The Wire

Crime and disadvantage in public housing estates can be reduced not only by improving facilities but also through initiatives that build social cohesion between tenants. That’s according to a new report by the University of New South Wales. Co-author of the study Bruce Judd, said that while improving the physical surroundings of a housing estate, such as better security and lighting, had an impact on reducing crime, the relationships between the tenants are much more important. However, a new NSW government initiative may threaten this element of the mix that encourages better social cohesion in housing estates. Recent changes to NSW public housing eligibility mean that tenants who get a job and start earning just $29,000 a year will be forced to move out. According to Sylvia Hale, the Greens member of the NSW parliament’s Upper House, this could lead to a high turnover of tenants in public housing, and a break down in the relationships that the study found were important for healthier housing estates. And according to Ms Hale, with industrial legislation slated at the federal level, those tenants that do get a job could just as quickly lose it six months later, after they’ve already lost their public housing. Sylvia Hale spoke earlier to the Wire about the impact of the new NSW government policies on social cohesion in public housing tenancies.