Mr BAYLEY – Excellent, thank you, minister. As part of the Homes Tasmania review and the response to the review, your government committed that the responsibility for strategic housing policy would be returned to government under the Department of State Growth. Has this transition been completed?
Mr VINCENT – Not fully, but it’s in transition at the moment. Craig?
Mr LIMKIN – The government has set the strategic intent that the policy will move back, and the functions will move back to government. The steering committee is currently considering papers on what does that mean; we’ve got to remember that this could impact – and depending on which options we go – will impact some of the employees through Homes Tasmania, so we do need to make sure that this is managed in an appropriate – it’s a change‑management process. We are continuing to consider those papers, the steering committee that I lead in relation to this meets monthly, and our intention is to have all the recommendations or options before government for consideration in next year’s budget, if they need to be – machinery‑of‑government changes, all those types of matters. I’m not committing to anything at this –
Mr BAYLEY – All the recommendations of the review? Or the responses?
Mr LIMKIN –Responses, yes. I’m not committing that there will be machinery‑of‑government changes, I want to be clear, but anything that has to be done to enable the Crawford Review to be implemented, our goal is to have the government make those considerations as part of the 26-27 budget process.
Mr BAYLEY – Notwithstanding the secretary’s answer around the responses to the Homes Tas review being implemented by the budget next year. One of the very strong commitments was around a new ministerial statement of expectations for Homes Tas. The commitment was no later than 30 September 2025 to reflect the proposed amendments. Is that something that’s going to be, I guess, postponed until budget or is it, has it been published? Have I missed something?
Mr VINCENT – I will just hand to the secretary, but I think it’s finalised now we’ve all signed off. I didn’t sign off on the draft which has gone to Homes Tas for the board and to sign off on, so it’s in the process.
Mr BAYLEY – Then it comes back, so you missed the deadline, but you expect that to happen by the end of the year or is that something that the new deadline is the budget?
Mr VINCENT – This got held up for a little bit with the election holding things up, but we’re just waiting on board to come back to us and we believe that will be before the end of the year.
Mr BAYLEY – I guess that begs the question then, are there any other of the commitments made that’ll be delivered ahead of the budget? I hear the secretary – This is a genuine question about what we can expect by the end of the year. For example, the Department of State Growth was completing the review of Homes Tas funding and that was envisaged to be delivered by the end of the year 2025 as well. I guess the question is of those responses to the recommendations, can we expect any this year? What should we be looking out for?
Mr LIMKIN – There has been a number of completed activities. Recommendation 13, which was ensure the Homes Tasmania board is comprehensively really briefed on the risk associated with the findings of the commission inquiry into children in institutional care, has been completed; finalise the building panels as soon as possible, has also been completed. In relation to your specific question regarding a planned review of the finances of Homes Tas, that has commenced. The department has contracted KPMG to do that work. My expectation is that we will receive a draft report end of the year. We may get a draft report into January just depending on how it flows on Christmas period. There has been a slight delay to that, given the procurement processes, we don’t – under the caretaker conventions, we don’t push procurements out and I made the call to hold that. Following the re-elected government, we recommenced that. The finance review is a really important one because it will not only look at the future requirements of the funding, it will also need to give advice and options to government on the types of models, because obviously how you deliver homes or what mix of housing you deliver will actually drive what the debt and funding requirements of Homes Tasmania is.
Mr BAYLEY – Are you able to table the terms of reference of that review?
Mr VINCENT – Happy to take it on notice and provide that.
Mr VINCENT – Sorry, we do have an answer to Mr Bayley’s question if the Secretary wants to read that into Hansard.
Mr LIMKIN – Through you, minister. In relation to the question on the review, the terms of reference are to look at:
- Homes Tasmania’s current housing delivery model and whether it aligns with the government policies and priorities and the available funding.
- the performance of Homes Tasmania’s delivery model compared to available industry benchmarks and CHPs providers for similar builds.
- the identification by Homes Tasmania of alternative approaches or innovations to maximise housing supply including, for example, through partnerships with community housing providers; private investors, such as super funds, build‑to‑rent specialists, et cetera; the Australian government and the building industry.
The review should have particular consideration to whether Homes Tasmania’s cash and borrowing requirements and the associated impact on the state budget, now and beyond 2032; options to ensure Homes Tasmania can deliver on its objectives with the available resources, including opportunities for generating additional revenue and/or further cost reductions – for example, the maximisation of Tasmania’s participation in Australian Government initiatives – and options analysis of the expectation costs of Homes Tas delivering more social and affordable homes over the next decade with an emphasis on the asset mix and the value for money. This will include the Homes Tasmania’s board’s recent decisions in relation to CHPs. For clarity, as well, the original review that was recommended by Ms Margaret Crawford was both a financial and procurement review. We had them split, so we could move at a further pace. We wanted to have the financial review completed quickly and the procurement review will follow, and the procurement review is really about the application of the Treasurer’s Instructions to Homes Tasmania and the Financial Management Act, not to say we’re removing accountability mechanisms, but we want them to be nimble and quick. That was the purpose of setting up Homes Tasmania, so that review will follow separately after this piece of work. My understanding is that it’ll all still be done in time for the budget and consideration next year.
Mr BAYLEY -So the terms of reference have not been written for that one yet – the structure and procurement?
Mr LIMKIN – There are draft terms of reference and if you give me two minutes –
Mr BAYLEY – We’re comfortable with them just being tabled, if that’s easier.
Mr LIMKIN – We don’t have anyone upstairs for a printer at the moment, that’s why I want to give the committee the information now.
Mr BAYLEY – Thank you.
