Vic Government Consults on Future of Social Housing

The Victorian Government has begun a three month public consultation process on the future direction of social housing.

The move follows a report by the Auditor General last month which described Victoria’s public housing system as unsustainable, unfair and fails to meet the needs of the community, tenants and those in need.

The March 2012 report on Access to Public Housing, the Auditor-General described the situation for public housing in Victoria as “critical’, noting that that the “long-term provision of this vital public service is at risk”.

The Auditor-General attributed this to:

• A lack of an overarching direction for public housing.
• The absence of a strategic, comprehensive approach to managing its portfolio.
• An unviable operating model with costs increasingly exceeding revenues.

In announcing the consultation process, the Housing Minister Wendy Lovell said the status quo is not an option and reform is required if public housing is to be sustained.

“The public housing system is not only financially unsustainable, it is also inequitable and unfair to tenants and for those on waiting lists. Housing stock has not been well maintained, nor matched to need; there are long waiting lists and significant inequities between those allocated public housing and those who may be eligible but have not yet been allocated a dwelling,” the Minister said.

The findings of the Victorian Auditor-General reflected those made by the Parliament of Victoria’s Family and Community Development Committee in its Inquiry into the Adequacy and Future Directions of Public Housing in Victoria.

“Reform will require the careful consideration of a number of complex issues and it is for this reason that the Victorian Government is inviting the wider community, including public housing tenants and representative bodies, housing associations, the Not for Profit sector and business to participate in a public consultation process.”

To guide the public consultation process, the Minister for Housing has released two discussion papers to promote public engagement:

Pathways to a fair and sustainable social housing system (PDF 2.4 MB)
Social Housing – Options to improve the supply of quality housing (PDF 2.0 MB)

Public consultation is open for three months until 5pm on 31 July 2012.

For more information about the public consultation process visit the Pathways to a new Victorian social housing framework page. 

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