Our compliance process

The Housing Registrar provides regulatory oversight of registered community housing agencies by monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Housing Act 1983 and Performance Standards.

Regulatory framework

Housing Act 1983

The Housing Act 1983 (Vic)(opens in a new window) sets out the Housing Registrar’s functions, duties and powers.

Performance Standards

Registered agencies must comply with Performance Standards at all times. The Performance Standards are broad, and the Housing Registrar assesses the performance of registered agencies with reference to the individual agency’s scale and complexity, risk profile, past performance, and relative performance of similar agencies.

Gazetted Performance Standards:

Tenant and housing services
Housing assets
Community engagement
Governance
Probity
Management
Financial viability

Performance standards for registered housing agencies PDF 270.84 KB (opens in a new window)

Performance standards for registered housing agencies Word 522.52 KB (opens in a new window)

We actively assess registered agencies’ compliance with Performance Standards throughout the year.

Monitoring and assessment

We use a range of tools to monitor the performance of registered agencies, including:

ongoing compliance activities to collect information in real time
annual reporting to collect information at the end of each financial year.

We assess each registered agency’s performance continuously based on the information we collect.

Regulatory response

After we assess evidence of registered agency performance, we may conclude that the agency’s performance needs improvement. Depending on the compliance risk, our regulatory response may include:

Monitoring Items
Regulatory Action Items
Regulatory Intervention

Monitoring Items

Issues that require registered agency action but are not considered a serious risk to compliance are recorded as Monitoring Items. These items do not impact an agency’s compliance rating.

For Monitoring Items, we advise the registered agency if a response is required within a specified timeframe and manage the item towards resolution by regularly checking on progress with the agency. Monitoring Items that are not satisfactorily addressed by an agency may be escalated to Regulatory Action Items.

Regulatory Action Items

For issues considered a serious risk to compliance, we collaborate with the registered agency to develop Regulatory Action Items that are specific, have a clear performance improvement objective, and can feasibly be actioned by the agency. Regulatory Action Items are accompanied by a change to the agency’s compliance rating, from ‘Compliant’ to either ‘Compliant with recommendations’ or ‘Not compliant’.

Registered agencies are required to report on the completion of Regulatory Action Items on or before the agreed deadline. We may also request informal updates on the status of Regulatory Action Items during regulatory engagement meetings. Satisfactory completion of all Regulatory Action Items relating to a Performance Standard will return the agency’s compliance rating for that Performance Standard to ‘Compliant’.

Regulatory Action Items are not published.

Regulatory intervention

A registered agency may be subject to more robust regulatory intervention if it has long-standing performance issues and it has been unwilling or unable to remedy its performance through Regulatory Action Items. Regulatory intervention is considered a last resort to enforce compliance.

Compliance ratings

Compliance ratings, published on the Registered agency performance page, reflect a registered agency’s current compliance status.

Outcome	Description
Compliant	The registered agency is complying with the Performance Standard.
Compliant with recommendations	The registered agency is complying with the Performance Standard but performance gaps have been identified which the agency is required to address through Regulatory Action Items.
Not compliant	The registered agency is not complying with the Performance Standard.
Not applicable	The registered agency is not currently undertaking the relevant activity.

Our regulatory principles

We apply the following principles to all our regulatory activities:

Tenants first – We are focused on whether a registered agency’s activities support the tenant journey, ensuring they feel heard and have appropriate avenues to resolve complaints.
Outcomes focussed – Each registered agency varies in scope and size. We accept that different agencies will have different operational approaches to complying with Performance Standards.
Informed – We understand that the housing sector is complex and that there are a multitude of factors that will affect an agency’s performance, some of which may be beyond an agency’s direct control. We are committed to using data and other information to inform the way we regulate.
Efficient – We seek to minimise the administrative burden placed on agencies by only requesting information from registered agencies that directly contributes to our ability to assess performance.
Consistent and targeted – We have clear and consistent compliance practices that result in consistent decision-making across all registered agencies.
Collaborative and transparent – Where performance risks are identified, we will work together with registered agencies on practical mitigation strategies, which will be clearly articulated and recorded.
Committed to improvement – We are constantly seeking to improve the way we regulate for the benefit of tenants and registered agencies. We welcome feedback and suggestions for improvement.

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Our compliance process

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Monitoring Items

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Regulatory intervention

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