The Bethanie Group

The Bethanie Group (Bethanie) began their affordable housing journey back in 1954 when Churches of Christ Homes started operating in Joondanna.

Bethanie Housing Ltd is the housing arm of the Bethanie Group and is a registered Community Housing Organisation.

Housing Stock

Bethanie provides a range of housing services for over 55s in a variety of locations. Various villas and apartments are throughout the metropolitan area, and apartment living is offered at Bethanie Peel in Coodanup, a south-eastern suburb of Mandurah and Bethanie Dalyellup near Bunbury.

Overseeing the work of Bethanie’s community housing portfolio is Shane Ogilvie, Chief Executive Officer.

“It gives a sense of security.”

“We have a long tenure of tenancies, we see our role as a community housing provider and as a provider of aged care allowing people to age in place,” Shane explains.

“Our home care business delivers services to some of our community housing clients and two of our large developments (Coodanup & Dalyellup) are co-located with Bethanie residential aged care homes. We see tenants who can no longer live independently move into our aged care facilities and that is a smooth transition. It gives a sense of security when they see there are options for later in life and that Bethanie cares.”

Most tenants come from the Department of Communities (Housing) joint wait list. Some apply directly for housing but as signatory to the Community Housing Agreement Bethanie are obligated to take from the wait list first. “If we cannot find an appropriate tenant on the wait list then we use our own waiting list,” Shane says.

“As we move forward into affordable housing, we have our own list for that portfolio. We are fortunate because of the additional services we provide we have a strong waiting list and that gives us a lot of confidence when we go to look at new developments that we can tenant them.”

Workers Accommodation

Bethanie’s Dalyellup site could soon house a unique venture, a permanent workers’ village to address the South West region housing shortage. Mr Ogilvie said the plan was to lease the units to key healthcare workers in the region, including at the nearby Bunbury hospital. But this project hit a snag when federal government funding sought through the Building Betters Regions Fund under the previous government was scrapped.

“The grant program has been cancelled and we’re, looking for alternative funding … we are committed to being able to deliver it so we are putting a lot of effort in to finding that funding.”

SHERP Impact

A project which has secured funding is for a low-income seniors housing development in Fremantle. Bethanie’s $21 million apartment development received $5 million in Social Housing Economic Recovery Package (SHERP) funding to deliver a seven-storey over 55’s development of single and two-bedroom apartments at Lot 310, 8 Queen Victoria Street. The complex next to St Patrick’s Community Support Centre is undergoing a process of detailed design with construction due to start soon.

And SHERP has not just had an impact in Fremantle. Bethanie received a SHERP Refurbishment Grant of just under $3 million to modernise and extend the life of 42 of their older units across Cooloongup, Warnbro, Armadale, and Greenfields locations. Refurbishments include full replacement of the kitchen, bathroom, flooring, paint, and window treatments for each unit.

New Technologies

One thing which links across all of Bethanie’s properties is use of new technologies, specifically those which enhance a residents’ ageing experience by collecting real-time data about their health and wellbeing. This is Shane’s passion having been appointed as Chief of Strategy & Innovation before becoming CEO.

“Our portfolio is completely dedicated to people over 55 … and as people age, they get frail, they have health problems … and we are trialling smart sensor technology,” he said. “A sensor on the roof uses radar to track individual movements telling us how often a tenant utilises their bathroom and can track respiratory rate, heart rate or even if they’ve fallen out of bed. This data is a good indicator of quality of sleep and quality of health. It allows our nursing staff to see if they should offer some intervention or detail captured can be printed and shared with a tenant’s GP.

For dementia patients in aged care, they access a Tovertafel table where images are projected onto a table.

“You can play video games or there is a flower scene and when you touch a flower bud it will open,” Shane says. “These trigger memories from the past. We use virtual reality headsets for those not as mobile as they used to be. This allows our customers to take a virtual trip anywhere in the world or to experience things they wouldn’t normally have access to.”

Community Housing

So, what does the future of Community Housing look like in Western Australia?

“Community Housing works well when it works with the government,” says Shane. “The amount of income you get from a tenant is seldom enough for a community housing provider to invest to grow a portfolio themselves. Government subsidies are required to make growth opportunities work and can come from federal, state, or local government.”

With the new state labor government coming in Shane points to there being a “little bit more love” from the government. “We’ve received those SHERP grants, and that Refurbishment Grant has changed the face of our portfolio and has changed the lives of people who live in those tenancies. That’s been a great initiative of the state government where we have worked in partnership with them to be able to improve the properties.

“The flow-on effect will likely be an increase in value of the properties and therefore we can leverage them to grow the portfolio. Minister John Carey has been very receptive to the benefits of delivering growth through a portfolio in partnership with a community housing provider.

“The South West is exploding with growth.”

“With the changing demographics of WA as we move forward … we have highlighted certain areas which are very attractive to us. The South West is exploding with growth and is in desperate need for housing. From Mandurah to Albany Bethanie has been looking to acquire land in those areas. We focus on Perth metro and South West because we have scale there and we have the supports to grow the business.”

Community Housing Opportunities

In terms of the advocacy Shelter WA does in partnership with community housing providers Shane commended the “poignant points” in the Community Housing Sector Growth Opportunities: Collaboration between Government and Industry to Drive Supply report.

Commissioned by Shelter WA and funded by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, it highlights how collaboration with community housing sector, can leverage government investment to drive the supply of new social and affordable homes.

“The report is a brilliant advocacy platform for the whole industry and Shelter WA is spearheading that.”

Further Information

Visit the Bethanie website for further information.