Tenant participation, social housing and democracy : tensions between expectations and realities

Back in the early 1970s – when Marg Barry and others were establishing community coalitions to advocate for improved housing conditions for Sydney’s low income families, the frail and elderly, and those with disabilities – there was certainly no requirement for government to involve local resident groups in housing matters. “That all changed” argued the Honourable Deirdre Grusovin (2001:1) when resident action groups “challenged government and organised community resistance” to a government policy of slum clearance in the New South Wales suburb of Waterloo in 1976.