Community Housing Rent Policy for Indigenous Councils
The introduction of the Community Housing Rent Policy for Indigenous Councils changes the way that rent is calculated for social housing owned by Aboriginal Shire Councils, the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council and the Torres Strait Island Regional Council in Queensland’s 34 discrete Indigenous communities.
Under this new policy, rents are no longer set at a flat rate. Rents are assessed at rates of up to 25% of combined assessable household income, but not exceeding the maximum rent that has been set for each dwelling.
Some types of income are assessed at a lower rate, such as Family Tax Benefit A which is assessed at 15% and the income of household members under 25 which is assessed at 10%. Some income is not assessed at all, such as certain allowances and benefits.
The rent calculation takes into account the total amount of assessable household income, which means everyone earning an income in each household contributes to the rent. However, no household will pay more than the maximum rent set for their dwelling, regardless of the combined income of the household.
The maximum rent is based on a comparison to dwellings in Coen, taking into account the number of bedrooms and access to services. (For Napranum, the comparison is to housing in Weipa and for Cherbourg, the comparison is to Murgon).
Tenants may be eligible for Centrelink Rent Assistance which will be included in the rents received by Councils.
The new rent charges are intended to benefit Indigenous communities as Councils will be better able to provide housing and related maintenance and services as a result of increased income.
Any new tenants will sign up to a rent agreement based on the policy from 1 July 2009. Existing tenants are not required to pay increased rent until two months after receiving written notice of their new rent assessment.
The rent policy is part of one social housing system, implemented for all other social housing over 2004-2006. The policy will ensure remote Indigenous communities can access the same standard of social housing as other Queensland communities.
A number of fact sheets have been prepared explaining the changes to the way rents will be calculated.
Community Housing Rent Policy for Indigenous Councils (56Kb)
How will my rent be calculated? (82Kb)
Assessable and non-assessable income (75Kb)
Frequently asked questions (54Kb)
Last updated 07 September 2009
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