Wednesday, 15 May 2024

Solar for Apartments program

Tim READ (Brunswick) (17:25): (667) My adjournment is for the Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for Climate Action, and the action I seek is for the minister to fix the Solar for Apartments program so that residents of apartment buildings wanting to have solar installed through this new program are not having their applications effectively blocked by the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. The Victorian government’s Solar Homes program has been very successful for owner-occupiers of detached homes. However, where the program has to date failed is for residents of apartments and for renters, who either have not been able to access a government solar program or have found the application process onerous.

The Solar for Apartments program that started this year is a good thing, but in the last week alone I have been contacted by two separate Brunswick apartment residents who were dumbfounded to learn that they will not be able to apply because their block contains apartments owned by the government and managed by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Applications for the program have to be approved by owners corporations, where such approval is dependent on a majority or unanimous support of residents in a ballot. The issue arises because the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing does not respond to owners corporation ballots, either meaning unanimous decisions cannot be carried or potentially making majority decisions more unlikely. Even if a building has successfully applied by the owners corporation reaching a majority decision, it is concerning that DFFH will not support their own tenants in participating in the program and benefiting from cheaper, cleaner energy. On the Solar for Apartments website it states:

We strongly urge OCs and strata management companies to engage all residents, including owner-occupiers and renters to encourage participation in the program.

I call on the minister to strongly urge the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing to participate in the program, or at least make sure they are not standing in the way of the apartment residents who want to participate.