Long-term, subsidised rental housing is provided to assist people who have extreme difficulty in accessing housing in the private housing market. The collective term for this type of housing is ‘social housing’ which in New South Wales includes: 

• ‘public housing’ managed by Homes NSW (a division of the Department of Communities and Justice) 
• ‘community housing’ managed by non-government organisations (social housing providers) 
• housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples managed by the Aboriginal Housing Office or Aboriginal social housing providers.

In New South Wales, applications for housing assistance are managed through Housing Pathways. This is a partnership between Homes NSW, including the Aboriginal Housing Office, and participating community housing providers. Housing Pathways provides a single application process, common eligibility criteria, a standard assessment process and a single waiting list known as the NSW Housing Register. 

This audit will assess whether social housing is effectively and efficiently prioritised to meet the needs of vulnerable households, and whether social housing tenants are effectively supported to establish and sustain their tenancies. 

The audit will assess all types of social housing including public housing, community housing and housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Audit Office is seeking experiences or views on: 

• the process of applying for social housing (including evidence requirements) 
• the process of being offered and accepting a social housing property
• support programs and services offered to new social housing tenants. 

If you have experiences or views on these areas, you can share them with the Audit Office. This can be done anonymously if you wish. We will consider all feedback provided as we conduct this audit. 

Please note that the audit mailbox will close at 5pm on Friday 28 February 2025. 

You can provide feedback on this audit either through the ‘contribute to this audit’ button in the left hand menu (or the comment icon on top right for mobile) or through this link. 

We may use your feedback to identify key themes, risks or issues which we may investigate further during the audit. In some instances, we may use extracts of contributions in our audit report as examples of feedback provided where appropriate. If we use extracts of a contribution, we will not identify the source in the report.

However, please note: 

• We will not examine individual matters, nor can we investigate all issues or concerns raised. In general, the audit team will look for supporting evidence from other sources (such as documentation, data and audit interviews). Please contact the Department of Communities and Justice, individual community housing providers, the Registrar of Community Housing, Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services, the NSW Ombudsman, or the Independent Commission Against Corruption regarding individual matters (details below). 
• We will not share your feedback with any party, including the Department of Communities and Justice or any community housing providers, nor do we publish feedback on our website. 
• While we will consider all feedback provided, we may not contact you to discuss. 
• We are not able to answer questions or provide information collected during the course of the audit. 
• Performance audits focus on assessing whether public money is spent efficiently, effectively, economically and in compliance with the law. The Auditor-General is not permitted to question the merits of government policy objectives. Please visit the Performance audit guide for audited entities (including non-public sector entities) for more information on how we undertake performance audits.

The Audit Office is required by section 38 of the Government Sector Audit Act 1983 to keep information gathered during the course of a performance audit confidential and the Audit Office takes its responsibilities under these sections seriously. 

Exceptions include the Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament – a public document – and where the Audit Office is permitted or required to disclose information under other legislation. 

All information that the Audit Office receives, and working papers that the Audit Office creates during an audit, are classed as excluded information in Schedule 2 of the Government Information (Public Sector) Act 2009 (GIPA Act). An access application under the GIPA Act cannot be made for excluded information. 

For more information on our confidentiality obligations, please visit Our confidentiality and reporting obligations for contributions page.

If you have questions or feedback about individual matters, you can: 

• contact the Department of Communities and Justice online or by calling 1800 422 322 
• contact a community housing provider through their individual website or contact details 
• contact the Registrar for Community Housing to make a complaint against a community housing provider online or by calling 1800 330 940 
• contact Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services for tenancy and legal advice. Their website provides online forms and phone numbers for advice. 
• make a complaint to the NSW Ombudsman online or by calling 1800 451 524 
• make a complaint about corruption to the Independent Commission Against Corruption online or by calling 02 8281 5999.