Throughout 2024 and 2025 the Victorian Government has been releasing more details about their flagship housing policy: the Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres (Activity Centre Program). The program will enable more homes to be built in and around 60 activity centres across Melbourne with the majority of those centred around train and tram lines, with good access to jobs and services. 

This paper explores the Activity Centre Program in the context of equity in Victoria. It finds that through a focus on building in established areas, the program is an opportunity to redistribute wealth and means to a greater number of Victorians.

Key findings

• The government’s new activity centres are concentrated in areas with declining numbers of children, high socioeconomic status and high levels of segregation.
• Research shows a direct correlation between housing growth and the increase in the number of children.
• Allowing more housing choices in higher status and more highly segregated areas would allow more people the opportunity to live in these areas.
• Taxpayers currently subsidise transport infrastructure regardless of where they live – transit-oriented development allows more people to benefit from it directly.
• All of the above has positive implications for equitability.