Standard compliance assessment

A standard compliance assessment is a scheduled assessment to ensure ongoing compliance with the National Regulatory Code (NRC).

The standard compliance return consists of:

  • core financial and non-financial data sets (relevant to the tier of registration)
  • standard business documentation that can be used to demonstrate the achievement of the National Law outcomes. This is referred to as ‘core documents’
  • notification of significant changes to policy and procedures.

A summary of the components of the return is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 : Components of the standard compliance return

Standard compliance return Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

Core financial data

 Tier 1 standard current financial return (incl. audit report) and 10 yr. forecasts Tier 2 standard current financial return (incl. audit report) and 10 yr. forecasts Tier 3 standard current financial return (incl. audit report) and 2 yr. forecasts
Core non-financial data Tier 1 standard non-financial metrics return Tier 2 standard non-financial metrics return Tier 3 standard non-financial metrics return
Property data Current property data list and generated community housing asset performance report (part of ‘Return’) Current property data list and generated community housing asset performance report (part of ‘Return’) Current property data list and generated community housing asset performance report (part of ‘Return’)
Significant changes to policies & procedures Updated policies & procedures Updated policies & procedures Updated policies & procedures
Action to address compliance findings Report outlining actions to close-out any recommendations or address compliance findings Report outlining actions to close-out any recommendations or address compliance findings Report outlining actions to close-out any recommendations or address compliance findings
Community housing (CH) development programme List of CH development programmes and their status (or equivalent) List of CH development programmes and their status (or equivalent) Not required unless Provider has CH development and upon request by Registrar
Asset management Achievement of current strategic asset management & development plan (or equivalent) Achievement of current strategic asset management & development plan (or equivalent) Achievement of current asset maintenance plan (or equivalent)
Governance & management Annual report (or equivalent) Annual report (or equivalent) Annual report (or equivalent)
Risk management Risk management plan and risk register (or equivalent) Risk management plan and risk register (or equivalent) Only upon request by Registrar
Tenant / resident satisfaction Latest tenant/resident satisfaction report Latest tenant/resident satisfaction report Only upon request by Registrar
Appeals and complaints Current appeals and complaints register (or equivalent document) Current appeals and complaints register (or equivalent document) Current appeals and complaints register (or equivalent document)
Performance against business goals Latest report to Board detailing past and current performance against goals/targets in business plan & strategic asset management / development plan Latest report to Board detailing past and current performance against goals/targets in business plan & strategic asset management / development plan Only upon request by Registrar

Evidence - guiding principles

In completing the return providers should note the following principles

  • The return is structured around core data sets and standard business documentation rather than the outcomes in the NRC. This is because the same data item or document may contribute to demonstrating the achievement of multiple outcomes. The Evidence Guidelines (PDF , 438.5 KB) document describes how different types of evidence may be used to inform judgement about the achievement of outcomes.
  • Apart from the standard data sets, the components of the return describe examples of evidence—rather than prescribing required pieces of evidence.
  • Evidence can be presented in the form that it exists. Providers are not expected to adjust existing key documents or plans to meet the specific description in the return. For example if a provider outlines its annual business activities and targets in a series of action plans rather than in one single business plan, these can be submitted as evidence.
  • While the same ‘type’ of evidence may be required for different Tiers (e.g. current business plan), the expected depth and rigour of the evidence is different for each Tier: risk stratification by tier means evidence from a Tier 1 provider will be expected to be more comprehensive and sophisticated than evidence from a Tier 2 provider. Evidence from a Tier 3 provider will be expected to be briefer and simpler—commensurate with the scale and scope of their community housing activities.
  • The responsibility is on providers to determine the adequacy of the business documentation they submit with the compliance return.  A provider will not be non-compliant for submitting a ‘poor’ business plan. However they may be assessed as non-compliant if that business plan does not have the sufficient depth and rigour for their Tier of registration to demonstrate the achievement of the required outcome. Similarly they may be assessed at high-risk of non-compliance in the future and be subject to additional, targeted monitoring.

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