Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Housing

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (18:27): (1168) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Housing. I have received several inquiries from people who are distressed about the unfairness built into Victoria’s so-called affordable housing system. The Victorian government claims to be building affordable housing; however, it is very unclear to the public what the government actually means by the term ‘affordable’. I am hearing about constituents applying for Homes Victoria’s affordable housing scheme and winning the ballot due to their eligibility, only to be rejected later for no discernible reason. This scheme is turning out to be a lottery scheme that is being overseen by private real estate agents. The likes of Barry Plant are making decisions about housing for low-income people, and they are getting to do this without having to follow government policies or procedures.

One constituent who won the affordable housing ballot several times was rejected in their application for the scheme because the rent for the affordable housing was more than 30 per cent of their income. This was despite falling within the required income thresholds for affordable housing. He has since been told to join the public housing waitlist, which we all know is decades long for most. It has led this constituent to a state of despondency because he feels he has no hope of ever securing a house under the current housing system. He has been considering self-harm, he reports, and feels there is no help available from the mental health or hospital systems because his ideation is related to housing stress.

It is vulnerable people like this who are becoming the victims of an increasingly privatised social housing system. This Labor government is retreating from the provision of public housing altogether. They are leaving vulnerable community members to fend for themselves in an under-regulated community and affordable housing sector or most commonly in the ruthless private housing market. All this, and your government still has not responded to the social housing regulation review that was completed two years ago, let alone released the report. In the middle of a housing crisis you would think that the government would intervene and take care of people who desperately need a roof over their heads and support systems to help them get through tough times. Instead the government is literally asking people to enter a lottery to secure housing and is outsourcing its responsibility for housing to the likes of Barry Plant, who are driven only by corporate profit motives.

The affordable housing scheme in its current form is a sham. It locks out low-income people. It discriminates against vulnerable community members. It is a game of chance that has been left in the hands of the development industry, and under Labor real estate agents are fast becoming the housing workers of the future. This is privatisation of our system at work. Minister, it is clear that the system is not working for those who need it the most. How will you ensure there is oversight and accountability for the decisions made by private contractors about who receives housing under the affordable housing program?