A jolly end to 2018

Resident NewsletterSummer 2019

Thank you to everyone who entered our inaugural Garden Competition in 2018.

We were both impressed and inspired by the photos we received - choosing the top 20 to display at last year’s Resident Christmas Party was not easy.

Everyone who submitted an entry received a certificate of participation and a small gardening pack. The winners were presented with a plaque, garden notebook and a $100 Bunnings Warehouse voucher.

The competition was such a success, we look forward to running it again this year.

Congratulations to the top 5 gardens as voted by residents at the Christmas Party:

• Pamela - Felixstow• Judith – Stepney• Rita – Marden• Neville – Windsor Gardens• Judith- Windsor Gardens

Last year’s Resident Christmas Event, held at the Klemzig Community Hall, hosted over 140 residents plus sta� and helpers, as we celebrated the Christmas Season and the end of another successful year working together.

A note from Julie

Welcome to Housing Choices South Australia’s summer newsletter. In this edition, we cover our One Year On residents day held in Windsor Gardens Community Hall, and the resident Christmas party held at the Klemzig community hall.

It was a pleasure to meet and chat with the many residents who joined us for these events.

State Manager, SA

Judging by the numbers in attendance at the Christmas lunch, we’ll be looking for an even bigger venue for the 2019 party. If you know of any great local venues, please let us know. The results of our Annual Resident Satisfaction Survey are also in - with over 43% of residents taking part. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide a response. The information helps us plan and improve our services - we ‘ll be rolling out some new initiatives in response, throughout the year.

If you are thinking the new year is a good time to get involved in some new activities ... you’re right! One of the quickest ways for you to stay in-the-loop about our services and programs, is through our Facebook page.

If you have access to a computer or smartphone, please consider following us �HChoicesSA and take a look our events.

The temperature has certainly risen to some extreme temperatures in recent weeks - and all indicators tell us that we have a fair bit more still to come. Heat stress can have serious health impacts on humans and our animals, so please remember to check in on family, friends, neighbours and pets - especially if they are older or unwell.

Do you have any good tips or photos of how you keep your home or pets cool over summer? Share them with us and we’ll post your top tips online.

The smiles, laughter and conversation said it all, as everyone enjoyed the smorgasbord of roast meats, salads and delicious deserts. We were entertained with a moving performance by the Avenues College choir, a safety presentation by the South Australian Police and a visit from Santa, Mrs Clause and Rudolf!

We’d also like to thank Neville and his family for welcoming us to the Kaurna country and sharing their culture with us all in the spirit of reconciliation.

Congratulations to our ra�e winners: John, Maurice B, Maurice L, John, Royline and Greg - and a special thank you to Global Skilled Solutions for the generous donation of the prizes.

We hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy new year.

ROSAS: One Year On.

Housing Choices marked the first 12 months managing the transferred housing trust properties on 20 October by thanking residents, sharing our achievements, and promoting local organisations and services.

Over 70 residents attended the event, along with 12 service providers including local councils, the Police and Fire Service, NDIS and Aged Care providers, financial counselling services, sport and recreation programs and local social groups.

Over the last twelve months

There was no shortage of entertainment, with ra�es, face painting, balloon art, beauty stands, a smoothie bike, outdoor games, firetruck tours, Tai Chi, BBQ and Devonshire Tea. With the feedback received about the day so far, it’s clear we need to make this an annual event residents will not want to miss.

Visited 460 properties

Helped 32 residents with hoarding

Welcomed 94 new residents

2,282 repairs completed

Over 9,000 phone calls answered

$1.2m spend on maintenance

$496k spent on upgrades

You spoke. We listened.The results of the Annual Resident Satisfaction Survey.

Earlier this year, we conducted our Annual Resident Satisfaction Survey. The survey was conducted by independent organisation, Quest Consulting.

The feedback, received from 436 residents (43% response rate), is summarised into a report to Housing Choices’ Board and management teams, and used to identify areas of our service that can be changed or improved.

80% 85% 88% 86%Customer service

satisfactionSatisfaction

with propertySatisfaction

with locationMaintenance satisfaction

We’ve taken your feedback onboard and we will be responding with some new initiatives to:

• strengthen customer service• clearly communicate maintenance service expectations• involve residents in service planning.

Repairs to your home: our priorities and timeframes.Every month, Housing Choices calls a random selection of residents who have requested repairs to their home in the last month. We ask about satisfaction with our response, the contractor and the quality of the work. The feedback received so far from 96 residents has been overwhelmingly positive. Some of the feedback indicates that we have not always been clear enough in our communication about response times; that is, when you can expect your repair to be completed.

Your maintenance calls to 1300 153 850 are answered by our customer services team. They will ask questions to determine the exact nature of the problem, the location in your home and the urgency of the response required. This helps us to prioritise repairs and give clear instructions to the contractor.

Depending on whether you live in a Common Ground or a ROSAS (transfer from Housing Trust) property, the response time will be di�erent (due to di�erent contractual obligations).

Our sta� will advise you the priority of your repair and the time frame for completion. If they do not, please ask for that information. The time it takes to commence and/or complete the maintenance work will very much depend on your availability.

You will also be asked when it would be convenient for the contractor to attend and we will relay this information to the contractor.

The following priority time frames apply if you are a Common Ground resident

Priority Completion

Urgent 24hrs

Routine 7 days

Minor 14 days

Under our contract to manage transfer properties, we are required to apply the following maintenance timeframes:

Priority Start Finish

ROSAS P1 4hrs 5 working days

ROSAS P2 24hrs 7 working days

ROSAS P3 10 days 20 working days

‘Start’ means attending the site and commencing repairs. Where it is not possible to complete the repairs at the initial attendance, contractor is required to make the property safe if not already regardless of the priority of the order, and return to complete by the completion date. ‘Finish’ means the period by which all work must be finished, from the date the order was issued.

An Urgent, or P1, is any fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or insecure, or puts the health and safety of tenants and/or neighbours at risk, for example, flooding, serious storm or fire damage, serious roof leak, burst water service, broken door locks or windows. If you report any such problems we will only be able to make safe and/or fix the problem within 4 or 24 hours if you provide our contractor with access to your home.

What happens after business hours if I need urgent repairs?If you call 1300 153 850 before 9:00am and after 5:00pm Monday – Friday or on a weekend or public holiday, your call will be forwarded to our head contractor, RTC, and one of their sta� will answer your call. They will also ask questions to determine if your repair requires an urgent or emergency response. This will normally be an issue that is related to your health and safety or the prevention of serious damage to your home. If it does require such a response, RTC will send a contactor to make safe, and repair, if possible.

If your call is not answered, please leave a clear message with your name, address and contact details so RTC can call you back.

Property Condition SurveysTo help us plan property upgrades and cyclical maintenance such as kitchen and bathroom replacements and internal painting, HCSA conducts Property Condition Surveys on a rolling three-year basis to monitor the physical condition of our properties. This information is also used to ensure your home meets our standards.

During a Property Condition Survey, we need to look at the internal and external structural building from an asset management perspective.

The purpose of this survey is to update our records on the condition of each property

component, which will assist us to create future programmed maintenance plans. It is not a tenancy inspection. This survey will be completed by one of our three Property O�cers and will take up to two hours.

If your property is due for a survey we will be writing to you over the next few months to request that you grant us access to your property on a specific date within a two-hour time frame.

If you are unable to grant us access on the date and time provided above, please contact us on 1300 312 447 to arrange a suitable time.

Give us a Like Just another way you can stay in-the-loop

Adelaide O�ce192 Waymouth StreetAdelaide SA 5000

Port Augusta21/50 Augusta TerracePort Augusta SA 5070housingchoices.org.au

P 1300 312 447

UpcomingEventsFor more information about any of these community events, or to book, you can contact our Community Development team on 1300 312 447

From Jan 29, 2019 (Runs fortnightly)

NDIS Information Sessions: BaptcareLight Square, 192 Waymouth St, Adelaide

From FEB 11 (Runs for 5 Mondays) FoodRedi: Healthy EatingLight Square Common Room75 Light Square, Adelaide

FEB 26, 2019 (Runs weekly)

Healthy Brain WorkshopWalkerville Town Hall 10:30am - 12:30pm

Last Week in MarchNeighbour Day + Harmony DayLight Square, Adelaide

Weekly (Thursday Afternoons)

Training: Cert II in BusinessHousing Choices Training Room75 Light Square, Adelaide

TBC Skip Bin Day: HackneyHatswell St, Richmond St, Regents St

February March

Pets.What’s the score?

Housing Choices knows that household pets can play an important role in the life of their humans. They are members of our families and provide comfort and companionship. If you want to keep a pet, you will need to complete a pet application. If approved, we will ask you to sign a pet agreement. Generally, pets are welcome and our policy is to allow pets, except where the property is inappropriate for either the welfare of the animal or other residents, who are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their home. For example, we would support a request to have a dog where the property has a fenced and secure yard appropriate to the size of the dog. However, cats and dogs are not generally considered suitable for higher density apartment living, as they need fresh air, exercise and space to play. Caged birds or fish are better options for higher density living, and would more than likely be approved.

Some pets also come with significant responsibilities and costs and we encourage potential pet owners to think carefully about immunisation costs, vet bills, training, registration and food costs before taking on a new pet. It is also important to think about who would be able to care for your pet if you needed to go away, or into hospital. An aggressive or poorly socialised dog, unable to be cared for by others if you were unable to care for them, may need to be surrendered to an animal welfare organisation. New laws for cat and dog owners also came into e�ect on 1 July 2018. The laws and rules include: • Mandatory microchipping of cats and dogs• Desexing of dogs and cats born after July 18• All dogs must be registered, and some councils require cats to be registered For more information please visit the Dog and Cat Management Board website at dogandcatboard.com.au or call your local council o�ce. For discounted microchipping bookings visit www.chipblitz.com We will always refuse pet requests when granting approval would breach local council regulations regarding pets.

Please check with your local council to see what specific restrictions they have around keeping pets in your area. If you live in a strata or community title group, the group may also have specific rules about whether pets are allowed.

Remember: If you have a pet, you are responsible for controlling them and managing their behaviour, both inside and outside your home. Under your conditions of tenancy, you need to make sure your pet isn’t disrupting the neighbour. For example, excessive barking,being a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours, or causing danger to any other person or animal by wandering unsupervised. Always keep your pet restrained or on a lead when any person authorised by Housing Choices is visiting the premises. Please make sure you home and yard are kept clean, tidy and free of animal waste.

Our first skip bin day took place on 7th September in Walkerville. The event was very popular with residents. They managed to fill the skip, recycle a “ute load” (including the back seat) of electrical equipment, and generating a large pile of hard rubbish.

Over 10 households participated and several residents enjoyed a social gathering around the BBQ - two neighbours met for the first time, despite having lived so close for over two years. Several people said they were using the day as an opportunity to discard items they had stored for years and were very pleased to have freed up so much space.

A special thank you to Walkerville Council, East Waste, E-Cycle and KESAB, whose support made the event possible.

Contact us if you think your street would benefit from a skip bin day.

Housing Choices has committed to a program of enhancing the way we deliver services, programs and activities to best support our residents.

In October, as a first step, we invited a selection of residents and our existing resident advisory group members to a workshop.

On the day, we heard directly from residents about what makes a good landlord, what people valued about living in their home and

Housing Choices sta� worked with management of the newly opened Atira Student Accommodation, the local resident association, West End Village Association, and the City of Adelaide to host a delicious and fun community gathering.

neighbourhood, and commenced a process of exploring opportunities for us to improve resident experiences and services. The workshop was well attended and residents worked together to set out their thoughts and ideas.

We acknowledge the great work of the residents who participated in the first scoping workshop, and we hope that all participants will continue to be involved as the project progress to its the next phase in coming weeks.

We would also like to welcome expressions of interest from residents who may like to be involved in the Resident Advisory Group, and/or the resident experience project.

If you’d like to get involved, please call Mark or Justine, our Community Development O�cers on 1300 312 447 to register your interest. We promise getting involved won’t all be hard work, there will be some fun to be had along the way, and some nice things to eat occasionally!

Green Gate Pizza Gathering

Over 60 Adelaide CBD residents came together at the beautiful North Street Community Garden to make wood fired pizzas, pedal powered fruit smoothies, play table tennis, finska and coites, as well as enjoy great conversation.

The former Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Martin Hease and Adelaide MP, Rachel Sanderson also stopped by to sample the culinary delights and meet with residents. Planning is now underway for the next city event in March, celebrating Neighbour Day.

LGBTI+Co�eeGroup

Are you a Housing Choices resident who identifies as being a member of the LGBTI+ Community?

Would you like to meet other like-minded residents at our monthly co�ee meet-up?

Register your interest.Call Mark on 1300 312 447 to find out when and where the next event will be.

The training provided an understanding of the link between gender inequality and violence against women.

It empowered participants, including residents and sta�, with the knowledge, skills and confidence to safely intervene in situations where the respect or safety of women is in question and to challenge anti-social behaviour based on gender inequitable attitudes.

Some of the strategies discussed included naming and identifying inappropriate behaviour, showing support to victimised people, getting help and encouraging discussion of the issue.

If someone you know, needs help, the following services are available to you 24hrs:

Domestic Violence Helpline:1800 800 098

Crisis Care: 131 611

National sexual assault, domestic family violence counselling service: 1800 737 732 (1800 RESPECT)

LifeLine 24hr phone counselling: 131 114

Housing Choices and the Common Ground Community Advisory Committee partnered with YWCA Adelaide to deliver Rise Above the Pack: Bystander Intervention Program.

Did you know that there is an interest free loan of up to $1,500 available for people living on low incomes to purchase essential goods and services?

A No Interest Loan Scheme (NILs) is o�ered by local community organisations and financed through Good Shepherd Microfinance. The loan is paid directly to retailers or service providers for items such as fridges, washing machines, medical procedures and educational expenses, and can be paid back over 12 to 18 months in a way that is safe, fair and a�ordable.

If you would like to apply, or find out more information about NILS, contact our o�ce on 1300 312 447 or visit nils.com.au

No-interest Loan Scheme

Housing Choices collaborated with the Mental Health Coalition of SA and local service providers to host the 2018 Festival of Now.

A major event of Mental Health Week, the Festival of Now brings the mental health community together to showcase creativity used in the healing journey and break down the stigma of mental illness.

Attractions at the Festival included live music and performance, free food, peer sharing circles, arts and crafts, drumming workshops,

animals, face painting, and more. Housing Choices’ sta� and residents hosted the dessert stall, providing the over 600 festival attendees with ice cream, fruit salad and an entire table of naughty but nice toppings.

As well as being a positive event creating a wider understanding of mental health in the community, the Festival of Now also brings the sector together with the opportunity to improve collaboration as we continue to promote mental health and well-being to everyone.

What residents want.

Certificate II in BusinessMade possible through a partnership with the North East Vocational College and funding from the South Australian Government, this 12-week program is held at Housing Choices SA’s training room within our CBD o�ce.

“The course is individually tailored to meet the needs of participants”, explained Doris Mantel who is currently teaching her sixth Certificate II in Business with Housing Choices.

“Students have reported that the coursework is sometimes challenging but it’s delivered in a way that’s achievable and fun”, she added.

Ten Housing Choices residents graduated from the program in 2018 and funding has been secured to enable another course beginning early in 2019. Please contact us on 1300 312 447 if you would like to register your interest to participate.

Skip Bin Day

Adelaide’s Festival of Now