Housing
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:18): My question today is to the minister for housing. Minister, I understand the government procures accommodation from the Coburg Motor Inn for people who would otherwise be homeless when recently released from prison. This venue has been plagued with issues for a number of years and residents report that the site is in terrible condition with housing that is unfit for people, with some saying that they would rather sleep on the streets than the motel. There have been deaths and suspicious activities, with regular police and ambulance call-outs. Neighbouring residents are very concerned about the welfare of those forced to live there. Minister, when will your government provide appropriate transitional housing to accommodate homeless Victorians leaving prison?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:19): Thank you, Ms Copsey, for raising what is in fact a really important issue, namely the assistance provided and the assistance required for people in situations of extreme vulnerability, whether they are completing a process of being exited from the correctional system or the justice system on the one hand or whether they are victim-survivors of family violence on the other. We know that homelessness, rough sleeping and extreme disadvantage affect people from all walks of life, and we know that the pressure on the homelessness system and services extends to people who are currently, for example, in rental accommodation – between 30 and 40 per cent of people accessing homelessness services for the first time are coming from private rentals.
That gives you a sense of the complexities associated with the need for housing, and we know that family violence is one of the key drivers of demand upon transitional housing. Exit from the carceral system is also part of providing a system that gives people support in transitional housing.
I am very happy to have some further conversations with you about specific issues, but I would say to anybody in any housing – whether it is social housing, assistance with temporary accommodation or crisis accommodation, affordable rentals, the private market, whether you are a home owner or not – is if there is any issue around a compromise to your safety, for whatever reason, please contact law enforcement for assistance. What I would say to people who are exiting the correctional system is that that may in and of itself be a difficult thing to do, but if there are challenges associated with safety, then again it is important that people have access to those processes.
What I would also say is that if there are any examples of deficiencies in the security, the safety or the quality of housing being provided in transitional housing, there are processes whereby that can be notified. We do have settings in place whereby people do pay for the services that are delivered through transitional housing. They are not contracts managed by Homes Victoria, but if there are specific examples that you have of individual matters around hotel accommodation or other transitional housing or crisis accommodation, I would be very happy to have a conversation with you about those examples.
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:21): Thank you, Minister, for that response. I note the advice provided in the response, and I will just comment that it seems that the issues have been going for many years, with repeat attendances by emergency services, so it would seem in the case of this premises that those avenues are being utilised and we are not seeing a change. But I will take the advice to pass on to those who are concerned to keep trying. You may have touched on and may have partially answered this, but my supplementary is: has the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing calculated that accommodating people in this motel is cheaper than providing public housing?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:22): Again, just to the preamble of your question, people who are exiting correctional systems require ongoing support and assistance that involves wraparound and whole-person support. It is about making sure that we have those post-correctional and post-justice system supports in place. That is not something that sits with my portfolio, and I am not saying that to create any further ambiguity, but there are other issues there that again may speak to a need for other wraparound services, because they are culminating in the sorts of issues around call-outs for emergency services and frontline responses, as you have indicated.
Transitional housing and crisis accommodation are by their very definitions transitional and temporary. Public housing and social housing are long-term accommodation. The distinctions between cost as they relate to what a standing tenancy looks like and what a transitional housing arrangement looks like are actually really difficult to compare and contrast. I am, again, very happy to talk you through that work, but we do know that the social housing system with permanent accommodation is something which reduces demand on frontline services and on those supports.