The aims of the picket were to pressure the government to recognise the serious need for low-cost accommodation; to ensure that Havelock House be retained as inner city low-cost accommodation; and to highlight the extent and nature of homelessness and housing related poverty in the ACT.
The picket ended in December 1983 with a settlement, which committed the government to:
1. Transfer Havelock House to low-cost housing use when alternative office accommodation was built for the AFP
2. Undertake an inquiry into homelessness in the ACT and surrounding regions.
Havelock House was officially handed over to the Department of Territories, Housing Branch in May 1987. The Department of Territories undertook refurbishment of the building while an interim Management Committee was appointed to set up the new accommodation service. The building was officially handed over from the Department of Territories to Havelock Housing Association on 10th April 1988, and the first residents moved in.
Since that time, Havelock Housing has provided affordable accommodation for people on low incomes. In 1992 Havelock House was incorporated and became the Havelock Housing Association. Properties in other locations across Canberra gradually came under the Association’s management and today the Association is one of the largest Community Housing providers in the ACT.