Homelessness
Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (09:47): I rise today to deliver a home truth to the Victorian government. In March 2021 the inquiry into homelessness in Victoria made 51 recommendations. One of the most critical was the call to enshrine the right to housing in the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006. The government’s response, coming as it did years later, was just that it was under review. Four years on from this inquiry, the crisis has only deepened. Victoria’s public housing waitlist had ballooned to 63,803 households as of September last year. Over 36,000 are priority cases. The average wait time for priority applications has stretched to 20 months, nearly double the government’s own target. These figures are staggering, and the government continues to drag its feet. The latest Productivity Commission report on government services shows that public and community housing residents make up just 2.8 per cent of Victoria’s households. This is the lowest percentage in Australia, while the national average stands at 4.1 per cent.
Homelessness services across the state are buckling under pressure. Many have been forced to close their doors because of a lack of funding. The government says it is focused on improving the enforceability of the charter before considering a right to housing. The reality is homelessness is spiralling, housing affordability is out of reach for many and our support services are overwhelmed. Housing is a human right – not an investment and not a privilege. The government had the chance to make it one. Instead, they chose more delays, more bureaucracy and more people sleeping rough. That is the reality. That is the home truth.