Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Housing

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (10:26): I move:

That this house:

(1) notes that the social housing regulation review final report was delivered to the government on 31 May 2022 but still has not been released to the public and the community and affordable housing sectors remain woefully under-regulated; and

(2) requires the Leader of the Government, pursuant to standing order 10.01, to table in the Council, within four weeks of the house agreeing to this resolution, the social housing regulation review final report.

This is calling for the production of the social housing regulation review final report. In 2021 the government undertook an independent review into the regulation of our social housing sector, looking at how it supports both existing and prospective tenants and also encourages future investment in public and community housing. The interim report made a series of important recommendations for reform, including introducing minimum housing standards for social housing properties, having a single regulator for public and community housing, having a shared complaints body and putting tenants’ interests in legislation. The final report was delivered to the then housing minister in May 2022, but that report has never been made public. The government has had the report for two and a half years now, but we are still waiting for the government response and for the release of the original report itself.

In the meantime the government has continued on its warpath against public housing. We are seeing the government demolish public housing at breakneck speed and replace it wholesale with community and so-called affordable and private housing. The government’s agenda to privatise housing across the state is going to leave many residents fending for themselves in a broken housing system, whether that is in the private market or in under-regulated community and affordable housing sectors.

We are already hearing from people engaging with the affordable housing sector what a shambolic mess it is turning out to be. To begin with, the system for getting what the government likes to call affordable housing – it is hard to know what is affordable about it, but that is the term they are using for it. The system to get one of those houses in the so-called affordable housing scheme is basically a lottery system. We have heard from several constituents that they have applied for affordable housing, met all of the eligibility criteria and yet have been denied a house because their income is lower than other applicants. Private, for-profit real estate agents like Barry Plant are being left to decide the housing fate of people on low incomes – often vulnerable Victorians. And as the government continues to abrogate responsibility for public housing to the community and affordable housing sector we are wondering if real estate agents will become the housing workers of the future, because it seems to be what the government is planning to do.

It is a truly dark prospect when you consider all of the negligent and predatory practices of the real estate industry that are being exposed each day as renters stand up for themselves and fight back. We have also heard from many public and community housing residents about the dismal state they are being left in due to a backlog of maintenance requests, and now it seems these issues are plaguing affordable housing tenants too. If this is the future of affordable housing built around this state, we should all be very concerned.

The government must regulate the affordable housing system and all the private market players who are hoping to make a buck off people on low incomes, but as the government drags its feet on responding to the social housing regulation review – let alone releasing the report – these tenants have nowhere to turn for support against under-regulated housing providers. We have even heard of affordable housing residents ending up at VCAT just to have the most basic maintenance requests fulfilled.

As for community housing, it has an important role to play in the continuum of affordable housing options available to Victorians; however, it should not be replacing public housing. It was never designed to replace public housing, but that is what this government seems intent on doing. And what is happening under the government’s so-called public housing renewal program? On the ground lease model sites and with what is planned for the 44 public housing towers estates, we are seeing this wholesale outsourcing and privatisation of what once was public housing. It is really disappointing that this government has continued to pit community housing against public housing. They have implied that there is only room for one. Really what we need is a massive build of public housing, at least 100,000 homes in the next 10 years, and community housing can continue to play its role of being a specialist housing provider, which was always the intention for community housing. It was never intended to replace public housing. Proper regulation of community housing so that tenants are not paying more rent than they ought to and so that they have long-term, secure tenure in their homes is a matter of urgency now.

Minister, while we wait for you to release the social housing regulation review, residents are falling through the cracks of our social housing system. I call on the government to release the final report and the government’s response without delay. We have heard repeatedly from the minister that the report will not be released until the government issues its response simultaneously. We have waited for over two years, and the people that are suffering the most are the people who are forced to accept social housing that is substandard and inadequate, where maintenance is not met and they have nowhere to turn. They are coming to us weekly if not daily with requests that are unmet. It is a matter of urgency that the social housing regulation review at least is made public to all of us so that we can understand what recommendations were made and that the government’s response follows as a matter of urgency. We must regulate this sector properly now.

Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (10:31): I rise to follow Dr Ratnam in speaking on the motion moved in her name about the social housing regulation review, and from the outset can I just say that the government will not be opposing this motion. We are really proud of our investment in public and community housing with the nation-building Big Housing Build; this is Australia’s biggest investment in social housing ever.

Alongside the announcement of the Big Housing Build, the Victorian government has commissioned an independent review of social housing regulation. The Assistant Treasurer and the Minister for Housing are jointly responsible for overseeing the review, and this is a really significant body of work, with policy, operational, administrative and funding implications. I have indeed met with sector groups about this review and undertaken to understand from them what their contributions were, what they are seeing on the ground and what it is that they are hearing from not only the providers but also people waiting to get into social housing and those that are in social housing. And so can I say thank you very much to all of those that found the time to engage and participate in this review. There were many, many stakeholders, and it is a significant part of work. There is no way around it. But we are very much proud of working with social and community housing providers to unlock more housing opportunity for Victorians that need it most.

These are organisations that are operating right across the state, including those that have some really specialist skill sets and some knowledge, those that specialise in housing needs for those suffering mental ill health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, those escaping family violence, young people et cetera. Some of these organisations have been around for a very long time, like Aboriginal Housing Victoria; others are newer to the landscape. But what I know is that these organisations have got some work to do, frankly; I will be really honest about that. What I am hearing from my community is that they do want to get better in the provision of social housing to communities that they support. That is why I was happy to see that so many of them had engaged so optimistically with the review.

What the interim report found and what was raised in the interim report was that we do need more of these organisations out there to become registered housing providers. I have a particularly close relationship with Aboriginal Housing Victoria, and I know that the Victorian government is supporting more Aboriginal organisations to become registered housing providers under the regulatory system so they will be able to participate in the Big Housing Build, unlock capital, unlock investment and unlock more homes for Victorians that need them.

One of the big challenges that I know Dr Ratnam and others, including me, have spoken about is that there is a very significant maintenance backlog that did build up during COVID. I want to say that there has been quite a considered renter-centric response to that, including something that I know was particularly exciting to members of the North Richmond community, which were some locally trained and locally employed maintenance repair crews. Some of the biggest issues that are coming up time and time again to those of us in our electorate offices are around maintenance inquiries. To hear that there is a more renter-centred response, including these four local maintenance repair crews, often staffed by folks that live in social and community and public housing, will ensure that these small-scale tasks can be fixed rapidly – I am thinking fix a washer et cetera – and that local community resources are organised and that they can work with others to get the training and skills required.

There was also one that I participated in about 18 months ago, which was the statewide public housing renter consultative committee led by Minister Pearson at the time in his capacity as the housing minister. These were really to test the specific reform directions with renters across the state, hear their ideas and facilitate some constructive two-way conversations with renters. I participated in them both at 120 Racecourse Road as well as in Carlton, and I think there were a couple more, but I know the one at Racecourse Road did have some very fulfilling conversations. Can I say all the recommendations have been directed to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. They are working on them very diligently, and they will be considered alongside the review’s final report. I will leave my remarks there.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (10:36): I want to thank Dr Ratnam for bringing this short-form documents motion to the chamber on the social housing regulation review, which was delivered to the government on 31 May 2022, prior to my election to this place. So it was delivered to the minister 870 days ago; for 870 days they have been sitting on this report. You have got to ask really what the government have to hide and what is in there that means it has been sitting on the minister’s desk gathering dust for 870 days. Since 2018 the Labor government has wasted $4 billion on public housing but delivered only 221 extra homes – $4 billion for 221 extra homes. More than 3000 families have been added every year to the waitlist since 2018 as wait times to secure a safe home have more than doubled. The Allan Labor government’s mismanagement of public housing is seeing homes sold off and demolished faster than new properties can be built, all while $4 billion of taxpayers money has been spent.

Of course this is typical of this Labor government. They cannot manage money, they cannot manage projects, and it is vulnerable Victorians that are paying the price and suffering the consequences. We do call on the Allan Labor government to deliver on their public housing commitments so that vulnerable Victorians are not forced onto the streets. As I said, it has been 870 days that this report has been sitting on the minister’s desk gathering dust, and Victorians ought to know what is in that report. The minister ought to be quick I think – pull it out of the bottom of the in-tray and bring it over to the chamber. This will be passed very shortly. Perhaps we could get it by the end of the day. I suspect we will not get it for a while. I suspect there will be a letter extending the response time, and I suspect at some point they will claim privilege or something like that. That is probably the likely outcome, and it will be sitting on her desk for another 870 days, but the Victorian people deserve to know what is in this report.

Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:39): I also rise to make a contribution on this short-form documents motion raised by the Greens. Of course, unfortunately, I do not have much time to talk about it because the standing orders have been changed to effectively nobble the government to be able to fully and comprehensively respond to some of these things. But that is how they want it in this chamber, because sometimes there are some inconvenient truths that we would actually like to point out to those opposite, or the crossbenchers, about these motions. I am pleased to say I am grateful to have followed Ms Watt, because in her contribution Ms Watt actually detailed quite comprehensively some of the really good initiatives that are happening for social or public housing tenants, particularly in Richmond, where I heard some really good examples of locals being engaged and involved in repair and maintenance projects. It is great to see local community members actually being involved and engaged and taking ownership of tasks that are related to the homes in which they live. It is critically important, and these are the great initiatives that those opposite and the crossbenchers, the Greens, would not really know anything about, because it is one thing to be able to stand in this place and say anything you like and be completely unaccountable for anything you say, but when you are in government there are things that you have to do and you have to be accountable for the things that you say.

We are working really hard to make sure that people who rely on us for social or affordable housing, or public housing, have the homes that they need, because as we have heard in the rhetoric from the Greens, you would think that we never do any of that and that what we are doing is basically making people’s lives more difficult. But we know that there are many, many Victorians who rely on us to provide them affordable social housing, and we know that they are entitled to the same standards of housing as anybody else who might sit in this place. The Greens would want to see people live in old, dilapidated, outdated homes, freezing cold in winter, boiling hot in summer, all so they can manipulate and use vulnerable people for their own political purposes. That is exactly what the Greens do.

I am going to talk a little now about the social housing regulation review, and this is extensive work that was undertaken by the review. The government is actually considering the recommendations of that review, and the interim report highlights the need for more Aboriginal organisations to become registered housing providers. Ms Watt went exactly to that point. We heard about the great progress that is being made in regard to that, but if you listen to what the Greens would say and what Mr Mulholland would say, the report is actually in an in-tray somewhere on someone’s desk gathering dust, which is not the case, because we have just heard what is happening on the ground locally. We are supporting Aboriginal organisations to become registered community housing providers under the regulatory system and to participate in the Big Housing Build program, and Ms Watt gave some examples of that. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing has undertaken a program to significantly reduce the outstanding maintenance in public housing that accumulated during COVID-19, when those restrictions were in place, and we are working through that. We are also supporting a more renter-centric response, and the department of fairness and housing is trialling four local maintenance repair crews across five locations in Victoria. Again, Ms Watt went to that in her contribution – an outstanding response and outstanding actions. The interim report also identifies complaints in dispute resolution as an issue, mirroring findings in the Victorian Ombudsman’s report and investigation into complaints handling in the Victorian social housing sector.

All the recommendations directed to the department of fairness and housing are being implemented, and the recommendations directed at the Victorian government are being considered alongside the review’s final report. As you can see, when there is a comprehensive review undertaken of some regulations, we need to make sure that we consider these things appropriately and look for opportunities to ensure that local communities who are living in these houses and Aboriginal corporations can actually be involved in that. We are working to do that. The thing that the Greens probably do not realise is that when you need to set up these sorts of changes or actions as a consequence of a regulatory review, it takes time. You need to consult with stakeholders, and we are consulting with stakeholders. There is action that has been happening. As I said, we are supporting Aboriginal organisations to become registered community housing providers, which means they get a greater opportunity to have more self-determination over the houses that they would manage.

I think I will leave my remarks there, but again, it is just another example of the short amount of time that the government has to be able to respond to these sorts of motions. We are not opposing the motion, and our record is pretty clear when we look at these sorts of documents motions. The government routinely does not oppose them, and we routinely release documents that pertain to them.

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (10:44): I have got a minute and a half, thanks to the standing and sessional orders, to contribute to this debate. I like talking about housing because it is one of the most pressing public policy challenges that this state faces, and it is something that is an absolute priority for the Allan Labor government. What this motion is seeking is a document from the social housing review. The government will not be opposing this motion – we do not routinely oppose document motions. What I hope is that the provision of documents in a housing debate might lead the Greens to stop lying about the housing debate and stop perpetuating untruths and misinformation in this Parliament and on social media about the government’s housing agenda and about housing policy in this state. They are trying to use fear and misinformation as the basis on which to extract political gain in the community. They are dividing our communities using fear and misinformation.

David Davis: On a point of order, Acting President, this is actually a very narrow documents debate. The member here is now going on a wide frolic, attacking another political party in a way that has got nothing to do with the documents motion.

Ryan BATCHELOR: Further to the point of order, Acting President, talking about a document to get to truth is essential to democracy.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Michael Galea): I did not hear the remarks. However, I understand that the time has now expired anyway, so we will conclude that little frolic and we will put that motion to a vote.

Motion agreed to.