The corporatisation of government agencies: Does it work for public housing?

This paper has been produced in response to persistent speculation that the Government is considering converting Housing Tasmania into a corporate entity such as a government business enterprise (GBE) or a state-owned company or corporation (SOC) or creating a new housing corporation. This paper provides some background to the corporatisation debate as it occurred in the late 1990s, considers some case studies of GBEs, SOCs and other corporatised entities in Tasmania, Australia and New Zealand, and then outlines Anglicare’s position on whether a corporate model is appropriate for the delivery of public housing.