community House
Front cover: Latrobe resident Pam stands at the front of her unit.
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2023/24 Resident Survey Actions
At Housing Choices, we value the feedback from our residents and are committed to addressing your concerns. In the last edition, we shared the results from our national resident survey. This edition, we are excited to share some of the actions we are taking to address your feedback nationally and locally.
Complaints handling improvements Following our national complaints management review, we are currently implementing a range of recommendations to improve our complaints handling, creating national consistency around how we handle complaints about our staff and services. This includes updating policies and procedures, how we record complaints data and how we communicate to residents during the complaints process.
Improving satisfaction for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents Housing Choices Australia is continuing our commitment to reconciliation and have launched our Innovate RAP which will contribute to improving service delivery and outcomes for first nations residents and organisations which we work with.
Addressing neighbourhood issues Housing Choices aims to build inclusive communities and address neighbour issues through the development of a national placemaking strategy. We are actively consulting with staff and residents to create this framework and are working with leading placemaking consultants Village Well.
Responding to tenant priorities In the 2023 survey residents expressed the most interest in social activities and tenancy related activities where they could ask questions about maintenance, rent reviews and how to manage neighbour issues. We are working with resident groups and advisory committees on all the ways available that we can best keep residents informed about social and tenancy related issues.
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The day started with a visit to one of our sites under development in West Ulverstone. Minister Collins, Senator Anne Urquhart and Simon Behrakis MP were invited by our General Manager Kim Bomford to take a tour of the 48-unit development, which is due for completion later this year. Afterwards, Minister Collins and Senator Urquhart joined residents Pam, Leanne and Kevin at their properties in Latrobe. Leanne and Kevin moved into their property after several forced moves and rent hikes in the private market. After applying to the Housing
Register and waiting three years they moved into their home in November. “Stability is everything. You just never know what could happen in a private rental. I used to worry... If something happened to one of us, I wouldn’t have been able to afford rent,” said Leanne. Kevin and Leanne now live near their daughter in Ulverstone and son in Burnie and are enjoying the connection to family and local community. “We love it here, it’s been an easy change. We feel very safe...The neighbours are very good,” said Kevin.
Out and about Minister Collins comes to town We were thrilled to have Julie Collins MP Minister for Housing, visit two of our properties on the North West coast in May.
4 1. Housing Choices Tasmania General Manager Kim Bomford, Simon Behrakis MP, The Honorable Julie Collins MP Minister for Housing and Homelessness and Senator Anne Urquhart visit a new 48-unit development in West Ulverstone. 2. Housing Choices Development Manager Will shows Senator Urquhart through one of the units being built in West Ulverstone. 3. Leanne and Kevin greet visitors at their unit. 4. Latrobe resident Pam chats with Senator Urquhart.
Is your heat pump feeling the cold? If it’s blowing cold air, flashing its lights and making gushing noises, it could be on defrost mode. Defrost mode is a normal function that helps to melt ice and frost off the outdoor coil after cold nights and chilly mornings. When it’s in defrost mode your outdoor unit will have a lot of water leaking from it. Do not turn the heat pump off during defrost mode as it’s a normal function of the heat pump. To keep your heat pump working at its best through winter, follow these handy tips: • Clean your filters to increase air flow. • Run your heat pump in automatic mode. This is the most efficient way to run your heat pump, so you’ll save money too. • Avoid turning the temperature up when the heat pump is in defrost mode. This will cause the heat pump to work harder and need to defrost again sooner. • Reduce your temperature setting. If you reduce your temperature from 25°C to 21°C you might find it warmer overall, as you will need to defrost less often.
Above: New website homepage.
Website refresh
If you've recently visited the Housing Choices website you'll have noticed that it has a new design. We are updating our content to better support visitors to our website to find the services and information they need. If you have feedback or suggestions, please email communications@hcau.org.au .
Hello Hannah Harvey
Hannah Harvey joined Housing Choices recently as the Executive General Manager of Customer and Community Services. Hannah’s passion lies in enhancing resident experiences and ensuring Housing Choices has what’s needed to construct more homes, improve existing housing, and strengthen communities. “I’m absolutely delighted to become part of Housing Choices Australia. And very much look forward to being able to meet many of you in future, and to properly introduce myself to the resident advisory committees.”
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Innovate RAP Launch Housing Choices launched our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) with celebrations across the country during National Reconciliation Week 2024. Our Innovate RAP builds on our vision and enduring commitment for reconciliation. This vision sees a future in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share in an equitable, prosperous, and rewarding future. We will work towards this through the housing we build, the services we provide, the workplaces we create and our support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations. Above: 1. Uncle Dougie gave a moving Welcome to Country to Housing Choices Tasmania staff. He then shared one of his original songs with us all.
Ten years in North West Tasmania
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Hub108 Launch
Housing Choices Tasmania staff got together in June to
celebrate ten years on the North West coast. On Monday 5 May 2014 the management of over 1,170 properties was transferred from Housing Tasmania to Housing Choices Tasmania. This kick started our presence in the area, and we have continued to grow and improve our operations since then. Above: 2. Housing Choices Tasmania staff members Kurt, Andrew, Sally and Glenda shared the job of cutting the cake. They have all been with Housing Choices since we began operations on the North West coast ten years ago, along with Sammy and Karen.
We were proud to launch Hub108 in June. Hub108 is a brand new space in East Devonport which community organisations can hire to deliver programs and activities that bring people together, support overall wellbeing and provide opportunities to connect and learn. We look forward to seeing you at an event there soon! Above: 3. Sam, Team Leader Inclusive Communities shows Tameka and Sarah from West North West Working around the new community space.
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Your tips: energy saving
Resident Profile - Tony
Energy consumption in Tasmania peaks in winter, which means electricity bills do too. In our last edition of Home Stories , we asked you to share your best energy saving tips for a chance to win a $50 voucher. Congratulations to our lucky winner Kade who sent in the tip: Turn off modems and gaming consoles when you’re not using them. Thanks Kade!
When Don resident Tony moved into his property in September last year, he wasn’t expecting to add another volunteer position to his busy schedule, but that is just what happened. Tony moved into his unit in Don after living with and caring for his mother for the last six years. While he was grateful for the space, he also needed a place to call his own. When he was offered a two-bedroom unit in Don, he made the move. “This place isn't far from where I grew up. But it’s also far enough away that it gives me complete independence” he said. The process of housing allocations is something Tony is very familiar with, as he’s on the Aboriginal Tenancy Allocation Panel for North-West Tasmania. The panel meets when an Aboriginal housing property becomes available, and provide recommendations to the social housing provider about who would be a suitable tenant for the property. As well as this, Tony is the pataway delegate on the Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation board. “I've been on the board now for nearly two years in October... When I first got involved with our community, we were having four people come along to our branch meetings. The other day
we had 28. That’s in under two years. Information is being shared about what happens in our community a lot more, so people now want to know what's going on,” he said. At the moment Tony is studying family history, which he also uses to help community members discover more about their own history. He also holds diplomas in Aboriginal Governance and Aboriginal Legal Advocacy, and an Indigenous Leadership certificate. “I do keep rather busy with community stuff. I think all these things are very important.” After moving into a Housing Choices property, he was asked to join the Tasmanian Resident Advisory Committee. Tony accepted and attended his first meeting in May. And all this is just the tip of the iceberg – he's also volunteered at two Olympic games, sound engineered for Jessica Mauboy and started a hockey competition! “I’m going to write a book one day!” he jokes.
Our Spring Gardening Competition for 2024 is just around the corner, so start planning now! More details will be available in the next edition of Home Stories , don’t miss it! Spring Gardening Competition
Above: Don resident and proud palawa man Tony, never sits still for long.
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Home Stories Winter puzzle Win a $50 Bunnings voucher!
Keeping up to date
Find all the words in the word search except for one, which is not actually in the grid. Words may be forward, backward, up, down or diagonal.
Join us on Facebook for up-to-date competition and community event information at www.facebook.com/ HChoicesTAS . Or, you can get in touch with our Community Development Team by calling 1300 312 447 or emailing communitydevelopmenttas@ hcau.org.au for more details.
DOURA ININGHKOSRHG HOMYBABNNFPUOSXOA UTMRJAUDRAMTTCSTR OHEROXF IREPLACEDD PEOSUFGNIKOOCFDCE QAHAREOYNOMRAKEHN TTPANS IONTDSNEHOI IRSRE ICAARTIHOTCN PEAEYXSRUUTKCBFOG EVATSSSNKTFOAKPLT CEUNWTCE IWLHASHAW BDGI INENRAGGTLOTD PEUWRWGSTMROTS I EG
Birthday Club
FIND THESE WORDS
Raining Theatre Winter
Journey Cooking Storm
Knitting Hot Chocolate Fireplace
Gardening Soup Sweater
We have drawn our recent birthday club winners, who have each received a $20 voucher. If you would like to join our Birthday Club, please contact our Community Development team by calling 1300 312 447 or emailing communitydevelopmenttas@ hcau.org.au
To go in the draw, contact our Community Development team with the remaining word by calling 1300 312 447 or emailing communitydevelopmenttas@hcau.org.au. Make sure you include your name, home address, and contact number. Entries for the competition close Monday 12 August 2024. Maximum one entry per household. A lucky Shorewell Park resident was the winner of our Summer word search draw. Congratulations!
Hobart Level 7, 39 Murray Street Hobart TAS 7000
Devonport 5 Steele Street Devonport TAS 7310
Shorewell Plaza 11A Wiseman Street Shorewell Park TAS 7320
General Enquiries 1300 312 447
Maintenance
hctinfo@hcau.org.au housingchoices.org.au
1300 512 583
Disclaimer: To the best of Housing Choices Australia’s knowledge (Housing Choices), this information is valid at the time of publication. Housing Choices makes no warranty or representation in relation to the content or accuracy of the material in this publication. Housing Choices expressly disclaims any and all liability (including liability for negligence) in respect of use of information provided. Housing Choices recommends you seek independent professional advice prior to making any decision involving matters outlined in this publication.
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