Tasmanians looking for housing help can now apply online, with the Housing Connect Portal going live more than two years behind schedule.
The portal launched on Monday. People can use it to check their eligibility, apply for support including social housing and update their circumstances at any time of day.
Housing Minister Kerry Vincent said the portal was an important step in modernising the way people accessed housing assistance.
“Digital is the way of the future. The portal will make it easier for Tasmanians to understand what housing services are available, check their eligibility and apply for assistance,” Vincent said.
“The portal allows people to do this at a time that best suits their circumstances, meaning they aren’t limited to seeking help only during business hours.”
The portal is designed for people with low or no support needs who can manage their housing assistance online.
“People who need face-to-face support will continue to have access to those services,” Vincent said.
The portal also includes an interactive map showing social housing demand across Tasmania.
It shows more than 5,700 social housing applications across 37 areas and almost 12,000 social housing properties.
Launceston’s east and north show the most applications, with 734, followed by Glenorchy with 695 and Hobart with 546.
The map does not include homes owned by community housing providers.
Shadow housing minister Meg Brown said Labor welcomed the portal going live but the project was “the latest in a long line of cost blowouts”.
Answers to questions Labor asked at budget estimates hearings showed the portal was first expected to go live in June 2024. Its original budget was $2.148 million.
The latest estimated cost is $6.117 million. Brown said Vincent owed Tasmanians an update on the final figure.
The portal is part of the Housing Connect 2.0 reform, which the state government announced in 2019. It was originally due to roll out by July 2023.
On March 23, 2023, Premier Jeremy Rockliff told parliament the project’s steering committee supported a 12-month extension to July 1, 2024.
He said the extra time would allow the project to build a back-end system for housing workers, which would replace the Specialist Homelessness Information Platform.
“More opportunities to improve Housing Connect 2.0 have been identified and when you identify new opportunities, that has an impact on the implementation time frames,” Rockliff said at the time.
