Community housing and you, what you need to know.

Community housing is part of every neighbourhood in the Territory. This page is for anyone who lives near community housing, has a concern about a property in their area, or wants to understand how the system works.

Concerns about antisocial behaviour in and around community housing are real, and they deserve honest acknowledgement. If you have a concern, there are clear steps you can take. If you want to understand why some situations are more complex than they appear, this page explains that too.

The challenges are real, and so is the work already underway

CHPs and indeed the entire social housing system in the NT is under scrutiny. Concerns about antisocial behaviour, complaints about slow responses, frustration from neighbours living alongside social housing, these are real, and they deserve honest acknowledgement.

Some tenancies fail and some tenancies are impacted by antisocial behaviour from renters themselves or visitors to the home. Some complaints are not handled as well as they should be. The system has inherited decades of under-investment and complexity that no single organisation or agency created. That is not an excuse, it is the context in which the work happens.

What CHPs bring is a commitment to early intervention, renter engagement, and clear accountability pathways. Eviction is the end of a process, not the beginning of one. The goal is not just to manage tenancies, it is to support people to sustain them.

NT Shelter is committed to transparency about where the sector needs to improve, and to showing the evidence as it emerges.

If You Have A Concern — What To Do

This section is for neighbours and community members with a concern about antisocial behaviour in or around a social housing property. The first step is working out who manages the property, because not all social housing in the NT is managed by a Community Housing Provider.

1.

If there is an immediate threat to your safety or others, call 000. CHPs manage tenancy issues, they do not manage emergency situations.

2.

Check who manages the property. Contact the NT Government’s Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development if you are unsure. Our Providers page lists the CHPs operating in the NT and the regions they cover.

3.

If the property is managed by a CHP, contact them directly. Each CHP has a tenancy management team responsible for responding to complaints about behaviour at their properties. Contact details for providers are on our Providers page.

4.

If the property is managed by the Department of Housing, contact the Department directly. The complaints process for public housing is managed by the NT Government, not by NT Shelter or a CHP.

Remember: the majority of social housing tenancies in the NT are managed directly by the NT Government’s Department of Housing, Local Government and Community Development, not by a Community Housing Provider.

If you’re unsure who manages a property near you, the Department is the right first contact.

Common Questions

The questions below address some of the most common concerns about community housing and antisocial behaviour. They are intended to explain how the system works.

What is antisocial behaviour?

Antisocial behaviour refers to conduct that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to others. In a housing context, this includes noise, property damage, threatening or abusive behaviour, and other conduct that affects renters’ and neighbours’ safety and quality of life. CHPs take complaints about antisocial behaviour seriously; it is one of their core tenancy management responsibilities.

Can a renter lose their housing because of antisocial behaviour?

Yes, but not immediately, and not without a process. CHPs work within the Residential Tenancies Act (NT), which means tenants have legal rights and cannot be evicted without following a formal process. CHPs take a support-first approach: early intervention, working with the renter and any relevant support services, and escalation through NTCAT when behaviour does not change. Eviction is the end of that process, not the beginning. This process exists to prevent injustice, not to protect bad behaviour.

What if the problem is caused by visitors, not the renter?

This is one of the most common and least understood complexities in community housing. Visitors, not renters, are often the source of antisocial behaviour incidents. A renter may be held accountable under their tenancy agreement for behaviour caused by people they did not invite and may themselves not have the capacity to hold accountable. CHPs work with the renter and support services to clarify rights, strengthen the renter’s capacity to protect their own tenancy, and escalate where necessary. This is a genuine dilemma without a simple answer, but it is one CHPs actively manage.

Why does community housing sometimes have more problems than other properties?

Most community housing tenancies are stable, and the majority of renters are good neighbours. Where problems do occur, they often reflect the NT’s acute housing pressure: when there is not enough housing to go around, households extend informally, with visitors and family staying beyond what a tenancy agreement covers. CHPs acknowledge those dynamics and actively manage them: through early intervention, connecting renters to support, and clear legal processes when behaviour doesn’t change. It takes time, but it produces more durable outcomes than enforcement alone.

I complained and nothing happened. What now?

If the response to your complaint was unclear or slow, that is a real problem, not something to defend. Start by following up directly with the CHP complaint process. If you are not getting an adequate response form the CHP, this can be escalated to the NT Community Housing Registrar, whose role includes holding CHPs accountable for following their own complaints processes. If your immediate safety is at risk, always call 000 first.

What is the difference between community housing and public housing?

Public housing is managed directly by the NT Government. CHPs manage community and affordable housing under contract, with their own tenancy management teams, governance structures, and national regulatory requirements. In practice, many community housing properties were previously managed by the government and transferred to CHPs, which is why some residents may not notice a difference. But the accountability structures are different, and CHPs are subject to independent national regulation that public housing is not. You may also hear the term ‘social housing’, this is an umbrella term for community and public housing.