Victorian Community Sector Celebrates Andrews Government Re-election

Victorian community and advocacy groups across the board have welcomed the state election result, but say they will fight to ensure the re-elected Andrews government delivers good outcomes for vulnerable Victorians.  

The Andrews Labor government defeated the Victorian Coalition in a landslide victory on Saturday, returning to state office for another four years.    

Social commitments from Labor included a royal commission into mental health, $209 million to build an extra 1,000 public housing units, more schools built, and implementing all 227 recommendations of the royal commission into family violence.  

Emma King, Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) CEO, told Pro Bono News while Victoria still had many pressing social issues, she was confident Premier Daniel Andrews would be able to deliver.

“The premier announced a swag of smart, socially progressive policies during the election campaign which we welcomed at the time,” King said.

“We’re excited about working with the re-elected government on the detail and implementation of these policies.”

Well done Premier Andrews. pic.twitter.com/YohWPwBEuA

— VCOSS (@VCOSS) November 25, 2018

Jesuit Social Services CEO, Julie Edwards, also welcomed the Andrews government victory, and said it showed Victoria supported increased investments in vital community services such as education and health.

“We will work with government to reduce barriers for marginalised people to participate in society, though inclusive policies and programs,” Edwards said.

Kate Colvin, spokesperson for the Everybody’s Home campaign, said they were pleased to see significant commitments made to social housing prior to the election, but would work to increase them over the next four years.

“The commitments made just prior to the election were one in a series of commitments that Labor has made on this issue, so I think we can reasonably expect them to build on those commitments,” Colvin told Pro Bono News.

She said their focus would now be to make sure the government understood that housing was an infrastructure issue.

“Making sure that we have a strong economy, a growing population and people being well-housed is going to require some sort of infrastructure investment in the housing area,” she said.

With domestic violence one of the largest drivers of homelessness, Jenny Smith, CEO of Council to Homeless People (CHP), told Pro Bono News the “unprecedented” commitment to ending family violence was positive, and she hoped to see that support maintained.

“We want to see the maintenance of increased investment in family violence, and the housing support that’s part of ending it,” Smith said.

She said CHP would continue to work alongside the rest of the community sector to push for policies that supported vulnerable Victorians.

“We’ll keep working in partnership with our colleagues in the community sector to advance the development and maintenance of really effective human services,” she said.