This interim report aims to identify future regulatory arrangements that will best support the long-term interests of social housing residents and their communities in Victoria. It also aims to best position social (and affordable) housing for growth and transformation over the coming decades.

The creation of this strategy was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, and includes initiatives to deliver four key priorities: increasing workforce supply; improving workforce skills, knowledge and capabilities; supporting the safety, wellbeing and retention of the workforce; and supporting better system planning and sustainability.

This strategy document has been prepared for Victorian councils. It serves as a practical guide for councils across Victoria to help embed the voices and priorities of Aboriginal communities at a local government level.

With an overall aim by the Victorian government to have the most efficient regulatory system in Australia, this SOE framework is designed to facilitate a dialogue between Ministers, departments and regulators to identify the government’s priorities and emerging risks and to establish a process for addressing these priorities through regulators’ business planning processes.

This report evaluates the relief and recovery efforts activated before, during and after the 2019–20 Victorian fire season. The Victorian Inspector-General for Emergency Management makes a series of observations and findings related to both relief and recovery, and proposes 15 recommendations to government.