The Illawarra Housing Trust has been told to clean up its act or have its registration cancelled amid allegations of bullying, mismanagement and infighting.
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The Wollongong-based community housing provider has been given until the end of next week to come up with an ‘’action plan’’ to fix systemic problems in its culture and governance.
It will also need to address the assertion that it is prioritising commercial interests over the needs of its more than 2000 tenants, the national regulator has said.
In a letter advising Housing Trust chairman David Campbell that his organisation was not compliant with national law, the NSW Registrar of Community Housing said an investigation into its operations had outlined a number of ‘’weaknesses’’.
‘’The skill sets and influence on the board appear to be slanted to the commercial/development side of the business and needs to be inclusive of the core business of tenant and asset management,’’ Neil Quarmby said.
‘’… (The Housing Trust) has had a history of internal leadership dysfunction which presents as many waves of complaints to the regulator by many internal staff for a wide variety of culture-based and governance-based allegations.
‘’These range from interpersonal allegations of bullying through to inappropriate management decisions and non-compliant behaviours.
‘’The level of dysfunctional behaviours appears to be getting worse and needs to be addressed urgently before these organisational culture issues impact tenant outcomes and the sustainability of the company.’’
Mr Quarmby instigated the investigation in April, after receiving a number of complaints in November 2016 about the trust’s failure to comply with the national code.
The investigation also found that there was ‘’poor oversight of company operations and company performance by the board due to unstable relations between board and executive personnel’’.
Meantime it noted that there was an ‘’over-reliance on the opinion of key individuals’’ which appeared to ‘’preclude independent oversight’’.
The trust must appoint an independent party to assist the board and CEO to develop an action plan by December 22 to address the ‘’serious and ongoing dysfunction between the board, CEO and staff’’.
It must also review its systems and instigate training for board members and staff in areas including ethical conduct and conflict of interest.
The National Regulatory System for Community Housing has given the trust until February 19, 2018 to implement the action plan – and demonstrate compliance with the national regulatory code.
A Housing Trust spokesperson said the organisation was working hard to ensure all aspects of the business were able to demonstrate compliance.
The spokesperson said the trust had been advised it was non-compliant in three areas of the national code which covered governance, probity and management. It was compliant in the four areas of tenant and housing services; housing assets; community engagement and financial viability.
‘’We believe in continual improvement throughout our organisation and we will work with all stakeholders to ensure the Housing Trust continues to deliver the best strategies and outcomes for our tenants,’’ the spokesperson said.
‘’We understand the importance of our role within the community and are focused on providing a service that meets the needs of everyone involved with the organisation.
‘’One of our proudest recent achievements is gaining White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation and we will continue to build on that foundation.’’