Public housing in the Australian Capital Territory

Government built housing in Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

and the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

has a history stemming from the decision to build the National Capital in the bush

The Bush

"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...

. In the early years Canberra's housing was entirely government-built and even after private development took over there has been a number of government houses included in almost every new suburb. Typical Canberra public housing is built on a limited number of plans repeated through an area of a suburb, with two or three bedrooms and constructed in unfinished brick veneer. They typically range in size from around 80 m² to 130 m². The term Govie is a colloquialism used to describe the typical Canberran government built house.

Early days

The earliest post-ACT housing in Canberra was the work camps for the labourers brought in to construct the new capital. By 1913 the workforce had reached 754 people. The majority lived in camps - single and married quarters - placed at the major work sites of Acton (administration & first nursery area), brickyards, power house and Cotter River. Single men lived in tents and married men constructed their own humpies.

A few permanent cottages were constructed at Acton in the teen years of the twentieth century and by 1912 the timber accommodation known as "The Bachelors Quarters' was occupied.

The outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

led to the slowing of work and a reduction of the workforce.

In 1921/22 the FCAC (Federal Capital Advisory Commission) had a number of brick cottages erected for trademen at Brickyards (7), opposite the Power House (modern Barton - 20 cottages ) and at Civic (20). In 1923 a further 16 were constructed at Blandfordia (Forrest).

In 1921/22 the remaining buildings of the Molonglo Internment Camp (now Fyshwick) were converted into Canberra's first temporary settlement for workmen. It consisted of 120 houses and accommodation for 150 tradesmen. This settlement was followed in 1924 by 52 timber cottages (very small - 2 bedroom) at Westlake (now Stirling Park Yarralumla) and 15 at Acton. The following year in 1925 work commenced on another 20 at Causeway and these were followed in turn by another 80.

These few houses were quite insufficient for the number of construction workers living in the territory and in 1925 the FCC (Federal Capital Commission) made available 80 sites at Riverbourne (south side of the Molonglo River 3 miles from the Queanbeyan Post Office). At Riverbourne and Russell Hill (modern suburb of Campbell) where another 120 sites were made available men again were expected to construct their own cotages. Riverbourne closed in early 1927 and Russell Hill - opened in 1926 - lasted until the mid 1950s.

The temporary suburbs of Molonglo, Westlake, Acton workmen's cottages remained until in the case of Molonglo into the 1950s and Westlake/Acton in to the mid 1960s. Causeway remained until the mid 1970s when the timber temporary cottages were replaced with brick.

One contractor, John Howie, whose men built the Hotel Canberra, erected 25 timber cottages for his married men and 18 or more timber huts for his single men in the area of modern Stirling Park on the hill opposite Lotus Bay.

Single men continued to live under canvas until 1926 when the tents in the majority of settled camps were replaced with small cubicles constructed from baltic pine.

In 1925 three permanent' camps were erected for single men - south side at Causeway, centre of Canberra on Capitol Hill - and on the north side near modern Civic. This last mentioned camp was known as White City Camp and it was removed in the early 1930s when the land was required for building Canberra High School (now the Art School).

Capitol Hill (later named Capital Hill) Camp continued with additional buildings added after World War 2 into the 1960s.

Construction for the Public Servants being transferred to Canberra began 1925-26. The first couple of departments were transferred to Canberra in 1926 and were followed in early 1927 by the majority of departments transferred to Canberra.

People living in the temporary houses were unable to buy their cottages and did not receive any allowances for living in an area that was more expensive than the capital cities. Those transferring to the city, however, received allowances that ranged from around 19 pounds pa to 60-70 odd.

The rental cost for each cottage was based on the money paid for the construction of each. A cap was placed on building costs in each suburb which resulted in the lower paid officials transferring to Canberra being houses in Ainslie, North Ainslie and South Ainslie (now Braddon, Ainslie & Reid). The better paid officials moved into Forrest.

People were encouraged to buy their houses for the cost of construction only and any rent paid was included in the payment.

Single people transferring to the Territory were housed in Gorman House (females only in the early years - most were 'typistes), Beauchamp House, Brassey House (now Hotel Brassey), Hotel Acton, Hotel Ainslie (for short time only) and Hotel Kurrajong.

The Hotel Canberra was the first hostel to be built - in 1925 - to house politicians and even if a workman could afford the tariff he would not be allowed to stay there. The Kurrajong followed the next year and the others mentioned earlier with the exception of Gorman House (built 1925) were constructed in 1927.

The Federal Capital Commission

Federal Capital Commission

The Federal Capital Commission was an agency of the Australian government formed to construct and administer Canberra from 1 January 1925. The Chief Commissioner of the body was Sir John Butters....

was formed in 1925 to prepare the city for the transfer of public servants and their families. The Commission had been preceded by the Federal Capital Advisory Committee

Federal Capital Advisory Committee

The Federal Capital Advisory Committee was a body of the Australian government which oversaw the construction of Canberra from 1921 to 1924 following the termination of the contract of architect Walter Burley Griffin....

which had overseen the commencement of construction of Canberra following the termination of the Walter Burley Griffin

Walter Burley Griffin

Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect, who is best known for his role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city...

's contract.

In May 1925 the FCC decided to create a Social Service Association. This plan brought all the Progress Associations under the control of the FCC. A meeting was held and a document made that gives us the information about the numbers in each of the settlements and camps. Molonglo had a population of 750 and Westlake (Stirling Park) had 700 living in Howie's Settlement, Westlake Cottages and three government single camps.

The majority of houses constructed for those transferring to Canberra were built by private contractors with some day labour. HLB Lasseter was one who worked as a carpenter on the Ainslie cottages.

In 1927 the government approved construction of 545 government houses and for the first time approved the construction of 110 privately built houses. Unfortunately, the following year saw the approval of only 24 private dwellings, due mainly to the looming depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. Even government construction was slowing down with only 2 houses under construction by the middle of 1928.

By 1941 there were only 400 privately-owned houses in Canberra compared to 1633 government houses and a further 309 government-owned workers' cottages and tenements. World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

again brought a halt to housing construction in Canberra and by the end of the war Canberra's housing shortage was estimated at least 500 houses with 600 people on the government housing waiting list.

Those who were able to find the money to build within the required two-year period had the added problem of rationing of bricks etc.

In the post World War 2 period many flats were built to help house those in desperate need of accommodation.

Post World War II

The years following the end of the war led to even greater demands for public housing in Canberra. Facing building supply shortages and ever-increasing demand for accommodation, alternate methods of housing construction were investigated. The ACT Advisory Council recommended that "temporary housing in the form of rebuilt Army huts be provided for at least 100 families, subject to it being assumed as a government responsibility that these huts be replaced by housing of adequate standard at a later stage.". Hostels were erected near modern day Commonwealth Park, Reid

Reid, Australian Capital Territory

Reid is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Located directly next to Canberra City, Reid is one of the oldest suburbs in Canberra....

, Kingston

Kingston, Australian Capital Territory

Kingston is the oldest and most densely populated suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after Charles Cameron Kingston, the former Premier of South Australia and minister in the first Australian Commonwealth Government. It is adjacent to the suburbs of...

and Barton

Barton, Australian Capital Territory

Barton is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Barton is named after Sir Edmund Barton, Australia's first Prime Minister. Streets in Barton are named after Governors....

. The hostels where built using ex-military buildings moved from Narellan

Narellan, New South Wales

Narellan is a suburb of the Macarthur Region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia in Camden Council.-History:The area now known as Narellan was probably originally home to the Tharawal people, based in the Illawarra region, although the Western Sydney-based Darug people and the...

near Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

and Mulwala

Mulwala, New South Wales

Mulwala is a town in the Corowa Shire Local Government Area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated on Lake Mulwala, an artificial lake formed by the damming of the Murray River. At the 2006 census, Mulwala had a population of 1,986 people...

in the Riverina

Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...

.

In 1947 disused sleeping huts from Tocumwal

Tocumwal, New South Wales

Tocumwal is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia in the Berrigan Shire Local Government Area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne. The Newell Highway, part of the main road route between...

air base where transported to Canberra and refitted as family homes. The huts had been built originally to resemble houses rather than barracks to avoid aerial detection and bombing. They are of weatherboard and fibro

Fibro

Fibro, the shortened form of "Fibrous Cement" - or "Fibrous Asbestos Cement", FAC, is a building material made of compressed fibres cemented into rigid sheets....

construction and have wide verandahs. 100 of the "Tocumwals" were erected in O'Connor

O'Connor, Australian Capital Territory

O'Connor is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district. It was named after Richard Edward O'Connor , who was a judge in the High Court and a founder of the Australian constitution. Street names in O'Connor are named after explorers, Australian flora, legislators and pioneers...

around a central park. Some Tocumwals were also located in Ainslie

Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory

Ainslie is a leafy suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district.The suburb is bounded by Limestone Avenue and Majura Avenue to the west and north, Phillip Avenue to the north-east, Mount Ainslie to the east and Quick Street to the south.Ainslie is within walking distance of the...

. Many are still standing to this day. Unusually, the houses were erected without concrete foundations in order to save time and money; the brick footings sat on a double row of bricks laid directly onto the ground in a shallow trench.

In 1946 the government began experimenting with concrete construction, with a test concrete wall being added to a house in Turner

Turner, Australian Capital Territory

Turner is a leafy early Canberra suburb, close to Canberra City and the Australian National University ....

. An initial contract of 100 monocrete

Monocrete construction

Monocrete is a building construction method utilising modular bolt-together pre-cast concrete wall panels.Monocrete construction was widely used in the construction of government housing in the 1940s and 1950s in Canberra, Australia...

prefabricated houses was tendered in 1946 for construction in Turner and O'Connor. A further group of 45 houses was scheduled for Yarralumla

Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory

Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately south-west of the city, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin...

in 1948. Monocrete houses were also constructed in many other Canberra suburbs.

Other forms of prefabricated housing were tested during this time. The Beaufort aircraft factory built a prefabricated steel house in Ainslie. In 1948, a timber prefabicated house was imported from Finland and erected in Canberra. Riley-Newsum prefabricated houses were constructed at Duntroon, Ainslie, O’Connor and Deakin in the early 1950s.

Families arriving in Canberra soon after the war were often accommodated in hostels such as Reid House or the Acton Hotel, sometimes initially they were offered a room in the house of a work colleague. Some families were split between hostels, and the government encouraged families to send their children away to boarding school.

The government also reversed its earlier policy and started building flats in Canberra. Between 1948 and 1952 four blocks of flats where built at Griffith

Griffith, Australian Capital Territory

Griffith is an early inner-south suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Griffith is named after Sir Samuel Griffith, who was chosen in 1903 as the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and retained his position until retirement in 1919...

, Braddon

Braddon, Australian Capital Territory

Braddon is an inner north suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Located north of the Canberra CBD, Braddon contains a commercial area centred on Mort and Lonsdale streets, which run parallel to Northbourne Avenue...

and Ainslie

Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory

, containing a total of 184 one- and two-bedroom flats.

Even with these increased construction measures, waiting lists for public housing continued to increase. By 1955 the list contained more than 3000 families and individuals.

The NCDC

In March 1958 the National Capital Development Commission

National Capital Development Commission

The National Capital Development Commission was an Australian Commonwealth Government body created to complete the establishment of Canberra as the seat of government. It was created in 1957 through the National Capital Development Commission Act 1957.Under the control of the NCDC Canberra grew...

took responsibility for the planning and construction of Canberra. It inherited a public housing system with a waiting list of 3,000 people and imminent plans to move 3,000 more public servants from Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

and Sydney

Sydney

Self Government

In 1989 control of public housing in Canberra switched to the newly formed ACT government. By then the stock of government houses in Canberra was ageing. The standard of accommodation was lower than in other states and many houses were of non-conventional, high maintenance construction.

Government housing today

Government housing in the ACT is now controlled by Housing and Community Services ACT a division of the ACT Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services. The public housing system in Canberra now contains over 11,000 properties. Criteria for allocation of housing was made more stringent in the 2006-07 Australian Capital Territory budget

2006-07 Australian Capital Territory budget

The 2006-07 Australian Capital Territory budget for the financial year 2006-2007 was presented to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly by Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Jon Stanhope on 6 June 2006...

. Single people earning more than 60% of the average wage and couples earning more than 75% of the average wage will not be eligible.

Modernisation

Government housing has been progressively sold off over the years into private ownership. Extensions, decks, bagging (cement

Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

render

Stucco

Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...

) and painting have re-made the Canberra Govie into a different yet still distinctive style of house. These privately owned properties are colloquially referred to as Ex-Govies.

In the 2006 budget, the Government announced it would sell a further 500 dwellings and use the proceeds to reinvest in other public housing.

Forestry settlements

During the early years of the ACT the government built small forestry settlements at Uriarra

Uriarra, Australian Capital Territory

Uriarra is a settlement in the Australian Capital Territory. It had been a forestry settlement from the 1920s to the 1980s.The 2003 bushfires destroyed 16 houses in Uriarra, with only 6 houses still standing afterwards...

, Pierces Creek and Stromlo. Much of these settlements was devastated by the 2003 Canberra bushfires

2003 Canberra bushfires

The Canberra bushfires of 2003 caused severe damage to the outskirts of Canberra, the Australian capital city. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory’s pasture, forests and nature parks were severely damaged, and most of the renowned Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed...

and their fate remains under consideration.

External links

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