NSW’s new maintenance system will see 750 homes revamped with thousands to follow

NSW Labor’s push to abandon the outsourcing of government services will see an initial 750 publicly owned homes repaired after languishing on private sector maintenance lists for years.

The homes – in the local government areas of Canterbury-Bankstown, Newcastle, Blacktown, Wollongong, Campbelltown and Cumberland – will be the first to be repaired and revamped under the new public housing maintenance system.

In November, the government announced it would take back control of the maintenance of its 95,000 public housing properties as part of its broader plan to reverse the outsourcing of services to the private sector.

Housing Minister Rose Jackson says public housing maintenance will be made a priority.Credit: Edwina Pickles

A new maintenance hub has been launched, which will allow requests from tenants to be coordinated and managed directly by Homes NSW, where staff will ensure the works and customer service are delivered at a high standard.

The Minns government has committed $1 billion to repairing 30,000 public housing properties.

Six tenderers have been selected to partner with Homes NSW to deliver maintenance works for its public housing portfolio. Homes NSW will triage, scope and issue work orders while contractors will be the ones to attend site for work delivery.

Tenants will also have access to an app so they can track the progress of their repair requests.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson said under the Coalition government, the maintenance of public housing was privatised, which left a maintenance system that was “confusing, disjointed and unworkable”.

She said tenants were bouncing between departments with requests being stalled by bureaucracies and a lack of accountability.

The new maintenance hub will mean improved responses, with trained experts who can better address tenants’ questions, co-ordinate work orders and deliver better outcomes for tenants, she said.

“This is about putting residents of our public housing properties at the heart of what we do and by working cohesively with experienced partners to deliver our maintenance, we can ensure basic requests like leaking taps aren’t left for months on end without resolution,” Jackson said.

“This is about putting the NSW government back in control of essential maintenance services.”

A dedicated specialised fire safety services team will also maintain the essential active and complex fire safety systems within the Homes NSW portfolio servicing about 600 buildings.

As well as taking back housing maintenance, the government has also started reversing the privatisation of NSW jails, with Junee Correctional Centre returning to public ownership for the first time in 30 years.

The government’s contract with US multinational GEO Group for operating the southern NSW jail will not be renewed after 2025. The government estimates that it will cost the state $75 million a year to operate Junee at full capacity.

As well as ending the privatisation of jails, the government is also looking at reversing the outsourcing of out-of-home care. A damning NSW Audit Office report into child protection, released last month, laid bare the entrenched problems plaguing the system, which it described as “inefficient, ineffective, and unsustainable”.

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