Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Public housing services

Ms SANDELL (Melbourne) (19:36): (6552) Thank you, Speaker. I hope this little one lets me get through this adjournment question. I want to start this adjournment question by paying tribute to people who live in public housing in my electorate. It is a group of people that I have felt really privileged to represent and get to know over the last eight years. They have been through a really tough time during the pandemic, so I think it is appropriate that I use my last adjournment to raise a matter that they would like me to raise with the minister.

During the pandemic many high-rise public housing residents in my electorate were employed by the government through Cohealth to help their communities stay safe, to encourage them to get vaccinated and to give them health information. This was called the high-risk accommodation response program. It was highly effective not just as a health measure but also in bridging that gap between residents and the government, which had been a huge issue over many years. It also gave residents much-needed work experience, and employment for public housing residents in that community has been a huge issue that so many residents have raised with me over many years.

This program was great, but in July this year, with very little notice, the funding for the program was cut and these people lost their jobs. Residents were understandably very upset. They had already felt quite neglected and ignored by the government over a long period, and they thought they were finally getting somewhere with the relationship, but then all of a sudden they felt abandoned again. They felt like the government perhaps had not learned anything from the failures highlighted by the hard lockdown of 2020. When I heard of the decision to stop this program I advocated strongly on behalf of residents for it to be continued. Since then the government has announced some funding for a new community connectors program, which is meant to fill the gap, but in reality the new program is quite different from the old one. Previously 100 residents had been employed, but now there are only 15 positions available. It is a big staffing cut, which is bad enough on its own but it also means a cut in the support and services available to the public housing community. I am disappointed with the decision. I think that it will lose a lot of goodwill in these communities. My question today is to ask the minister—this is the Minister for Housing—to fully reinstate the programs, services and jobs that public housing residents in Melbourne need and deserve.