As the Commissioner for service in New South Wales my role is primarily about advocating for citizens and for businesses in terms of improving how government interacts with citizens and businesses everyday throughout this state.
In August last year, then Premier Mike Baird approached me about major concern on the acquisition of property in NSW and particularly in Sydney. Given the degree of infrastructure that is going on in this city and so I then conducted a review of approximately six weeks where I looked in detail at the whole process of housing acquisition.
The process I used was to first of all discuss this with many stakeholders in government with public sector people but most importantly with people that are actually doing the projects and with residents who are impacted from those discussions.
We developed thirty six pain points, thirty six areas where we were impacting citizens and businesses negatively and from that came ten guiding principles and then twenty recommendations for reform and at the core of those recommendations is a desire to really improve the way we do the acquisition process recognising for residents this is very hard. In my personal view it sits one row below bereavement in a family, it’s hard, and so anything we can do to improve that process make it more understandable, communicate more effectively, have the citizen feel like they’re driving this rather than being done to is really important and so when you look at the reforms, at the core of that is respect, is better communication.
I think improved policy, more generous financial arrangements to really bring this together in terms of getting the best outcome we can in difficult circumstances. Ten guiding principles were developed during my review that articulate the aspirations for the acquisition process which the reviews recommendations are intended to deliver.
The resident has a primary point of contact throughout the process.
The resident is treated with respect and sensitivity at all times.
Their needs and those of their family are listened to and given consideration.
The resident is informed personally and promptly early in the process and there is a regular, timely engagement throughout the process.
The resident is provided with all relevant information in a timely, easy to understand transparent manner at all steps in the process.
The process allows the resident adequate time for consideration negotiation, decision making and relocation without unduly delaying the project.
The timeline and any deadlines are clearly explained.
The valuation and acquisition process is fair, consistent and transparent based on market value not reinstatement.
Clear reasons and explanations are given for financial calculations, offers and terms of settlement.
A full suite of support options and entitlements are un-ambiguous, easy to understand, simple to access and straightforward to administer.
Support options can be tailored to a residents individual needs within the bounds of the overall offering.
The residents progress is recorded, it’s managed and monitored throughout the acquisition process to aid engagement at optimal times conducive to resident needs and our requirements.
Twenty recommendations were made to the NSW government centred on the resident and including recommendations for employees for processes and performance. Recommendations are underpinned by the introduction of a new resident focussed operating model, the model responds to feedback about improving and simplifying the resident experience throughout the acquisition process.
The land acquisition reform represents the NSW governments response to the recommendations from the review of the NSW land acquisition framework Mr Russell and myself.
The reform is a package of major improvements to help make the process of land acquisition fairer, more transparent and customer friendly for land owners.
The overall objective for the reform is to significantly improve the manner in which we deal with residents throughout the acquisition process. We need to be open minded and understand the impact we are having on peoples lives and ensure this remains front of mind. We are focussed on improving communication with landowners reducing disputation and increasing accountability and scrutiny for government agencies acquiring land. Improvements include a fixed six month negotiation period providing people more time to consider their options and also to get expert advice enabling landowners remaining in their properties after acquisition to do so without having to pay rent for up to ninety days.
A dedicated personal manager as a primary point of contact for residents through the process to provide help and support. Being provided with a preliminary valuation report to the land owner for comments and feedback. Government collecting and publishing more information and data on acquisitions increased compensation for owner inconvenience and non-financial impact up to a maximum of seventy five thousand. The reform looks at every element of the acquisitions process including processes, systems, technology, training, communication materials, recruitment, compensation arrangements and valuation processes.
Over the last three months we have seen many of the foundation elements of the reform implemented the centre for property acquisition has been established within government to drive reform across the sector.
We’ve established a set of standards to embed the reform across the sector that will apply to all acquiring authorities. These standards are important as they set the expectation of what is required.
For residents, success looks like being given early and adequate notice that their property is required in order to have time for them to find a new home and relocate, finding the process easy to understand through effective communication, being given flexibility in the acquisition process in relation to the settlement period that caters for their individual circumstances, understanding how their property is valued and what is taken into consideration for their payment. Being satisfied with how the process was handled overall.
For acquiring authorities success looks like being given the time and the resources neededto deliver great community and business outcomes. Residents telling others that the people they dealt with in the process were professional to deal with, took the time to understand their individual circumstances and needs and provided support as required. Being able to acquire the properties they need to when they need them in order to deliver the projects they are tasked with to deliver on time and within budget.
For communities, success looks like understanding why acquisitions are necessary and made aware that adequate investigation has been undertaken to minimise the number of homes required.
For government, success looks like projects being delivered on time and on budget.