Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Inquiry into the Rental and Housing Affordability Crisis in Victoria

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:25): I rise to speak on the Victorian government response to the Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee report on the inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria. I am particularly interested in recommendation 4, about a definition which is under review. I would like to understand if the government has some sort of timeline for ‘under review’. Recommendation 4 is:

That the Victorian Government set a consistent and clear definition of ‘affordable housing’ in legislation that is required to be adopted across all government departments, policy and agreements with the private sector.

‘Under review’ is pending a decision on a nationally consistent definition. The Planning and Environment Act 1987 defines ‘affordable housing’, and this definition is used consistently across all policy and planning permit negotiations.

In November 2023 a Housing and Homelessness Ministerial Council meeting called for an analysis to enable ministers to determine if a single national definition of ‘affordable housing’ could be agreed. There were four key focus areas which were agreed and proposed to be completed within a timeframe to enable ministers to form a view about a single national definition by 30 June 2024. However, this has now been put on hold, and many states and territories have broadly similar approaches. There is significant variation between the states and the territories in their implementation of a definition and the role that it plays when it comes to affordable housing in the housing system.

While I understand that there are issues about a definition Australia-wide, I do believe that this has been an issue long enough and that this issue is important enough in this state that it needs to be resolved. In my electorate of South-Eastern Metropolitan Region homelessness and the cost of living are the number one issues, and these issues are number one to many Victorians. In fact according to the Council to Homeless Persons:

After hitting a record high a year ago, Victoria’s rents have since grown another 15 per cent. People already finding it tough to pay the rent are now finding it impossible. Under-pressure homelessness services are seeing an alarming rise in new clients who have never struggled in the past.

Working people seeking homelessness assistance grew 14 per cent across the state last year.

In fact I have heard of people in my region who are sleeping in their cars and then having to get up to go to work, looking for places to have showers, finding people that can help them out and still maintaining a way to keep their job. This is a really distressing thing to discover, and I do not think that this government is doing enough about it. Meanwhile it cannot even yet work out a definition that is consistent about what it means to have affordable housing.

Homelessness services working with employed people increased in 61 of Victoria’s 80 local government areas between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID era and again increased in 2022 and 2023. Employed people now make up one in eight homelessness service users in Victoria. In fact 12,146 employed people sought homelessness assistance last year.

We know that children and young people make up a huge proportion of Victoria’s worsening homelessness crisis. A 26 per cent increase has taken place between 2016 and 2021. According to our last census in 2021 a total of 6798 children were estimated to be experiencing homelessness, which accounts for 22 per cent of the state’s overall homelessness numbers, and more than 4100 are children under the age of 12. I want to say that one more time: at least 4100 children under the age of 12 are considered to be homeless and requiring assistance. So the issue of affordable housing and figuring out what that means here in this state and across the country is incredibly important. This is a terribly frightening statistic. In fact no civilised country should accept a statistic like this.

The instability of a proper home creates a myriad of larger issues, such as a higher risk of poor educational outcomes and general mental health issues, and we are seeing this consistently in Victoria. According to the Launch Housing impact report of 2022–23, children fall through the gaps of the education system because of their frequent relocations. Over time this increases the risk of experiencing homelessness as an adult. In Greater Dandenong more than 2000 people are homeless. In fact I really struggle to understand how we have so many people that have been brought into this country and then left to sleep in the streets or to have shopping carts, even out near my office. It really distresses me to think that we are not doing enough for people and that we are creating more and more homelessness.