HOIL Progress

Northern Territory

Following the signing of the 99 year township lease by the traditional owners of Nguiu in the Tiwi Islands and the Office of Township Leasing (OTL), Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) has been working closely with potential home loan clients, the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and OTL to roll out the Home Ownership on Indigenous Land (HOIL) Program.

In the Tiwi Islands nine loans have recently been approved at Nguiu following the previous loan approved on Melville Island. Negotiations are also taking place with many other families on the Tiwi Islands who want to buy their own home.

As part of the HOIL Program, IBA has subleased four residential lots in Nguiu, and have let a contract for the construction of four homes for sale as house and land packages to eligible borrowers. Construction commenced in late August 2009, and all four homes are expected to be completed by the end of November 2009.

The signing of a township lease in December 2008 over the communities of Angurugu, Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt and Milyakburra on Bickerton Island has paved the way for the implementation of the HOIL program there.

Queensland

In Queensland, shire councils and community trustees are yet to put in place processes to manage leasing requests and facilitate home ownership on Indigenous land. Town plans also need to be updated as a basis to make decisions and negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements. In 2008–09, arrangements were finalised through the Queensland Department of Communities to coordinate a development and land use program for many discrete Queensland Indigenous communities.

IBA and the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing and the Department of Environment and Resource Management are working together to coordinate joint community visits and to resolve implementation issues. In 2008–09, IBA staff visited Yarrabah, Palm Island, Hope Vale, Mapoon, the Northern Peninsula Area Region, Cherbourg, and Wujal Wujal to promote the HOIL program and discuss home ownership opportunities.

Even though a number of communities are interested in home ownership, it is likely to be another 6–12 months before the necessary local conditions are sufficiently advanced to facilitate home ownership. Recognising this, IBA, World Vision Australia and Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council are collaborating on the Mapoon Home Ownership Project. The project will develop processes and put in place systems and support services to facilitate home ownership. Any lessons learned from the project will be important in developing local processes for the rollout of HOIL in other Queensland communities.

DVD 

Please enjoy watching our 7 minute DVD,  ‘An Introduction to Home Ownership on Indigenous Land’; it explains the HOIL program, how to begin the process of obtaining a lease on community titled land and how to apply for a concessional home loan with IBA. Please note, however, that the information within the DVD applies specifically to Queensland residents.

Alternatively read a transcript of this DVD as a PDF (81KB, new window) or in html format.

HOIL Outlook

HOIL funding is expected to assist up to 345 families over the next four years to purchase homes on community titled land.

IBA expects more families at Nguiu in the Northern Territory will have loans approved in 2009–10, and is working closely with other Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales to extend the reach of home ownership opportunities on community titled land.