Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown—Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) (22:07): Of all the State Government issues that are brought to my Charlestown electorate office, social housing maintenance is always number one in terms of volume.

The privatisation of the maintenance system by the former Government resulted in chronic miscommunication, jobs left undone, delays and minor issues being allowed to snowball into major structural problems. It also left social housing tenants feeling frustrated, unheard and with the lasting impression that their living conditions were not a government priority.

That is why I cannot express to this House strongly enough my absolute support for the Minns Government's plans to overhaul the approach to housing maintenance. The Government is proposing a back‑to‑basics model that will focus on quality, accountability, better outcomes for tenants and better value for taxpayers. To that I say, "Yes, please," and "Finally!"

This is a Government that listens to its constituents, listens to its MPs, listens to its departments and most of all—most importantly—listens to its tenants. This boots-on-the-ground approach, which will streamline maintenance requests through a one-stop maintenance hub, will help prevent delays and waste.

Trained experts will be on the ground to answer tenant questions and coordinate work orders. The development of a new app will allow people to see the status of their requests, which will be an absolute game changer for social housing tenants in the electorate that I serve and, no doubt, right across New South Wales. The lack of cohesion and communication in the privatised system has been clear in the feedback I have had from constituents.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the same story: "I reported the problem through the maintenance line. Someone came and took photos and that's the last I heard." That is when they come to my office looking for help. The progress of maintenance requests has been opaque and offers zero certainty to the affected tenants. Tenants reported putting in multiple maintenance requests to fix different aspects of the same job. For example, they have had to request that water‑damaged timbers are replaced at the same time as requesting that leaking pipes within a bathroom wall are fixed. Worse still was the case of one family whose walls were ripped out and temporarily replaced by plastic sheeting—and then the tradesmen never came back.

It had been incorrectly marked as "completed" in the system. Tenants contacting my office have been absolutely appalled by the waste of resources in having multiple people come out multiple times to assess a job or having to get tradesman in repeatedly to finish work. When asked by my office whether measurements had been taken for their particular maintenance issue, a constituent replied, "Yes, three times now."

Social housing tenants are incredibly frustrated when small things such as an upstairs bathroom leak are left to continue unchecked until it is not just a leaking pipe that needs replacing but the entire bathroom, the floor and the downstairs ceiling. I know I have the support of my Government colleagues when I state that this is simply not good enough.

We heard the need for urgent action. It was a key election commitment ahead of the March election, and reform is now on its way. I assure members that the news of these reforms has been met with sincere enthusiasm in the Charlestown electorate. On social media one of my constituents commented:

So good to have a State government that works for the people and looks after the most vulnerable — followed by the clapping hands emoji. Most importantly, these reforms are not happening in a silo. It is part of a fundamental shift in the way that social housing is approached in New South Wales.

It is coupled with a $35 million commitment in the 2023‑24 budget to help ease the maintenance backlog. The brand‑new agency Homes NSW will bring together the Land and Housing Corporation, the Aboriginal Housing Office and the Department of Communities and Justice's housing and homelessness functions. The maintenance hub will exist inside this new agency.

Members can see the pattern forming here—one of cooperation, collaboration and coordination. We are listening to the people who are at the heart of this system and taking on board their concerns. I commend the work of my colleague the Minister for Housing, the Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC, for her vision in bringing these reforms forward. I very much look forward to continuing to share the good news with my constituents and to them having their homes looked after.