Research Paper for Legal Aid New South Wales: Oversight of community housing providers, focusing on avenues for tenants to seek review of community housing providers’ policy decisions

Abstract

This research paper examines the oversight of Community Housing Providers (CHPs) in New South Wales (NSW) and across other Australian states and territories, focusing on transparency, tenant rights, and decision review processes. With around 30% of NSW’s social housing managed by CHPs, the lack of consistent government or judicial oversight poses challenges for tenants, who are among the most vulnerable in society. The paper assesses different states’ approaches to CHP regulation, specifically regarding avenues for review, registration requirements, appeals bodies, policy transparency, and consistency with government guidelines. The findings highlight that states like Western Australia, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory offer both internal and external review processes for tenants, including access to independent bodies like ombudsmen and tribunals. By contrast, most other states rely primarily on the National Regulatory Scheme for Community Housing (NRSCH) for oversight. The paper identifies best practices in states with more transparent and accessible review mechanisms and suggests that NSW could benefit from adopting similar regulatory structures to enhance tenant protection and decision-making transparency.