This page will answer questions that are frequently asked.

 

What is the AHC?
What does the AHC do?
What is the Block?
Was all the Block handed over by the Whitlam Government in 1973?
Who lives on the Block?
Have tenants been relocated against their will or evicted from the Block to make way for the new redevelopment?
How and where have tenants been relocated?
Why is the AHC redeveloping the Block?
Why rebuild as opposed to renovate the houses on the Block?
Why did the AHC demolish the old terraces on the Block before the final plans for redevelopment where ready?
Is the AHC selling the Block?
Is the AHC planning to replace the houses with a commercial development?
What will be built on the Block?
Will the community be consulted about the redevelopment?
Who is on the Pemulwuy vision Taskforce?
What is the Pemulwuy Project?
Who will benefit from the Pemulwuy Project?
Is there support for the Pemulwuy Project?
Why is the NSW Government so vehemently opposed to Aboriginal housing on the Block?
Can the AHC resolve its differences with Minister Frank Sartor?
What is the AHC's position on the drug dealing on the Block?
What is the AHC's position on the syringe distribution program that operates on the Block?
What is the AHC doing to address the social problems on the Block?
Will the Block become a ghetto again?
What is the AHC's response to the RWA Built Environment Plan?

 

What is the AHC?
A. The Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) is a multi-award winning non-profit charity and the first affordable housing provider for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Incorporated in 1973, the Company's formation was in response to the discrimination of Aborigines in the private rental market. The AHC helped kick-start grassroots civil rights for Aborigines in conjunction with other organisations like the Aboriginal Medical and Legal Services.
Click the following link to view our History Page.

What does the AHC do?
A. The core business of the AHC is to provide affordable housing for Aboriginal people, as a landlord.

What is the Block?
A. The Block, as it is known colloquially, is a group of homes in Redfern Sydney bound by Eveleigh Street, Vine Street, Louis Street and Caroline Street situated opposite the Redfern Railway Station.
Click the following link to view a location map of the Block.

Was all the Block handed over by the Whitlam Government in 1973?
A.  No, in 1973 only six terrace houses were bought by the Whitlam Government and handed back to Aboriginal ownership. The rest of the homes in the neighbourhood were owned by private individuals. In 1997 the AHC bought the last privately owned terrace house on the Block. The AHC now owns over 100 individual parcels of land.

Who lives on the Block?
A. Only Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander people and their respective partners and families live on "the Block". Due to constraints in the Company's constitution the AHC cannot rent any of its residential property to non-Indigenous people.

Have tenants been relocated against their will or evicted from the Block to make way for the new redevelopment?
A. Absolutely not. In 1997 three surveys where conducted of our tenants, one internally and two independent (by ATSIC and by the NSW Government). The 53 original households were asked if they wanted to remain on the Block or be relocated. At the time 41 households chose to relocate and 12 elected to stay. The reasons tenants chose to leave the Block are many and varied but generally speaking many were families and their concerns revolved around safety and the fear of children becoming involved in the drug and crime trades that dominated the area at any one time. In regards to the eviction of tenants, the AHC has had a policy up until recently of only evicting on the grounds of non-payment of rent. As of 2005, the AHC has adjusted its policy to reflect stronger drug premises legislation and has evicted tenants who have been caught selling drugs.

How and where have tenants been relocated?
A. The AHC's relocation program took several years to complete. The process was deliberately methodical to ensure the relocating families were happy with the new homes. Of the 41 households approximately half relocated with the NSW Department of Housing and the other half were relocated through the ATSIC's NAHS (National Aboriginal Health Strategy) program. Relocating tenants were asked to choose an area they wished to live in and the size and type of home they needed to suit their lifestyles and family size. Similar to home buyers, the tenants that were relocated through the NAHS program visited real estate agents, chose homes they liked, and the AHC negotiated to purchase them. Tenants from the Block have relocated everywhere from Redfern, Sydney's Western Suburbs, the north Coast of NSW, and even as far as Townsville in Qld.
Click the following link to view some of the homes tenants have relocated to.

Why is the AHC redeveloping the Block?
A. Most of the houses on the Block are nearly 100 years old and are well past their used by date. Many, if not all the houses, are derelict or close to derelict and are far from suitable for human habitation. The AHC intends to replace the derelict terrace houses with culturally appropriate, high quality, affordable homes.
Click the following link to view some of the present homes on the Block.

Why rebuild as opposed to renovate the houses on the Block?
A. Although there are several reasons the AHC has chosen to rebuild rather than renovate the most important one is to bring the existing properties to a high standard would require a complete restoration including structural improvements, not just cosmetic renovation, which would cost much more that rebuilding. A facilities assessment has revealed that it is more cost effective to demolish and start again rather than renovate the old structures. Anything less than a total rebuild would be a band-aid solution only. Also, the current terraces are inappropriate housing for Aboriginal families, the properties are narrow, damp and generally claustrophobic, this being a contributing factor to poor health and some of the general social problems witnessed on the Block. Finally, the rebuild option allows the opportunity to restructure the whole redevelopment area. The new design will do away with the row terracing configuration in favour of a layout which eliminates lane ways and other hidden areas that encourage drug related and general criminal activity. Crime prevention, community safety and relieving housing/health issues will also be paramount in the new design. A good public domain plan is an important instrument to ensure the past social problems on the Block do not re-emerge. None of this is achievable with only a cursory renovation of the remaining properties.
Click the following link to view houses on the Block after renovation in the 1980's.

Why did the AHC demolish the old terraces on the Block before the final plans for redevelopment where ready?
A. Under normal circumstances the AHC would not have undertaken the expensive process of spot demolitions if there wasn't a serious concern, at the time, that the derelict terraces posed a dangerous health and safety risk to the remaining community. Ordinarily, derelict properties can be secured temporarily and demolished in one go when a Master Plan is complete and construction is ready to commence. However, in the past, vacant properties on the Block became sites for drug use/dealing and other criminal activity, by non locals using the area. The empty terraces were an extreme fire hazard and were usually filled with discarded used syringes. While unsecured these buildings exposed local children, who play in and around them, to infectious diseases from discarded syringes.
Click the following link to view the derelict buildings demolished.

Is the AHC selling the Block?
A. The categorical answer to this question is the AHC is absolutely NOT selling the Block. It is on the public record that there is increasing pressure on the AHC to relinquish the Block, because the NSW Government is seeking to profit from land development in and around the railway station and a small group of developers are eager to gentrify the locality at the expense of the Aboriginal community. The Block is an icon and a modern sacred site [because of its historical significance to the Aboriginal civil rights movement] so the AHC's land will NEVER be for sale, at any price. As well, the AHC is using all its influence to resist the compulsory acquisition of the Block by the NSW government. For instance for three days in November 2004 the AHC's CEO and Project Director lobbied at parliament house for amendments to the Redfern Waterloo Authority Bill to improve protection under the legislation for the Block.

Is the AHC planning to replace the houses with a commercial development?
A. Absolutely not. The AHC is unwaveringly committed to rebuilding 62 new, culturally appropriate houses for Aboriginal families. The housing project is a major component of the Pemulwuy Project redevelopment master plan, and the last five years of planning has focused on reinstating a healthy and prosperous Aboriginal community to the Block. From a social planning perspective 62 families will generate a critical mass and the desired level of activity to facilitate the planned crime prevention strategies. The idea is that eyes on the street, where strangers police the street and residence police the strangers, will ensure the area remains safe and that local crime is manageable. The relevant social planning research has shown that more than 62 residences could result in the community becoming disconnected and fragmented; fewer than 62 families would make the community more vulnerable to infiltration by drugs and crime again. Fewer than 62 houses on the Block will seriously compromise the social sustainability and safety of the neighbourhood.

What will be built on the Block?
A. The AHC views this as one of the most important questions facing the Redfern community at present. What is certain so far is that 62 two, three and four bedroom homes will be built, with generous private open space, a spiritual garden and a billabong. Although originally there were 102 homes on and around the Block and the proposed 62 homes is an underdevelopment of the site, the social sustainability planning conducted for the Pemulwuy Project has identified that a critical mass of local residents, in this case between 300-400 people, is required to ensure the social sustainability of the project, and to achieve a low crime environment for the neighbourhood. The number 62 also happens to commemorate the 62 Gadigal families that made up the original tribe that traditionally lived in and around the Redfern area, and were wiped out by smallpox.
Click the following link to view our Redevelopment Page.

Will the community be consulted about the redevelopment?
A. Absolutely. The AHC values and relies on constructive community input in all areas of its operation. In the case of the redevelopment, simply put, there is no point in building something that nobody wants to live in. Because of the nature of Aboriginal culture much of the consultation has been conducted informally and on a one to one basis. Although this may not be the most efficient or time effective way it is the Aboriginal way - "just a couple of black fellas sitting around having a yarn". Nevertheless, the AHC understands the general public's need for formality in the process and consequently has given residents of the Block, the general public and Government the opportunity to express their opinions about the concept models during the public exhibit "Dreaming the Block", which ran from August through to November 2002. Over 300 people attended the exhibit, and all were encouraged to critique the 14 proposals that were on show. The AHC also conducted a year long, second round, of consultations in 2003 with a working model that reflected the wishes of the community. Since then the AHC has conducted extensive consultations with the Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal and local business community regarding the Pemulwuy Project. In 2005 the AHC will lodge a DA (development application) with the relevant consent authority, and a final round of consultations with the community will take place as part of this process.

Who is on the Pemulwuy vision Taskforce?
A. To ensure that decisions making process is transparent; the AHC has set up a Planning Team and a Taskforce to oversee the Pemulwuy Project. Ultimately, both the Taskforce and the Planning Team report to the AHC Board and members. The Taskforce is chaired by Tom Uren AO and membership is virtually a who's who of Australia's management, urban planning and housing professions. The Planning Team consists of mainly community residents, industry professionals and academics. The main role of the taskforce and planning team is to investigate and research various key issues surrounding the Block and develop conceptual redevelopment models using the AHC's Community Social Plan as a guide.

•	[Chair] Hon Tom Uren AO - former Minister for Urban and Regional Development with the Federal Whitlam Government and former Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Community Development during the Hawke administration.
•	Professor Ed Blakely - Chair of Sydney University's Department of Urban and Regional Planning & Chair of the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy.
•	Professor Peter Webber - Emeritus Professor of Urban and Regional Planning Sydney University.
•	Dr Vivienne Milligan - Director of AHURI Sydney Research Centre and founder of City West Housing Company & NSW Aboriginal Housing Office.
•	Colin James AM - M.Arch (Harvard) & Director of the IB Fell Housing Research Centre.
•	Associate Professor Peter Phibbs - Head of the School of Architecture at Sydney University.
•	Dr David Leifer - Coordinator of the Graduate Programme in Facilities Management at Sydney University and former Chair of the International Facility Management Association, Chair of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.
•	Martin Butterworth - Managing Director of Space Syntax Australia, B.Des.St, B.Arch, M.Sc, RAIA, specialist in designing Urban Economies.
•	Angela Pitts - Sydney University PhD candidate & author of the award winning Redfern Community Social Plan & the Redfern Safety Plan.
•	Paul Knight - Dharawal man, Director of Tranby College, specialist in Aboriginal Business Enterprise.
•	Tony Larkings - President of the Redfern Chamber of Commerce and Redfern resident.
•	Geoff Turnbull - Spokesperson for REDwatch and Redfern resident.

What is the Pemulwuy Project?
A. The Pemulwuy Project is the name given to the AHC's redevelopment proposal for the Block. The AHC owns significant land holding in and around the Block and the Pemulwuy Project incorporates a mix of residential and commercial development including:

•	62 high quality culturally appropriate and affordable family homes. Two thirds of the residential residences will be offered for affordable homeownership to Aboriginal families.
•	A student hostel
•	Aboriginal artist markets every Sunday in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce.
•	Retail and office facilities.
•	A museum and exhibit space illustrating the history of Redfern and the Block.
•	An Aboriginal business college with conferencing facilities, incubator businesses and a culture centre.
•	A full function sporting facility and boxing gym.

Who will benefit from the Pemulwuy Project?
A. The Pemulwuy Project will have a profound effect that will resonate with Aboriginal
communities throughout Australia. Although the AHC's first priority is naturally the Aboriginal community, we recognise that if we all work together regardless of colour or creed we can achieve amazing things. Some of the benefits from Pemulwuy Project are listed below:

•	Greater cultural pride, self respect and hope for Redfern's Aboriginal community.
•	Safer environment for children in a low crime, drug free neighbourhood.
•	Greater opportunities for education and employment.
•	Opportunities for Aboriginal enterprise by making Redfern the heart of Sydney's Aboriginal cultural tourism.
•	Unprecedented affordable Aboriginal homeownership in the inner-city.
•	A cultural heart for Sydney where everyone is welcome.
•	Lower crime, less radicalism and better race relations.
•	Removal of the last inner-city ghetto.
•	Practical reconciliation without welfare handouts.
•	Greater sense of justice for the world's oldest surviving culture.
•	Greater sense of pride and involvement in Australia's Indigenous culture.
•	Cultural respect and tolerance.

 

Is there support for the Pemulwuy Project?
A. The AHC has spent the last 5 years researching and planning for the Pemulwuy Project, during which time 1000s of people have inspected the project and many have contributed in a positive way to its development. A very short list of supporters includes:

•	Indigenous communities around Australia have expressed their strong support for the Project.
•	Overwhelming support from non-Indigenous people, especially in Redfern.
•	The Redfern Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.
•	Over 100 international housing experts signed a petition in support of the Project during the UN sponsored 2005 Housing Conference in Istanbul Turkey.
•	Australian Federal Government.
•	Marie Bashir Governor of NSW.
•	Hon Tom Uren AO, chairs our Project Taskforce
•	Sydney University - Professor Ed Blakely (Urban Planning), Colin James AM (Architecture), Dr Vivian Milligan (Housing Management), Dr David Leifer (Asset Management), Professor Peter Fibbs (Land Economics), PhD Candidate Angela Pitts (Social Planning).
•	Innovarchi Architects in association with the famous Renzo Piano.
•	NSW Institute of Planning.
•	NSW Institute of Architects.
•	Property Council of Australia.
•	The churches including Catholic, Anglican, Uniting and Hillsong.
•	Sydney City Council.
•	Marrickville Council.
•	The NSW Greens.
•	The NSW Liberal Party.
•	Aden Ridgeway and the NSW Democrats.
•	Rev Fred Nile.

Why is the NSW Government so vehemently opposed to Aboriginal housing on the Block?
A. This is a curious turn of events because the AHC had worked very closely with the NSW Premier's Department for the three years prior to the Redfern Waterloo Authority. The NSW Government was very supportive of the Pemulwuy Project, encouraging and even funding the proposal for 62 new Aboriginal homes on the Block. The NSW Government Architect's office was instrumental in preparing the final concept model for the Pemulwuy Project. The former NSW Premier Bob Carr in his speech to launch the "Year of Built Environment" at Kogarah Town Hall on the 04/02/04 publicly announced his support for the AHC's proposal for 62 new dwellings on the Block. The parliamentary inquiry that resulted from the 2004 riots also recognised that the Pemulwuy Project represented the most obvious long term sustainable solution to the issues on the Block, and recommended in their interim report that funding by the NSW Government be made available immediately, to build the project. The suggestion now that the AHC's proposal is an "experiment" that "re-concentrates high-dependency housing" and a "repeat of previous mistakes" is wrong and deliberately misleading. Given that all the issues that have recently been raised by Minister Frank Sartor have already been resolved with the assistance of the NSW Premier's Dept there is no valid objection. The only motivation that seems to explain the NSW Government's change of heart is that they now see Redfern as a cash cow and the Government is looking to remove Aboriginal people from the Block to maximise profits from the sale of nearby railway land.

Can the AHC resolve its differences with Minister Frank Sartor?
A. There is absolutely no possibility that the AHC will ever work with Minister Frank Sartor or the Redfern Waterloo Authority as long as the Minister is in charge. Minister Frank Sartor has no respect for Aboriginal people and he is willing to sweep them aside and remove them from their own land to satisfy the greedy profiteering of a small group of influential property developers. To work with Frank Sartor would be to endorse his racist and arrogant behaviour.

What is the AHC's position on the drug dealing on the Block?
A. Several years ago crime had reached epidemic levels on the Block. At the time, up to 15 drug houses operated with impunity in Louis Street and Eveleigh Street. Since then the AHC, through its redevelopment/relocation program, has demolished numerous houses that were being used as illegal shooting galleries and safe zones for drug dealers and organised crime. As a result of this program, many drug dealers have been relocated away from the Block. In 2005 we estimate no more than 1 drug house remains. The criminal demographic in the area has changed significantly since 1998, with many of the dealers decentralising their operations and only frequenting the Block to conduct business on the surrounding streets occasionally. Although the Block is not as violent or as dangerous as it once was, the AHC considers any level of criminal activity as unacceptable and is striving to eliminate drugs from our community altogether. Needless to say the AHC is planning to adopt a zero tolerance to drugs in the new redevelopment. The AHC is the only private company in the Australia that has had to handle a substantial drug trade on its own; and to its credit it has done so very successfully.

What is the AHC's position on the syringe distribution program that operates on the Block?
A. The needle bus is a honey-pot that not only contributes to the Block's image as a drug area but encourages transient addicts and dealers to remain in the immediate neighbourhood. Drugs are sold in every suburb of Sydney and in many suburbs in much greater volume than on the Block. However, the Block is the only residential neighbourhood in Sydney with a needle bus. In other areas drug users make a quick buy and leave, but on the Block the presence of the needle bus sends the message that using drugs is tolerated. Furthermore, the police are prohibited from undertaking drug operations around the needle bus, which contributed to the lawlessness of the Block in a very direct way. Furthermore, the AHC strongly objects to the needle bus being parked in front of a children's playground, which entrenches in the mind of local children that drugs are a normal part of their lives. Needless to say, the AHC wants the needle bus gone and hopes that no other community is ever burdened with such a parasitic and destructive service.

To view local children being exposed to the needle bus, click on the shocking pics below:-
Photo-1, Photo-2, Photo-3, Photo-4   (What if they were your kids?)

What is the AHC doing to address the social problems on the Block?
A. It is no accident that the Block is in the state it is. This is the end result of decades of Government neglect and ill-conceived policies that have maintained both poverty and crime in the area. For many years fingers have been pointed at the AHC as being responsible for dealing with every problem on the Block, just because it is the landlord. The AHC is set up to only deliver affordable housing and it has become a belief that the AHC should be expected to deal with the issues of law and order, drugs, alcohol abuse, the abuse of women and children and so on? In reality it simply cannot. The social dysfunction and disadvantage of this community is overwhelming and only through the cooperation of service providers and adequate resourcing can the issues on the Block be addressed. The Block has always been in the too hard basket for Government and the AHC has had to take the proverbial bull by the horns and overstep its original charter and prepare a Community Social Plan for the Block. The Social Plan identifies all the social problems, investigates possible causes and offers realistic achievable solutions and guidelines. The AHC continues to be one of the very few organisations genuinely committed to providing a positive future for Aboriginal people on the Block.

Will the Block become a ghetto again?
A. Despite scare-mongering by the NSW Government there is absolutely no credible evidence that the Block will become a ghetto again. Vigilance is the key to success. Experience shows us that communities do not create ghettos; government neglect and destructive government policies [like the needle bus] creates ghettos. No one in their right mind could believe that a community would settle into a nice area and then willingly decide to destroy their environment. No one wants to live in a ghetto, least of all Aboriginal people, who have been relegated to live in substandard housing for decades. People should ask themselves, if the community created the ghetto on the Block why would it fight so hard to keep it and fix it? Why not simply take the government's offer to move out to new housing off the Block? The real answer is the community did not create the problem but it wants the opportunity to fix the problem. It's only fitting that the solutions to the Block have been developed by the AHC and the community. There are a number of strategies the AHC has put in place to ensure the Block does not become a slum again. For instance, the AHC's development proposal has included CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) throughout the design process and the AHC has recently won an international award for its approach to crime prevention. Other strategies include incorporating a socio-economic mix of residents, including affordable home ownership. Early intervention for youth and developing partnerships to tackle the social problems including drugs and alcohol, crime, youth antisocial behaviour, homelessness, unemployment and education are all part of the long term strategies. The AHC will also work with the community to develop Aboriginal protocols and by-laws that incorporate Aboriginal lore and community policing. Reconciliation through greater community governance and participation is also high on the agenda. From a built environment perspective the plan is to replace the old unsafe terrace houses with new cultural appropriate modern family homes, while maintaining a good public domain environment and community through best practice management systems. Activity generators like cafes, markets and other retail/commercial spaces will be built at the top of the Block creating a welcome entrance for all nationalities to mix and socialise. Physically opening up the Block will also remove isolation as a factor for high local crime. Removing alleyways will further improve natural surveillance. Although the built environment and social strategies will provide a critical foundation for a more harmonious community, the way the finished project is management will play an important role in the long term sustainability of the community. For instance, much has changed about the way the Block is now managed, the staff are better trained and highly experienced, the operation is more professional, and the AHC has formed stronger partnerships with Government and across the service provider spectrum.     

What is the AHC's response to the RWA Built Environment Plan?
A. The community has eagerly awaited the AHC’s response to the Redfern Waterloo Authority (RWA) Built Environment Plan. The complex and confusing nature of the RWA document warranted careful and deliberate consideration before the AHC could respond. To decipher the RWA document the AHC sought the support and advice of a team of lawyers, planners and the Pemulwuy Taskforce. Regrettably, Minister Sartor has not changed his mind about reducing the number of Aboriginal families who could live back on Aboriginal owned land in Redfern. Clearly the RWA Built Environment Plan is the tool the Minister intends to use to fulfil his program to limit Aboriginal housing on the Block. Specifically, the RWA Plan proposes to significant increase residential density in every other area around Redfern railway station, except on Aboriginal owned land. In most cases allowable residential is triple and in some seven times the original densities, while on Aboriginal land residential density is halved. The immediate area in which the AHC’s land is located is the only land in close proximity to the railway station that suffered a reduction in residential density. No planning rationale or reason has been given as to why reduced housing densities are only proposed for the AHC’s land. There is no reason given why there is one policy proposed for the Aboriginal community, and a different policy for the rest of Redfern. The AHC has lodged the strongest objection to the blatant discrimination and inequality in the use of planning controls to socially and culturally engineer Redfern. Although the AHC's official objection is tailored specifically to address the discrimination toward the Aboriginal community, in no way should this be viewed as an endorsement of the rest of the RWA Plan. In fact, the AHC has serious reservations as to the sustainability of the proposed high rise residential/commercial buildings around the railway station, and doubts there is any real benefit to the Redfern community in the associated employment plan. Truthfully, the RWA Plans all seem like a lot of smoke and mirrors giving the NSW Government the pretence it needs to maximum profits from the sale of Redfern's assets. Redfern's railway land, school, court house, police station and hospital are all on the auction block. The RWA Plan may talk about creating thousands of new jobs in Redfern but there appears to be no strategy to ensure that these jobs will go to Redfern locals who desperately need them? In fact, there seems to be no strategy, no research, no guarantee, no real consultation with the community, and no real plan beyond a cherry picked approach to achieve big profits for the NSW Government; while the Redfern community is left holding an emaciated empty bag and living with the consequences of more bad government decisions in Redfern.

Read the full objection submitted by Richard Smyth and John Mant on behalf of the AHC

Read the full objection submitted by Michael Mundine CEO of the AHC