1211. Hon Alison Xamon to the minister representing the Minister for Housing:
I refer to Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH), and I ask:
(a) how many GROH maintenance requests are currently outstanding;
(b) what is the average length of time to action a maintenance request;
(c) what is the average length of time to finalise a maintenance request; and
(d) what is the longest time a maintenance request has remained outstanding in 2017–2018?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
(a) As at 14 May 2018, there was 402 outstanding work orders for GROH owned properties.
(b) The average length of time to action a maintenance request is unable to be provided for GROH owned properties, as reporting does not differentiate between property management type (i.e. public housing or GROH).
(c) The timeframes for maintenance repairs align with the requirements set out by the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (RTA). There are four categories and timeframes for maintenance to be finalised. For the period 1 July 2017 to 31 May 2018, the average length of times to finalise maintenance work at GROH owned properties was:
Emergency – 15 hours
Urgent – 3 days, 11 hours
Priority – 3 days, 5 hours
Routine – 15 days, 20 hours
The length of time can vary due to a number of factors, including geographical (servicing of remote communities and distances required to be travelled), environmental (weather can cause delays), tenant availability, inadequate detail regarding maintenance required or further materials and items being required.
(d) 214 days for full resolution, however action commenced within the 28 days and a combination of factors delayed full resolution including, the tenant on holiday and unavailable for access, non-standard fittings requiring ordering of parts, incorrect parts shipped requiring re-ordering and parts were broken when driving out to site.