Southern Aboriginal Corporation awarded tender to house older Aboriginal women at Albany’s Paddy Coyne Complex

A social housing complex that has sat vacant in Albany for three years will be used to give Aboriginal women a place to call home. The Paddy Coyne Complex was built in the 1980s to accommodate homeless Aboriginal pensioners in its nine residences. Albany’s Southern Aboriginal Corporation assumed management of the site in 2013 before handing it over to the Department of Communities in July 2019, citing disruptive tenants and a lack of wraparound support services. Now, SAC is set to reopen the Mt Melville property. On Saturday, Housing Minister John Carey announced that SAC had been awarded a tender to use the Paddy Coynecomplex to accommodate older Aboriginal women on WA’s social housing list. SAC has entered into a one-year lease agreement, with subsequent one-year options. There will be an on-site caretaker and SAC rangers will carry out grounds maintenance. The nine residences — eight one-bedroom units and one four-bedroom unit — will be drug and alcohol-free. “The Paddy Coyne Complex has been vacant since mid-2019 and since then numerous models for putting the property to use have been explored,” Mr Carey said. “Community consultation was undertaken and feedback was emphatic that the properties should be owned by Aboriginal people, tenanted by Aboriginal people and managed by Aboriginal people,” Mr Carey said. “Through the expression of interest process, SAC demonstrated they could provide a culturally safe service for Aboriginal residents. “In prioritising older, single Aboriginal women, SAC is assisting into housing one of the groups most at risk of homelessness.” SAC chief executive Asha Bhat said the complex would offer 12-month tenancies to Aboriginal women aged 45 and over who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. “Our intention is to support this cohort to stabilise their lifestyle through the provision of housing assistance and access to appropriate social supports, building social and economic engagement with the view to transition to long-term housing in social housing or private rental accommodation,” she said. “Management of the tenancies will be undertaken consistent with SAC’s existing tenancy management activities which delivers a high standard of service to clients, proactive management of tenant performance and behaviour management.” Ms Bhat said the delivery of “culturally appropriate, comprehensive and consistent support” to tenants would be key. “Similarly, the achievement of sustainable outcomes for clients depends heavily on the ability of SAC, the Department of Communities and partner organisations to facilitate access to quality supports,” she said.