About the Registrar of Community Housing

Community Housing in New South Wales

The Community Housing Providers (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 (NSW) (‘the Act’) spells out how community housing is managed in NSW.  

It includes the:

• responsibilities of the Minister for Housing
• responsibilities of the Registrar of Community Housing
• National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH)
• NSW Local Scheme.

Community housing providers

Community housing providers are non-government organisations that provide housing for people who have:

• very low incomes
• low incomes
• moderate incomes. 
   

Most housing offered by community housing providers is long-term housing. There are also many community housing providers that provide specialist housing services, like:

• crisis accommodation
• transitional housing.  
   

With these services, tenants receive housing for a limited time. During this time, they also receive support services. The goal of these services is to help them move into and keep long-term tenancies.  

The Registrar’s purpose

The Registrar's goal is to ensure community housing that meets:

• the housing needs of tenants
• government and investor requirements.  

The Registrar's functions

The functions of the Registrar detailed in the Act include:

• maintaining the National Register of community housing providers (with Registrars from other jurisdictions)
• assessing whether an organisation is suitable to register as a community housing provider
• registering organisations as community housing providers
• cancelling the registration of community housing providers
• monitoring registered community housing providers for compliance with community housing legislation
• exercising enforcement and intervention functions under the legislation
• investigating complaints about the compliance of registered community housing providers with the legislation.

The Registrar’s responsibilities

In addition to overseeing the NRSCH in NSW, the Registrar also oversees a local scheme for registering housing providers in NSW. This scheme allows community housing providers that do not meet the criteria for the NRSCH to still be registered in NSW. These providers include Local Aboriginal Land Councils.  

The Registrar's team

The office of the Registrar is part of the Department of Communities and Justice. It receives support in the areas of:

• accounting
• information technology
• legal services
• staffing.  

In addition to the Registrar, the office of the Registrar of Community Housing includes:

• financial analysts
• compliance officers
• regulatory support officers

who all help the Registrar with their duties. 

The Department of Communities and Justice is not involved in provider registration. This guarantees the Registrar’s independence.  

The Registrar's authority

In addition to the Registrar’s main authority, which comes from the Community Housing Providers (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 (NSW), the Registrar’s authority comes from:

• Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) – A joint ministerial agreement where governments commit to the NRSCH.  
• National Regulatory Code – The code that lays out the rules for participating in the NRSCH.  
• National Charter – The charter that sets out the NRSCH's:
  • overarching vision
  • objectives
  • regulatory principles
  • philosophy.

About the Minister for Housing

The Minister for Housing administers the Community Housing Providers (Adoption of National Law) Act 2012 (NSW) and appoints the Registrar.

Learn more about The Hon. Rose JACKSON, MLC, Minister for Housing.