Inquiry into the adequacy and future directions of public housing in Victoria

• Family and Community Development Committee

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Matt Clare, Mono Design

04 November 2010In a context of tight housing affordability, increasing numbers of Victorians are turning to public housing to meet their housing needs.

In Victorian social housing, public housing continues to provide the largest number of long-term tenancies for people in housing need. And it is apparent that the long-term financial viability of public housing needs to be addressed through reforms to the Commonwealth funding model and by finding alternative ways to attract non-government investment in social housing.

This report makes 81 recommendations.  These include:
Advocating for Commonwealth funding of the difference between market rent and concessional (rebated)
rents on the basis that it is a community service obligation – to bring public housing into line with other
corporatised government services that provide concessions to consumers, such as electricity and water
supply.

• Improving support for individuals and families on early housing waiting lists – in particular, educational
  and social support for children in these circumstances.
• Developing a workforce strategy to build the capacity of workers in the public housing sector to respond
  to the complex and changing needs of public housing tenants.
• Considering an external body to handle complaints for public housing tenants.
• Ongoing commitment to strategies for sustaining tenancies and continued funding for Neighbourhood
  Renewal programs.
• A long-term, targeted increase to the supply of Victorian social housing to achieve a progressive target of
  5 per cent of total housing stock by 2030
• Amending the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to include as an objective a need to support the
  development and retention of affordable housing
• Increasing the supply and distribution of new affordable housing, which may include private and social housing, by amending Victorian Planning Provisions to allow for the use of ‘inclusionary zoning’.

Image: report cover / Matt Clare, Mono Design