The unique "security of tenure" enjoyed by ACT public housing tenants could be in jeopardy, with the Housing Minister and a visiting public housing expert saying the policy needs review.
Speaking at an ACT Government sponsored two-day housing forum involving industry, community and interest groups as well as public housing tenants, Housing Minister John Hargreaves said security of tenure needed to be redefined.
The ACT is unique in Australia in giving those people placed into public housing the right to retain that property for life, regardless of a change in their circumstances.
Those who reach an income threshold pay "market rent" for their home. Currently about 14 per cent of Canberra's nearly 30,000 public housing tenants are market renters.
The policy came under scrutiny last year when The Canberra Times revealed Greens MLA Deb Foskey whose salary is just below $100,000 - was a public housing tenant, paying $270 a week for her property in Yarralumla.
The latest look at the policy comes as the ACT experiences severe accommodation shortages amid soaring rents and high house prices.
Mr Hargreaves said the policy of security of tenure had been raised during discussions with tenants, housing and community services groups.
"There were issues around the need for security of tenure ... and while it wasn't a consensus view, one that was put forward was that people who had the means to move on, should do so."
Mr Hargreaves said while the Government supported security of tenure, it needed to define what sort of security should be offered to public housing tenants.
"Does it mean a home for life, does it mean you are guaranteed some kind of accommodation within the system though not necessarily a particular house, does it mean a 20-year tenancy or a 10-year tenancy?"
The minister was joined by executive director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Dr Ian Winter who said the security of tenure plan needed to be revisited "in the medium term".
"I think the tenants already in the system already need to have those rights protected, but we need to develop a public housing system with more flexibility that can meet the changing needs of people. We need to look at security of tenure, we need to set in place some options for change, in the medium term."
Last year, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope floated one possible change, limiting market renters to five years before they were obliged to buy the property or move out.
But security of tenure was not the only issue raised during two days of broad-ranging discussion on housing issues in the territory.
Mr Hargreaves said the purpose of the forum was to "have a conversation" with all the stake-holders in housing to develop a new way forward for the sector.
The Government would consider the issues raised in the forum in developing a new housing policy which itself would be subject to public comment. The minister said he expected a new policy within two or three months.
The director of the ACT Council of Social Services, Ara Cresswell, said the situation was dire. "There are people who are doing it tough, there are people sleeping rough, and that includes families with children. Today, in Canberra there are people who can't afford to be housed, that's a serious problem."
She said housing was the cornerstone of life.
"Without housing, a person can't get access to education, health care, or employment."
And while Ms Cresswell said the Government should honour its election commitments to inject $30 million into public housing stock, that was not a panacea for Canberra's housing problems.
She was backed up by Dr Winter.
"More money is going to help, but we've got to spend it in the right way. And it's not just about reform in public housing," Dr Winter said.
"We've got to create other options. We need to create movement from public housing into the private rental market and from the private rental market into home ownership."
He said a number of policy options were available to governments in order to improve housing affordability, including shared equity arrangements, where not-for-profit housing organisations and individuals shared the costs of entering home ownership.