House rules

By Kath Gannaway
PRESSURE is mounting for Coranderrk Aboriginal Housing Cooperative to explain why one of its houses was left empty for four months.
A local Aboriginal elder has added her voice to that of Healesville resident Linda Fabb who in the Mail last week called for more compassion, and more transparency from the cooperative.
Police were called to evict a local indigenous woman from a CAHC house in Badger Creek on 14 May.
The woman, a mother of two, said she had been driven to the extreme moving into the house after she learned it had been empty for months and no-one was able to help her get accommodation.
Healesville elder Dot Peters said the action was not supported by most community members.
Labelling the eviction “shameful” she called on CAHC board members to explain to the community.
A statement forwarded to the Mail by CAHC board member Irene Swindle following the eviction states the cooperative is a private housing body which was adhering to its rules.
Ms Swindle has refused to speak on the record to the Mail, to provide answers to written questions regarding allegations of nepotism and mismanagement of the property, or provide the names of fellow board members who could provide those answers.
The cooperative was formerly funded by ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) under the Community Housing and Infrastructure Program (CHIP).
The Mail believes when ATSIC was abolished the responsibility for the program went to the Federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).
The Mail has contacted numerous government bodies, including FaHSCSIA, which said that the cooperative is not currently funded by the Australian Government and that it does not have details of board members.
“These details are held by the cooperative,” the spokesperson for FaHSCSIA said.
Some of the questions the Mail put to Ms Swindle and the CAHC board were:
How many prospective tenants are on the list?
How many houses does CAHC have under its control?
What is the definition of a “private” housing body?
How is CAHC funded – is there, or has there in the past, been any government funding provided to CAHC?
Who is CAHC accountable to?
Who are the CAHC board members?
What is CAHC’s response to the suggestion (in Ms Fabb’s letter) of “widespread rumours of nepotism within the management of Aboriginal housing” in reference to the make-up of the CAHC board and to how houses are allocated?
How long was the Badger Creek property vacant – and, in view of the long waiting list, why were repairs not carried out promptly to facilitate the house being made available to eligible tenants?
The CAHC has refused to provide an on the record response to the Mail’s questions. However the CAHC management has outlined its views regarding the eviction on the Mail’s letters page.