NSW Community Housing Conference 06 - Date: Location: Session

NSW Community Housing Conference 06
Date:               16th – 17th August
Location:           Newcastle Town Hall
Session:            A tenant voice – tenant networks & other forums for tenant advocacy
                    Social housing tenants are looking to have a greater say in decisions made about their housing
                    and by extension their lives. One way of having a voice is through tenant networks. This
                    session will explore the value of such networks in facilitating an avenue to advocate for better
                    housing outcomes for tenants.

DRAFT 6th August
Apology:            Unfortunately, I cannot be here today to present this paper. However, the voice with which I speak is
                    mine and mine alone. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Planet X tenants and directors, nor
                    represent any position within ARCH.

Preamble
Let me say, at the outset, that I am a long-standing member of Planet X Housing Co-operative. What
differentiates a housing co-op from other forms of social (i.e. public and community) housing is exactly this
question and example of tenancy, or more generally that of membership, and in particular that of
participation1. A co-op is composed of members, elected at an Annual General Meeting (AGM), who
participate in the life and business of the organization variously as tenants and as directors, and perhaps as a
name on a waiting list2. There are no paid member workers since any paid work is appropriately outsourced.
Apart from the initial property and building costs and any regulatory or asset maintenance that is properly
the responsibility of the landlord, and that is, according to the Headlease, the Department of Housing on
behalf of the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, there is no ongoing funding or financial support from the
Department. A co-op must organize its affairs within the parameters of its own resources; and that is, with a
budget that relies upon the annual rental income from its properties and any surplus generated in any one
year and accumulated over a number of years; and with the human resources of its members, the knowledge
and competencies, passion and commitment that members bring to the organization and develop during the
term of their involvement.

Within each co-operative and according to its rules and plans, policy and procedures, tenants are invited and
expected to participate in a variety of ways in order to achieve the successful delivery of housing services
and tenant satisfaction with such services. Thus a co-op may have an open day for prospective members, an
induction policy, manual and process (e.g. a buddy arrangement) for new members, must organise board and
committee responsibilities and will allocate general housekeeping duties for common areas and manage
facilitated workshops and in-house social events. Looking outwards, a co-op must deliver all the outcomes
and be accountable in all the ways that are properly expected of a public organization and one that is a
housing provider registered with the Office of Community Housing (OCH)3. And this is hard and rewarding
work, with all the successes and failures, conflict and harmony of a tenant-run organization,

1
  While I characterise a co-operative by its participatory practices, this is neither to negate nor devalue the contribution that other
tenants make to their specific housing arrangements; nor is it to deny the initiatives that housing organizations deploy in order to
foster greater tenant involvement. However it is to say that the delivery of housing services by a particular organization will not fall
or fail if a tenant chooses not to participate.
2
  Planet X may well be an exception here, since our Rules require that all members are both tenants and directors. The Rules of
Incorporation are more flexible in terms of what is permitted. There is flexibility within this rule as in the following:
    • Membership of a housing co-op need not be restricted to its tenants. There may well be members who are on a waiting list
    or who serve on the Board. However they must be passed by a formal process, and that is they must be nominated and elected
    at an AGM (Annual General Meeting).
    • There may well be tenant members who are not Directors i.e. Board members. For example, in a large co-operative it is not
    always feasible to have all tenant members on the Board. In this instance there is provision for both Board and General
    meetings, the Board for elected representatives and the General for all members.
3
  All co-operatives are incorporated organizations under the Co-operatives Act of (1992). We thus must meet governance and
regulatory requirements that are reflected in our Rules of Incorporation.
Furthermore as a housing organization, a co-operative is bound by:
    • Tenancy legislation
    • the Policies of the Department of Housing and more specifically the Office of Community Housing e.g. the new regulatory
    framework by the name of Performance Based Registration System (and the proposed legislation for Community Housing which
    will undoubtedly be appended to the Public Housing Legislation), the Guidelines for Co-operative Housing and the Headlease.

I make these opening remarks in order to complicate the voice with which I will speak today and the issues
that I want to raise. Each co-op addresses the question of membership and participation in a particular way
that accords with its rules and plans, policy and procedures; and that considers the human resources and
capacities of its members. Our co-op is specific in that we require that all tenants are directors, and directors,
tenants. While it is necessary to maintain a strategic separation of respective roles and responsibilities (‘two
hats’ as it is sometimes referred to), it is also important to acknowledge the complicity4 of membership as
both tenant and director. This complication, it seems to me, interrupts a common or standard assumption
about the theme for this session phrased in the words a tenant voice, tenant networks and tenant advocacy
and expanded upon in the session description; for, as I have indicated, I am both a tenant and a director and
the respective roles and responsibilities must be handled with care and with due diligence in order that both
voices may be heard even as they are sometimes blurred and mixed. The topic that is posed for this session
appears to be related to a question of who speaks, on whose behalf and with what voice; and how are such
voices gathered and connected, articulated and mobilised. I suppose that what I am proposing here, from a
particular perspective, is a certain dignity and power in speaking for oneself and with others, rather than the
representative practice of speaking for or on behalf of another or a constituency. It is in this moment that the
words of voice, networks and advocacy depart from what is generally understood and practiced within the
social housing and community sectors. And let me add that this is not intended, in the first moment, to be an
attack upon or criticism of existing organizations, services and networks, housing workers and tenants that
maintain a tradition and practice of advocacy as representation. Within complex and now global cultures and
markets and within local arrangements, institutional and business housing services and products must be put
to good work and effective use and held accountable and responsible for their operations and their
commerce; and advocacy is one of the mechanisms whereby those who have been excluded might be
addressed and heard within this arrangement, and that institutions, organizations and businesses have
socially responsible policies and practices. However, I also want to maintain that the voices of participation
and co-operation as a direct action also have a priority and an urgency; and the question for me becomes
how can such voices be generated and multiplied beyond the current circumstances 5.

Today I want to speak in a local way; and in the short time that I have, I want to collect and assemble what
more I have to say in the following two sections:

      1. Firstly, I will map the current and formal state of member participation within the co-op sector for
      those who are not already familiar with housing co-operatives. This will make it even more complex,
      since it can be said that there are three levels of participation here, as tenant and director as mentioned
      and then again as a participant in the sector. It is this sector level that I will briefly sketch. What is
      mapped at the sector level are the structures and the opportunities that are currently available for
      participation, for feedback, for influence within the sector as it interfaces with the Department,
      particularly the Office of Community Housing (OCH).

      2. The second section will provide a quick survey of web-based services in the community housing sector
      and will consider some internet tools for generating and multiplying participation at least as a potential

      Within that formal and legal framework the co-operative conducts the business of the provision of secure, affordable and
      sustainable housing for its member tenants. There is of course nothing unusual about this, for it is the framework that variously
      impacts upon the community housing sector in general.
4
  complicity       n. participation, partnership esp. in wrongdoing. complicit a. [F. complicité, from complice, from L complex -
icem, confederate]
The Cassell Concise Dictionary, Cassell, London:1997
I use the word here being aware of this duplicity of meaning, of an alliance for mutual benefit (business and employment for
example) and of any potential for abuse and wrongdoing (improper use of power and conflict of interest).
5
    Further on ‘effectiveness compared to direct action’ there is the report of a study conducted in the US:
      “In 2004, a study by University of Washington sociologist Jon Agnone, compared the number of bills passed between 1960 and
      1994 by the U.S. Congress with tactics used by ‘green’ groups within the same year. The study showed each protest raised the
      number of pro-environment bills passed by 2.2%., whereas neither efforts at conventional lobbying on Capitol Hill nor aimed at
      affecting the state of public opinion made any difference. The study concluded that direct action, like protests at public venues or
      disrupting political events, is more likely to influence environmental policy than talking to politicians.”

and in business terms going forward.6 I will briefly review web-based services as they are available for
      organizations and tenants, for these new technologies also blur the boundary between participation and
      advocacy, networks and individuals; and suggest that over the last few years there have been a number of
      developments in web-based technology that could be useful for community housing providers and tenants
      in relation to a question of advocacy and networks and that may have a participatory benefit that would
      enable a strong tenant voice to be heard.

Embedded within these two sections will also be some introductory remarks on agendas for research and
examples for exploration, on issues of community, affect and social capital, and on common and popular
practices emerging within internet culture. So what I am doing with this problematic of a tenant voice, of
networks and advocacy is to pass it through the filter of the title for this conference, Community housing –
vibrant communities, now and into the future, and draw out some of the resonance of the words now and
into the future; and to suggest that a certain future is already with us, a future that is increasingly marked by
the questions of participation and co-operation, information and communication technologies at a local level
and with potentially large effects.

Section 1:          Now
1.1      A Co-operative Sector Network in NSW
The peak NSW body for co-operative housing is ARCH. It employs 6 full time and part time staff:
    • An Executive Officer
    • Three Education and Resource Workers
    • An Office Administrator
    • An Administrative Assistant
It also employs contract workers from time to time for projects including specialized training and expertise,
and the development and production of publications and provision of technical advice’. It has recurrent
funding from OCH. As it is stated in the newsletter, ARCHways, it understands its obligations to the sector
expressed as its ‘roles’ in the following way:
    • Promote awareness of housing co-ops
    • Develop co-operative sector policy and program initiatives
    • Provide the federating function for the co-operative sector
    • Resource co-ops
    • Educate and train co-ops
    • Provide information and resource services
    • Advocate the interests of co-op members
    • Represent the co-operative sector
    • Monitor progress of the co-operative sector

ARCH has a management Board composed of community and co-operative housing representatives. It
organises State council meetings twice a year. All member organizations are invited to send delegates to
these meetings that can be considered effectively as ARCH general meetings. They discuss issues and
developments within the sector, determine strategic directions and contribute to planning initiatives that
inform, support and direct ARCH in its advocacy, resourcing and educational roles. It also organizes sector
consultative meetings, reference and focus groups, working parties, maintains quarterly regional meetings
and delivers a bi-annual newsletter ARCHways. Recently, it has become a registered training organization
and will deliver accredited training, Certificates III & IV in Social Housing.

For those of us who are familiar with community organizations and advocacy practices, there is nothing
unusual or unexpected here. It is the only member network for NSW co-operatives even as this federating
and advocacy function is managed by a peak agency with paid workers; but it relies heavily upon
contributions from its members, mostly sector representatives who are frequently tenants and directors in

6
  I do not want to rehearse the now familiar argument or discussion point about tenant participation i.e. I will not focus upon the
disincentives for or obstacles to participation; nor bemoan the lack of tenant involvement, nor allocate blame. Nor will I repeat some
of the standard ways by which the question of participation has been addressed in the past. However I do want to approach the
question and problem of participation and apathy obliquely and with some examples from internet culture that demonstrate what
might be done.

their respective co-ops. This formal network performs vital and necessary work with robust member
participation, even if that involvement is not always counted in large numbers 7.

1.2     Some Research Questions
What I want to pose, beyond this formal network, is a research question that addresses participation and co-
operation from another perspective; and to open the question again of representation and advocacy, of
forums and networks by way of an investigation of these principles that are considered fundamental to co-
operative practice. And this opening would ask the following:
   • How can people find a voice and give it expression?
   • and how do collectives and networks emerge and under what conditions?

Let me mention two examples of this research work; one that is cultural and pragmatic and one that is
theoretical.

In a brief paper, entitled ‘PhotoVoice, A Starting Voice for Social Action?’, Tony Webb, a Visiting Research
Fellow at the Centre for Popular Education (UTS, Sydney) suggests that we develop other tools for social
action. We already have an activist framework mobilising people around indignation and anger at social
injustice. However what we also need is an active approach that engages people in a move from apathy to
engagement; and that this might also lead to social change. He declares, as his starting point, the already
familiar observation:

      if the people directly affected are not engaged as part of the solution then, I suggest, we do not have a
      solution to the root problem – only another bandaid patching up a hole in the existing system of ‘welfare’
      that is itself part of the wider social problem we face today.8

He continues with a discussion of obstacles within the current activist frame or community-building model,
and here I will mention only this one:

      In addition we face one further obstacle. Within the group of direct stakeholders there are those who are
      known and have some engagement with the existing community work agencies; and those who remain
      relatively ‘invisible’. Among these ‘clients’ there are often both people in need of support and some who
      take on ‘community leadership’ working with the agencies to tackle the problem – but there is usually a
      much larger group that the agencies are aware of but often have little or no contact with. The first group
      are [sic] relatively easy to work with. They are often the starting point for agency-led social and
      community action. But there is a recognition by many activists in the field that it is the larger second
      group who need to be ‘mobilised’ if real participation of direct stakeholders in seeking solutions is to be
      achieved through social and community action. Unfortunately, many of the tools in the current kit-bag for
      community action do not seem to be effective in reaching these people. Indeed, at best, the community-
      work social action tool-kit seems designed to mobilise people around a sense of indignation – anger
      against social injustice – but has little to say about how to work with the more prevalent problem of
      community apathy, particularly among those who have most to lose if the situation remains unchanged.

The observations that I want to make here are the following:

7
  As an aside, I want to say that it would be a great disservice to the sector if the recent review of peak housing agencies requested by
the Minister and conducted by Nexus, Management Consulting on behalf of OCH were to recommend any reduction in funding or
services or some such measure that would jeopardise the current operations of ARCH, and residualise the sector beyond its current
state. Note that targeted funding for the establishment of new co-operatives was withdrawn several years ago in NSW. According to
the Department, growth within the sector will now proceed via a debt equity model with the sector funding its own growth and in
partnership with interested stakeholders and entrepreneurs.
8
  I start from the premise that social action on any issue of concern (whether we see this as ‘a problem’ or as some prefer, as ‘an
opportunity’) needs to at least involve, preferably be led by, the people who are directly affected by the problem. These ‘primary’ or
‘direct’ stakeholders – the people at the sharp end of the problem – may need help from ‘secondary’/ ‘indirect’ stakeholders – people
who also care, some of whom work as volunteers or professionals with statutory or voluntary/community agencies set up to tackle
the problem. But if the people directly affected are not engaged as part of the solution then, I suggest, we do not have a solution to
the root problem – only another bandaid patching up a hole in the existing system of ‘welfare’ that is itself part of the wider social
problem we face today.

1. There is the recognition that an older style of advocacy may only address a small group of people in
      need and that this style is mobilised by anger and indignation9.
      2. There must be some attention paid to finding alternative cultural means and tools for engaging people
      in the beginning and in their locality as a movement away from apathy and towards engagement.
      3. Work needs to be done on the affective ways and practices that mobilise people and create
      communities.10

The second example that I want to give here relates to some theoretical work in relation to the discipline of
sociology and some interesting questions about academic disciplines and the world, a cosmopolitics. In the
words of the French sociologist Bruno Latour, what we must investigate is a reassembly of the social, for the
social can no longer be thought of as substantially or definitively given; or if it is then it is no longer useful
since it reduces the social and takes it for granted, as already there. Again this is not to deny any history and
experience of community or culture; but it is to say that we must now pose those questions again and in more
inclusive ways and across current divides. He says that the social is exactly that which needs to be examined
in the very crisis in which it finds itself today.

      The alternative I have proposed in this book is so simple that it can be summarised in one short list: the
      question of the social emerges when the ties in which one is entangled begin to unravel; the social is
      further detected through the surprising movements from one association to the next; those movements can
      either be suspended or resumed; when they are prematurely suspended, the social as normally construed
      is bound together with already accepted participants called ‘social actors’ who are members of a
      ‘society’; when the movement toward collection is resumed, it traces the social as associations through
      many non-social entities which might become participants later; if pursued systematically, this tracking
      may end up in a shared definition of a common world, what I have called a collective; but if there are no
      procedures to render it common, it may fail to be assembled; and lastly, sociology is best defined as the
      discipline where participants explicitly engage in the reassembling of the collective. (p. 247)

In short then, what I am suggesting is that ARCH, co-operatives and tenants need to raise again the very
questions of participation and co-operation that are presumed to be the very principles from which we in the
sector begin. This tentative approach opens again the questions of collaborative, participatory and cultural
practices even as they appear to be unravelling about us; and co-operative members are the very people who
can participate in and contribute towards such a research topic since it is our experience and history, and we
have the most to lose and win. And there is a research topic here in this suggestion that association and
negotiated practices reassemble collectives and build communities.

Section 2:            And into the future
2.1     A survey of internet services
The following information is sourced from the online community housing directory:
http://www.communityhousing.org.au/nswfha/directory/

Out of the 44 listed housing associations in NSW, only 7 had an online presence. In the co-operative sector
only ARCH has a functioning website; and while the site has been updated with additional information, out-
of-date and inconsistent information still remain. On the links page, there was only one co-op and that site
was incomplete or still under construction. What was of particular interest with this co-op site was a blog

9
  One of the dangers with the recent changes to public housing, which is yet to impact upon the community housing sector, is this:
with the emphasis upon clients in greatest need, and that is with a spectrum of needs, it may only serve to reinforce an advocacy
(representative) approach as the two sides bunker down and become entrenched with a war that contests the higher moral ground. It
is worthwhile noting that the affordable housing debate and initiatives may prove to be of more value in the long run.
10
     See these examples:
      • Online— http://www.photovoice.org/
      • Print— affective community, Cultural Studies Review, Vol 9 No. 1 May 2003 ed. by Chris Healy, Stephen Muecke and Linnel
      Secomb
      On this point, I am reminded of a recent SHELTER seminar on the theme of HOME which put the problematic as more than just
      an issue of housing and accommodation (issues of the market of rental accommodation and home ownership) but also related to
      more affective questions such as security, safety and well-being, questions that are more properly considered within the frame of
      social and embodied capital.

link. The last post suggests that this was set up for that particular co-op to generate discussion about training
issues. To my knowledge, this site was never made known to the sector and there was never any interest
generated by this initial move within the co-op.

Generally speaking, all of the available sites provided necessary and appropriate information services and
resources and a point of contact with email connections. However what this quick survey is intended to
demonstrate, is that there has not been a significant uptake of internet technologies within the community
housing sector, web-based software and features that would experiment with other ways of organizational
and tenant interaction.

2.1       Web based initiatives
Again I want to take up the question of voice and advocacy. In two instances of the word advocacy (one
from a dictionary 11 and one from an online encyclopedia12), the primary sense is one of representation, that
which stands in and for the place of another either in a legal context or a political situation. There is however
a minor sense of the word 13 and that would be to call to or in the direction of as a call to participate, to speak.
This call to speak would be more exemplary and less representational speech. In this sense speaking as an
advocate would be an example14 of what it is to speak, and a call to speak in a direct manner. There are of
course the standard ways in which such a voice is encouraged and this conference is one such model, as was
the NSW Social Housing Tenant Conference 05, organized by TENCO, funded by DoH and designed and
facilitated by the consultant creativelearning\edge. But these are very formal occasions and the tenant voice
with which I speak here is directed at something more informal and closer to home. I would certainly
recommend however, that, at conferences such as these, workshops be conducted to give organizational
members and tenants practical and usable skills in web-based technologies and social software.

I want to recommend these ways, that are now at our common disposal, cheap and easy to implement and
maintain, with which participation might be enabled; and that would open again the question of voice and
agency in relation to networks and advocacy. And I want to go beyond the suggestion for tenant participation
(an electronic tenant participation handbook) recommended in the Report on Tenant Participation and
Community Housing, which is the final report for the Office of Community Housing by Max Hardy of
Twyford Consulting of 2004 15.

11
  According to a dictionary definition (the Cassell Concise Dictionary), an advocate is:
    1. a person who defends or promotes a cause
    2. a person who pleads a cause in a civil or criminal court
    3. a barrister
    4. an intercessor
and advocacy is the practice or position of an advocate such as:
    1. verbal support or argument in favour (of)
    2. judicial pleading
    3. the office of advocate
12
   “Advocacy is an umbrella tern for organized activism related to a particular set of issues. Advocacy is expected to be non-
deceptive and in good faith, though it is sometimes tainted by use of propaganda. It is almost always organized into or by an
advocacy group or special interests. In other instances, an individual may act as a lobbyist, on their own behalf or on behalf of a
corporation or industry. Political advocacy may be understood more completely when it is compared with economic, religious or
academic advocacies; and when it is contrasted with the features of propaganda and indoctrination.”
Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy — accessed on 28th July ’06
13
   The word derives from the Latin advocãre— ad-, to, vocãre; hence to call. The prefix ad- can also mean motion towards, direction
to, adherence etc. What I want to say here is that the word advocacy might also be understood as a speaking myself and as an
example with others.
14
   I prefer to use the word example here rather than the word model even though both may well operate at times. Model is
hierarchical, representative and prescriptive. It demands an obedience and faithfulness to an appearance and/or a procedure. The
word example provides an instance of what is to be done or how it might be done; and it leaves open the potential for other ways of
working and other results that are as effective or efficient.
15
  Referring to the Report on Tenant Participation and Community Housing, which is the final report for the Office of Community
Housing by Max Hardy of Twyford Consulting, I note the following:

7.3.6     A Tenant Participation Handbook
    “A handbook in relation to tenant participation could be an invaluable asset to community housing providers. Such a resource
    could include examples of tenant participation initiatives, success stories, insights gained from ‘unsuccessful’ efforts, and some

In considering how participatory voices might be found and heard in relation to web-based technologies and
internet culture the following information is useful. There are now available:
    • Content Management Systems (CMS16) for organizations, which enable web-based services to be
    regularly and easily maintained without any knowledge of scripts, codes or computer languages. These
    include free and open source initiatives such as the Australian product Joomla a content management
    system that once it has been installed and customised requires only editing skills and a familiarity with
    the architecture of the site.

     • There are wikis that enable the collaborative production of documents. A wiki17 ‘is a type of website that
     allows users to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes
     without the need for registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for
     collaborative authoring’.

     • Websites can now be customised to deliver services for people with a wide variety of abilities. There are
     games, online forums and chatrooms, collaborative workspaces, coding and best practice protocols
     (W3C—World Wide Web Consortium) and podcasting for those who are tuned into MP3 players.

If any or all of these terms and examples are confusing, note that Wikipedia is a good online starting point
and information resource for many of these and related topics—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

To end, I want to give an example that is a local initiative. It is a site created and managed by Judy Singer, a
public housing tenant at: http://home.iprimus.com.au/singer/houso.htm. The site has the name HousoLink
with the accompanying description:

     “A Newsletter by and for Public Housing Tenants in the Inner West”.

There are also other descriptions such as:

     “Standing up for those of us whose dreams of a secure home are rapidly being towed away”

     “The only newsletter for public housing tenants guaranteed never to contain a recipe for left-over mince,
     or a green thumbs column”

The site has also become associated with a group that describes itself in an About Us paragraph:

     sample terms of reference for different kinds of tenant groups. This handbook could be made available on-line and be
     accompanied by a message board, internet-based forum and/or an e-list to discuss tenant participation issues.
     Funding allocated by OCH for this purpose could be an excellent way of generating learning throughout the industry. (It is
     understood that such a Handbook is now available for Community Housing providers in Queensland).” (p. 58)
16
   A content management system is a computer software system for organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents
and other content. A content management system is sometimes a web application used for managing websites and web content,
though in many cases, content management systems require special client software for editing and constructing articles. They can
also be used for storage and single sourcing of documentation for a firm including but not limited to operators' manuals, technical
manuals, sales guides, etc. The market for content management systems remains fragmented, with many open-source and proprietary
solutions available.
The term was originally used for website publishing and management systems. Early content management systems were developed
internally at organizations which were doing a lot of content publishing. In 1995, CNET spun out its internal development offerings
into a separate company called Vignette, which opened up the market for commercial systems. As the market evolved, the scope of
content management systems broadened, and the term is now used to refer to a range of technologies and techniques, including portal
systems, wiki systems, and web-based groupware.
17
   A wiki (IPA: [ w .ki ]  or [ wi .ki ] [1]) is a type of website that allows users to easily add,
remove, or otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration. This ease of interaction
and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. The term wiki can also refer to the collaborative software
itself (wiki engine) that facilitates the operation of such a website (see wiki software), or to certain specific wiki sites, including the
computer science site (and original wiki), WikiWikiWeb, and the online encyclopedias such as Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ –accessed 3 Aug ’06

About Us
   The Balmain/ Rozelle Public Housing Tenants group (as yet unnamed) grew out of an initiative by Darcy
   Byrne, a local youth worker concerned about the future of young people growing up in our estates. Our
   inaugural meeting was in early May with about 10 people present. Given the escalating attacks and
   populist verbal abuse from both Labor and Liberals, directed at "non-productive" people [in] excess to the
   requirements of efficient profit-making, we are not finding it hard to attract new members and allies.

Singer notes “This site is still in its infancy. The Inner West Tenants group is run on a volunteer basis by
busy people, and with no funding. We are in the process of setting up a steering committee to find a
consensus on representative content. Until such time, all comment is by Judy Singer, public housing
tenant, unless otherwise stated. © JS 2005”

Not only is this an information and activist site that speaks of ‘representative content’ but it also has a
personal voice expressed in blogspace. Blogs are online diaries that have become particularly popular and
the word is an abbreviation of the descriptor ‘web log’. In this online and expanded world, Judy speaks in
her own words, and that is “she details her daily struggle to survive the pincer action of Centrelink on the
one hand and Dept of Housing on the other”. This is the Desperate Houso's Blog (Diary of a Desperate
Houso).

I will leave you with this thought. At a workshop this year on housing policy conducted by SHELTER NSW
I heard it said that the workers at SHELTER are regular readers of Judy Singer’s site. I wonder what it is that
is so valuable for Judy to produce this site and for SHELTER to regularly read it.

References
Text
Reports
HARDY Max                  Report on Tenant Participation and Community Housing
                           The Final Report for the Office of Community Housing by Max Hardy of Twyford
                           Consulting, 2004

Books & articles
LATOUR Bruno               Politics of Nature
                           trans. by Catherine Porter, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.): 2004

                           Reassembling the Social
                           Oxford Uni. Press (Oxford: 2005)

STONE Biz                  Who Let the Blogs Out? A Hyperconnected Peek at the World of Weblogs
                           St. Martins Press (New York: 2004)

Online—available at 3 Aug. ’06
Please note that Wikipedia is a good online starting point and information resource for many of these and related topics.

General
Community builders         http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/

Blogs
SINGER Judy                http://home.iprimus.com.au/jsinger/houso.htm
                           Note the link to ‘Diary of a Desperate Houso’— http://www.houso.blogspot.com/

Content Management Systems (CMS)
Joomla               http://www.joomla.com.au/

Wikis
Wikipedia                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/