Public housing repairs and maintenance in Canberra will be reviewed with the government to establish a taskforce to oversee a pilot to insource the maintenance of properties.
The pilot follow years of calls to insource public housing in the territory from a powerful union and countless complaints from tenants.
Maintenance of two large unit complexes will be done in-house as part of the pilot.
The taskforce will be funded in the ACT budget as part of a larger public housing package.
The government said there would be $108 million in extra funding for new public housing and to improve existing housing. But the funding is not for extra properties, it is only to support the delivery of the already promised 600 affordable rentals and 400 public housing properties by 2027.
The ACT government will also increase its affordable housing fund from $60 million to $80 million. Under the fund, the government provides funding to community housing providers and build-to-rent operators for "shovel-ready" projects.
Six project have already been funded as part of the fund, including a 140-unit build-to-rent project in Woden being developed by the Canberra Southern Cross Club and, community housing provider, CHC Australia.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the expansion of this fund was part of a government commitment to increase the number of build-to-rent projects in Canberra.
"We are committed to implementing measures that increase housing supply, access and choice to meet the needs of our growing city," he said.
Housing Minister Yvette Berry said the government's taskforce into public housing repairs would work with tenants, unions and community organisations. She said the potential insource of maintenance was in line with the government's agenda.
"In line with the ACT government's commitment that if a job can be done by a public servant, it should be, our new insourcing taskforce will consider how government can better deliver repairs and maintenance services for the over 20,000 Canberrans who call public housing home," she said.
The CFMEU has previously called out the state of public housing maintenance in the territory likening the state of some properties as "Third-World conditions". The union described mould infestations, broken windows, open cracked walls and exposed wiring.
One public housing tenant previously told The Canberra Times she was forced to live with a mice infestation for two years. She said she had brought up the issue with Housing ACT several times but only minor changes were made.
The union has been calling for public housing maintenance to be insourced and the ACT Greens have also made the same call.
Housing ACT has a contract with Programmed Facility Management for maintenance of public housing properties. This contract has been in place since 2018.
The ACT budget will be handed down on Tuesday.
