Ms CHARISHMA KALIYANDA (Liverpool) (19:14): I was recently involved in launching an important research report at the Western Sydney University campus in Liverpool,The Value of Housing Co‑Operatives in Australia. I have previously spoken in this House about the impact of the housing crisis in Liverpool and the many ways that my office assists community members with those issues. Australia's contemporary housing landscape is dominated by private home ownership, and private rental and social rental housing. However, another option exists alongside those forms and offers opportunities for residents to have a say over their housing without having to enter into potentially unworkable levels of debt. Alongside affordability, the option also offers long‑term stable, safe, secure and dignified housing for a growing number of Australians.

A housing cooperative is run by members for members—a community of people who work together to meet their housing needs. Co-op members share activities in the management and running of their co‑op, with opportunities for all members to participate in the co‑op according to their capacity and ability. Housing cooperatives are defined by a "one member, one vote" principle. That means, as both tenants and members, residents have a say in how the organisation runs and how homes are maintained. It is fitting that one of New South Wales' first housing Ministers and a former Premier of our great State was actually a former member for Liverpool, Jim McGirr. However, I think that Jim McGirr's most significant achievement was establishing the Housing Commission of New South Wales in his capacity as the housing Minister. That, as many would know, became the most important State body dealing with the post World War II and post-Depression housing shortage.

We find ourselves in a similar situation today. Liverpool has the second highest number of public housing dwellings in New South Wales out of the 93 electorates. Three suburbs in the electorate—Busby, Ashcroft and Miller—have some of the highest rates of housing stress in Australia. The housing crisis is palpable. Some 80 per cent of the inquiries my office receives are related to housing and, as always, people's stories tear at your heart. But different contexts and challenges call for different solutions. In the words of Rahm Emanuel, never let a serious crisis go to waste. It is an opportunity to do things you could not do before. The report details the important role that housing cooperatives play in offering choice in housing. It is an option that can provide dignity through a sense of ownership and empowerment. Cooperatives can help people settle down, grow as individuals, build careers, keep their kids in the same school and contribute to their neighbourhoods. They play a huge role in people building and experiencing community, which is often forgotten when we think and talk about housing.

One of my pet hates is the focus on dwellings when we talk about housing. That reduction of where we spend so much of our time and what can often determine the trajectory of our lives to bricks and mortar really bugs me. I am an occupational therapist before I am a politician and have spent most of my working life in the mental health and youth sectors, so the reported beneficial impacts of cooperative living on skill development, employment, education, a sense of stability and security, a sense of wellbeing and agency really stand out to me. I particularly appreciate that the report provides evidence for a different model of thriving and living. It is a model that places human connection, personal responsibility, equity and shared values at its heart. As a private rental tenant, the idea of unwittingly becoming drawn into the lives of my neighbours speaks to a busybody like me.

Liz Thomas of Common Equity Housing mentioned the importance of training and resources in supporting the establishment of cooperatives. That speaks to the skill development and empowerment that can have a compounding beneficial impact for culturally and linguistically diverse members of our community. The type of arrangement that many may see as a cooperative can be widespread, even though it may not be formally labelled as a cooperative. Liz Thomas highlights cooperative housing as potentially providing the missing middle in our housing affordability crisis. I particularly thank Professor Louise Crabtree-Evans of the Institute for Culture and Society, her whole team and the stakeholders who have contributed to bringing this research to life. I look forward to this body of work contributing to the public discourse and identified solutions to the current housing crisis.