This FAQ sheet presents questions and answers for tenants about the National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH).
The NRSCH is designed to regulate providers of community housing. There will be no obligation for housing providers to be registered under the national system. However, individual government policy and funding agencies may make registration a precondition for receiving funding or investment and for delivering funded housing services.
Tenants will be able to have confidence that their housing provider is meeting nationally consistent performance standards for service delivery.
No, access and eligibility requirements will continue to be determined by the policies of government and funding agencies. Requirements under the National Regulatory Code regarding outcomes for tenants will be the same for all registered community housing providers regardless of registration class.
The seven performance outcomes are:
Yes. Complaint procedures will be in place in each state and territory. Registrars will not look at complaints about individual tenancy matters.
They will only investigate complaints where they may give rise to a risk that a registered provider is not complying with the National Regulatory Code. Tenants will be able to make enquiries or lodge complaints in relation to their registered provider’s compliance with the Code via the NRSCH website at: www.nrsch.gov.au.
The new system will make it easier for providers who wish to operate in more than one jurisdiction by reducing red tape and regulatory burden. The new system will provide a consistent regulatory environment to give funders, lenders and investors confidence that the community housing sector is well managed. This will support the growth and development of the community housing sector which will help to provide more homes and reduce homelessness.
Policy and funding decisions will continue to be a matter for state, territory and federal governments, which enables localised responses to meet housing need.
The NRSCH is designed to identify, monitor and respond to risks that have serious consequences for tenants, funders and investors, community housing assets and the reputation of the sector. Registrars will aim to engage with the provider early when early warning signs are identified in order to avoid the possibility of serious non-compliance, will to work to return the housing provider to full compliance where non-compliance occurs or, as a last resort, will deregister the provider.
It is a condition of registration that, upon cancellation of registration, the housing provider must transfer or merge all existing social and affordable housing assets remaining after the payment of its liabilities either back to government or to another registered housing provider. The existing tenancies would be included in this.
Registration under the new system formally commences from 1 January 2014 (Phase 2), following a six month period of system testing and evaluation (Phase 1) during 2013. Individual states and territories will transition to the national system over an 18-month period, according to Registrar timetables in each jurisdiction.