Introduction
The National Indigenous Housing Guide is a resource to assist in the design, construction and maintenance of housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with a particular focus on providing and maintaining the health hardware1 that supports a safe and healthy living environment.
The guide is linked to the national reform agenda agreed by Australian and State and Territory Housing Ministers in September 2006, which aims to improve the sustainability of Indigenous housing management and move to one level of service delivery in each jurisdiction. Under the Indigenous Housing Management Improvement System (IHMIS), which is being developed in collaboration with state and territory jurisdictions, providers of Indigenous housing services will be required to meet and maintain standards of governance and service delivery in order to receive government funding to deliver those services.
The IHMIS includes a Repairs and Maintenance Standard that will require housing stock to be maintained in a condition which provides the health hardware (as detailed in the National Indigenous Housing Guide, for example taps, hot water system, toilets, showers, kitchen and drains) to fully support the maintenance of safety and healthy living practices.
All organisations providing Indigenous-specific housing services are to be assessed against standards for governance and service delivery. The standards reflect current best practice of organisations providing social housing, along with the specific circumstances of Indigenous clients. They are consistent with the approach of comparable standards such as the National Community Housing Standards. The standards will provide a benchmark for continuous improvement in the provision of high quality housing services to Indigenous people.
This guide provides practical information on the design, selection, installation, construction, renovation and maintenance of housing health hardware and other aspects related to environmental health, for example dealing with dust, insects and dogs. It is a resource for everybody involved in providing housing to Indigenous people, including community councils, Indigenous housing workers, council staff, architects, project managers, tradespeople and government officials. If used in tandem with local knowledge, the guide can help to improve housing and health outcomes, and community development projects.
Information in the guide is based on the experience of communities, housing design consultants and builders, and is supported by data from housing surveys conducted since the mid-1980s. The information is also supported by research and technical standards and cleared by state and territory governments.
To make sure it remains useful and relevant, the guide will be assessed and updated again in 2009. As part of this process, the Australian Government will host an internet forum and invite comments and suggestions for improvements to the guide. Details of the web address are available at http://www.facsia.gov.au
1 Health hardware -originally used by Dr Fred Hollows to describe the physical equipment necessary for healthy, hygienic living. The equipment must have design and installation characteristics that allow it to function and to maintain or improve health status. In a water supply system, for example, health hardware includes both the bore and the basin plug, as well as the shower rose, taps and drain.