NSW income management scheme to expand

The NSW government says an income management trial for public housing tenants in a Sydney suburb has reduced rental arrears and it wants to expand the scheme.

Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward said on Sunday that the joint state and Commonwealth trial had proven successful in Bankstown.

She said she had written to federal Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews outlining how the trial had helped tenants in arrears to "conquer their debts, secure their tenancy, and avoid homelessness".

Since August last year her department had referred 49 public housing tenants from the Bankstown trial to Centrelink social workers for income management assessment.

"In over sixty per cent of cases these tenants have either completely cleared or significantly reduced their rental arrears under a repayment plan," Ms Goward said in a statement.

"This is a great result for our tenants, and one which suggests we should consider expanding the program."

Ms Goward said rent arrears could quickly lead to homelessness, but expanding the trial could help more public housing tenants maintain a stable home for their families while meeting their obligations to the NSW taxpayer.

She said that at the beginning of 2014 there was $4.3 million in outstanding rents in public housing statewide, highlighting the difficulty some tenants had in managing their budgets.