Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): Speaker, the pandemic has been a confronting and complex challenge for communities across Victoria. 

It has also shone a light on the many critical issues impacting vulnerable individuals and families across the state – none quite so fundamental as the need for safe and secure housing. 

I am therefore pleased to speak in support of the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2020, which among its many small but important amendments, builds on our long-standing commitment to social and affordable housing.  

This is an issue that, along with many of my Labor colleagues and many local residents, I am very passionate about.  

I have spoken in this place a number of times about the importance of investing in social and affordable housing as well as the need to explore more opportunities for increasing supply. 

This Bill makes a number of changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to ensure our ground-breaking package of rental reforms properly reflect the differences between the private and social housing market. 

These changes, while small, provide clarity and certainty for the 80,000 households currently living in social housing as well as those who work with them. 

Across the Northcote electorate, 335 people are listed as experiencing homelessness on any given night. And that figure does not include those in insecure housing or those under housing stress. 

For these people, the pandemic has been a lot more than tough.  

And while our suburbs in the inner north are home to several social housing estates, many of them were built decades ago and this ageing infrastructure no longer meets modern standards of safety, accessibility or energy efficiency. 

I know this because I’ve visited them first hand. I’ve been welcomed into these homes and I’ve spoken to tenants and advocates. 

What I hear are mixed emotions. Pride in their homes. Gratitude. But also frustration. These homes are not fit for purpose – and it’s residents who are left vulnerable. 

Imagine having to walk up three or four flights of stairs loaded with groceries because there is no lift access. Imagine trying to do that if you were elderly, or had a disability. 

Imagine seeing the power bills blow out because the buildings aren’t built with any proper insulation – so they become hot boxes in summer and freezers in winter.  

Imagine not feeling safe walking home because the old building designs mean there’s no visibility and no sensitivity around passive surveillance.  

I am proud that the Andrews Labor Government has acknowledged and taken decisive action to address the housing crisis in our state. 

We are actively modernising and increasing the supply of social and affordable housing, including at two critical sites in Northcote and Preston. 

Together with other exciting social housing projects underway in Alphington and Fairfield, these projects will allow for approximately 400 new social housing dwellings in the electorate. 

 

Speaker housing and homelessness is a complex issue and one which I take very seriously. It is clear to me that more work is needed to address the crisis that has been building over decades. 

The Andrews Government has taken important steps – but more is needed.  

If we are to make tangible gains, if as a nation we are to put the right to a safe home at the forefront of our economic and social priorities (where it should be) – every level of government must to its part – and the private sector must do its part as well. 

This government, the Andrews Labor Government, is delivering the biggest investment in social housing since the financial crisis as part of a $500 million package to upgrade and build more housing stock. 

On top of this, we have dedicated $150 million for people experiencing homelessness who were supported into temporary housing at the start of the pandemic, in order to help them into permanent homes. 

To do this we’ll secure  1100 head-leased properties from the private rental market while we build another thousand social housing dwellings across the state. 

Critically, our investment is not just a reaction to the current pandemic. It builds on our long-standing commitment to supporting vulnerable communities. 

And I acknowledge the immense work undertaken by the Minister for Housing the Honourable Richard Wynne, who has demonstrated time and again his commitment and compassion and drive to improve outcomes for these communities. 

The Minister does this and our Labor Government does this because we know that giving people opportunity, giving them hope, giving them safety – never amounts to a burden. It’s a gain for our society and our economy.  

And beyond that – it’s also the right thing to do. It’s our moral obligation.  

By contrast, the investment we have seen from the Commonwealth Government when it comes to social housing has been, quite frankly, dire.  

Earlier in the year the Morrison Government chose to focus their $688 million home building stimulus initiative on renovating private homes. At a time when they could have leveraged low interest rates to address the huge undersupply in Australian housing – they focused on renovations for the wealthy.  

Last week, our nation had an incredible opportunity to support job creation while building a fairer society, by increasing federal investment in social housing. 

Instead, last week we saw the Morrison Government once again fail to include social housing in their pandemic response. 

Instead we saw nothing for social housing in their federal budget.  

Here in Victoria, we’ve not only acknowledged the crisis in affordable housing facing our community, we’ve taken decisive action to address it – and we will continue to do so. 

Whether that’s through our investment in social housing, our work to end family violence, our funding to boost community services or our comprehensive rental reform – we know that a safe and secure home for every person is something worth fighting for. 

This Bill supports social housing tenants primarily through addressing three main issues. 

Firstly, the Bill ensures legislation is in line with the income-based rent model that applies to most social housing.  

This model means that rent is set based on household income – not the amount the property would attract on the open market. 

As household incomes fluctuate, so too do the rent these households can afford to pay.  

These amendments allow social housing providers to continue to adjust rent more than once a year – correcting an ambiguity around the broader rental changes brought in to prevent rent hikes.  

This means that the rent families pay in social housing will continue to reflect their household income.  

Secondly, this Bill ensures the social and affordable housing sector can continue to allocate housing to people who need it most. 

Many of our neighbours living in social housing are also among some the most vulnerable in our community including those escaping homelessness, women and children escaping family violence, people with a disability and older Victorians.  

These amendments allow social housing providers to use eligibility criteria to target housing to those in need.  

For instance, it means they can deliver on their organisational mission such as providing targeted housing for women escaping violence, or to Aboriginal Victorians. 

Importantly, this doesn’t reduce social and affordable housing providers legal responsibility to avoid discriminatory practices. They’ll will remain accountable under the Equal Opportunity Act.    

Finally, this Bill ensures that the Director of Housing can use existing automatic deduction arrangements with Centrelink to collect rent, correcting an administrative error. 

These important changes will protect some of the unique features of the social and affordable housing sector, features that support the sector to house Victoria’s most vulnerable renter households. 

There are a couple of other small but important measures in this Bill. 

It inserts some provisions into the Residential Tenancies Act to account for how our emergency measures for tenants relate to Specialist Disability Accommodation.  

The Bill also includes some changes to the Retirement Villages Act 1986.  

It removes obstacles that have been hampering former residents and their families from recovering their refundable contributions from retirement villages, where the owner has gone bankrupt or insolvent. 

This can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars so it’s really important that this gets fixed. 

Speaker by way of final remarks, I have been fortunate to work closely with local residents living in social and community housing as well as our local support services with as Merri Outrach, SPAN and Jika Jika. 

Together we have delivered care packages, worked to share important information and advocated for the needs of residents including delivering more cleaning at our estates through the pandemic. 

I have also enjoyed working with Labor for Housing and my many ALP colleagues who share a deep interest in this policy area and who like me are passionate about ensuring all Victorians have a safe place to call home. 

We will continue to work constructively with our communities to raise awareness of housing issues as well as opportunities for improvement. 

As I said earlier, I believe there is significantly more work to be done to build an even better social housing system in Victoria.  

Constructing new public and community housing dwellings can and should form part of our economic recovery from the pandemic. 

Not only will it change the lives of thousands of Victorians, providing safety, hope and opportunity – but it will generate thousands of jobs and boost our economy. 

I will not stop working towards this end and I know that the vast majority in my community feel the same. 

This Bill builds on our work give Victorians a safe place to call home. 

I commend it to the House.