Scoping the capacity of Indigenous Community Housing Organisations
Scoping the capacity of Indigenous Community Housing Organisations Report
AHURI Final Report
- Author(s): K. Eringa, F. Spring, M. Anda, P. Memmott, S. Long, M. West
- Published: 2008
- Publisher: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, AHURI Western Australia Research Centre
Abstract: This research examined the organisational capacity of Indigenous Community Housing Organisations (ICHOs). It found that remote location, inadequate governance procedures and lack of economies of scale undermine the organisational performance of Indigenous community housing organisations. The study drew on data from the 2006 Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey, telephone interviews with 69 ICHOs and an in depth qualitative evaluation of 22 ICHOs. It established that the ICHO sector is heterogeneous, and organisations vary by location, size, and whether they provide non housing services. The legislation of the jurisdiction in which they are located and the community history also has affects on the form of the organisation. The study concluded that the ICHOs performing best were: managing more dwellings (10% of those surveyed manage stock of more than 100 dwellings); located in urban or large regional centres; managing housing in more than one settlement type; and specialising in housing management rather than providing multiple services. Building the capacity of ICHOs requires a focus on financial management, governance structures and decision making skills. One off injections of funds will not resolve these issues. The project set out to provide a detailed, contemporary, empirical understanding of ICHOs by addressing two interrelated sets of research questions. The first set of research questions concerned the nature of the ICHO sector, while the second set concerned the identification of factors that affect the organisational capacity of ICHOs as well as measures aimed at enhancing the capacity of the sector. The Hall and Berry (2006) AHURI research project examined the long-term recurrent and capital costs for the ICHO sector. The findings of this research, with a focus on financial matters, complement and inform the present project. The present project has identified a range of factors that affect organisational capacity, with financial matters being among these, and their relative importance is examined. However, no financial analysis has been conducted. The temporal reference of the ‘state of knowledge’ in the current report should be taken as early 2007 which is when the empirical field findings and contemporary housing policies at that time were synthesised in the analysis.