In April 1999,
the National Community Housing Forum held its first National
Awards for Excellence in Community Housing ceremony to
recognise the achievements of organisations in the community-housing
sector.
The Awards were divided into 5 categories:
 |
National Award for Overall Excellence |
|
Excellence in Service to Tenants and Communities |
|
Excellence in Corporate Governance |
|
Excellence in Asset Management |
|
Excellence in Organisational Management |
The organisations
were commended for excellence in the individual category
while still maintaining the overall
goal of providing
service to tenants and communities.
The award winners
came from three states and one territory in addition
to reflecting both urban and rural communities.
The policies
and practices therefore vary throughout the different
types of communities. Although specific
steps
taken toward improving housing conditions in a community
may differ,
all of the organisations include elements of good
practice that can be applied.
There are broad principles
and steps which many of the organisations implement in
order to ensure success.
The
main principle
that is the focus all of organisations is to build
sustainable communities. Different organisations
have separate principles
that complement this. Examples of this include:
providing a stable and supportive environment to tenants,
ensuring
commitment to tenants, having a qualified and effective
Board to administer issues, providing a forum where
tenants can
feel empowered, and remaining objective when managing
more than one community. These principles are all
followed through
in different ways outlined in the articles below.
Many organisations have implemented good practice
models,
joint venture projects,
and tenant surveys to help them be successful.
The awards ceremony has brought recognition to the organisations
and the community housing sector
as
a whole. It has been
able to reinforce ideas of good practice, in
addition to instilling confidence in the organisations.
By Monica Rodriguez. Monica is a third year political
science student at the University of NSW who completed
a placement with the National Community Housing Forum in
1999. |
