Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Responses

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (20:53): This evening I think we may have approached a record with 17 adjournment matters. I am grateful to those on the opposite benches for having stuck around for my summary here this evening. I will try to make it mercifully brief.

There were those matters that were raised for ministers in the other place and in this one; I will ensure that they are passed on for response. There were two matters directed to me in my capacity as Minister for Water and Minister for Housing respectively. Given the issues and the complexity of the issues raised by Mrs Tyrrell in her adjournment matter this evening, which related to the allocation of funding for the purpose of restoration of waterway and riparian health, including across the flood plains and as a result of natural and environmental flows, and the fact that this relates to one very particular part of the Murray area, the Gunbower forest, I am very happy to provide Mrs Tyrrell with the detail that she can then take through to people on the way in which these projects will realise benefit on the ground and how that fits within the broader policy parameters as they exist at state and federal levels. I do not intend to perhaps put the chamber, at this late hour, through that level of very granular detail, and I accept your gratitude from across the benches, as I have just seen the smiles across the way.

In that regard, I will move on then to the other matter that was raised for my attention, by Mrs Broad, in relation to housing in the Bendigo area. Homelessness and housing are really interconnected in the way in which we see need arising across the housing continuum. We know, for example, that around 30 per cent of people accessing homelessness services for the first time are coming from the private rental market. We also know that around 5 per cent of people in private rental are experiencing extreme financial stress, noting that the Commonwealth has in its budget this evening just announced a 10 per cent increase to the Commonwealth rental assistance program. It is part of the broader discussion that we are needing to have, and that we are having, across all levels of government around understanding where and how that disadvantage is arising.

We also know that many of the causes of homelessness and rough sleeping lie with disadvantage that people are all too familiar with for a range of what might initially be seemingly unrelated matters. When we talk to those members of our communities who are First Nations people, we know that every night, for example, Kids Under Cover houses around a thousand young people. About 25 per cent of those people are First Nations young people. We see a disproportionate representation of First Nations people in that cohort. We also see that young people are particularly vulnerable to homelessness and to rough sleeping – that is, lack of a secure place to be accommodated over time. We also know, and this was a key focus of the budget last week, that victim-survivors of family violence are all too often represented in our figures on homelessness and rough sleeping.

We do have figures on homelessness across the Loddon shire, and you referred to that, Mrs Broad, in your contribution this evening. But the funding that we provided across the Loddon area – that includes Loddon, Campaspe, Greater Bendigo, Central Goldfields, Mount Alexander and the Macedon Ranges – in the 2023–24 year was approximately $12.2 million, and we have also seen an investment in capital across the Greater Bendigo housing supply, as at the end of March this year, of $150.5 million. At the moment, we have got 95 homes across this area that have been delivered under the Big Housing Build, and 255 homes are underway. There has been an investment of about $11 million in maintenance and in upgrades.

Across the budget, though, it has also been really important to note that we are working with a range of portfolios, whether that is the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, the Minister for Youth or the work across the regional housing development that Minister Tierney has carriage of in worker accommodation. Student accommodation is another big part of this work, and that is also where we want to provide opportunities for people to access affordable housing. When we take pressure off one part of the housing continuum, it then means that we are reducing the impost upon other parts of the housing system as well.

Our housing and homelessness services do the most extraordinary work, and I commend them for their ongoing dedication to helping people in the most extraordinary and devastating of circumstances. People consistently go above and beyond, and I also note that in times of natural disaster – and we know that this particular part of the world has seen more than its fair share in recent years – it again has come to social and community services organisations to step in and to provide people with that assistance. There are a range of accommodation options that are used in the event of the need for crisis and emergency and transitional housing. You referred to a number of those in your contribution this evening, Mrs Broad. What we try to do is to make sure that people have safe and accessible housing that meets their needs. Again, it is about providing people, wherever we possibly can, with choice.

What I would welcome, again, Mrs Broad – we have done this on a couple of other matters to date – is a conversation about where and how we can assist those services, including those which have received funding in this year’s budget as part of homelessness allocations, to meet that need. That need will change over time, particularly in rural and regional areas. I would be really pleased to work with you in terms of identifying those areas where we can be of assistance, and to make sure that in regard to that funding, as it is allocated and as we move into a range of areas for deployment of that funding, whether it is competitive grants or as part of the broader service delivery offerings specified in the budget, again we seek that input from local members. I would extend that offer, indeed, to anybody else. So I hope that provides you with a measure of certainty and detail. Again, I am very happy to provide you with additional info should you require it. On that basis, I think that is probably about it from me.

The PRESIDENT: The house stands adjourned.

House adjourned 9:00 pm.