Housing ACT failed to properly communicate to public housing tenants they would be forced out of their homes and did not provide adequate support for vulnerable tenants, a review has found.
A report from the ACT Ombudsman found the territory government agency "underestimated" the affect on tenants and their communication was "impersonal" and caused "significant distress".
More than 300 public housing tenants were told, via a letter, early last year they would have to relocate out of their homes as part of the ACT government's public housing renewal program.
A number of tenants expressed shock at the move, saying they were not made aware their property was planned for renewal.
The ACT Ombudsman report, released on Tuesday, has found flaws with a government agency's communication about the matter and the process for tenants to be exempt from the mandatory relocations.
The report found Housing ACT did not initially communicate clearly about what the aims of the renewal program were and there was a lack of policies and procedures.
Under the program, the government is selling off older properties to fund the construction of newer properties. Tenants forced to move would be relocated to another public housing property.
Housing ACT initially sought voluntary relocations from tenants and there was a letter sent to 476 tenants in December 2020, which was considered a "formal communication" that the tenants property was considered for disposal.
But the Ombudsman said this letter had "the appearance of marketing material from government" and did not expressly ask tenants to volunteer or participate in the program.
"It was not personalised to the tenant and advised tenants that if they would like to learn more about the program, discuss options to move or attend an information session, to contact Housing ACT," the report said.
"As such, tenants may have considered it to be promotional material and disposed of it without paying any due attention."
Tenants did not receive another "formal" communication from Housing ACT until February 2022 when the 337 letters were sent to inform tenants they would be required to relocate.
"Had tenants disregarded the December 2020 letter or not recognised the letter as an offer to relocate, the February 2022 letter may have come as a great shock," the review said.
The Ombudsman said the communications strategy should have foreseen this reaction from tenants. The report said the strategy only focused on adverse reactions from tenants around possible media attention.
"Strategies were designed to 'decrease escalation to media and ministerial channels' and focused on 'quality tenant-focused communications to reduce negative media coverage'," the report said.
Tenants who were sent letters saying their relocation was mandatory were able to apply for an exemption but there was no clear process for tenants to seek an exemption.
"This is concerning given the considerable impact of mandatory relocation on tenants," the report said.
"A fully functioning and transparent exemption process should have been in place from the commencement of the mandatory relocation phase.
"We were not satisfied that Housing ACT gave this sufficient consideration in transitioning from voluntary to mandatory relocations."
The Ombudsman investigated the matter after receiving nine complaints from tenants and made nine recommendations for improvement.
ACT Ombudsman Iain Anderson said Housing ACT did not keep vulnerable tenants "front of mind" during the implementation of the program.
"Housing ACT did not keep engagement and support for vulnerable tenants front of mind as it implemented the mandatory relocation phase of the program," Mr Anderson said.
"Noting the impact of mandatory relocation on vulnerable people, we consider that further work should have been conducted prior to implementation of the mandatory relocation phase."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
