Premier of Victoria

Housing

 The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to providing a social housing system which supports vulnerable Victorians in secure accommodation and provides them with skills to gain employment and participate fully in society. 

In the 2012-13 State Budget, the Coalition Government provided funding to: 

• assist around 77,000 households with long-term social housing, including public, indigenous and community tenancies;
  
  
• assist 10,000 households to access short-term crisis and transitional accommodation;
  
  
• assist 36,000 households to access assistance to help them gain or maintain private rental accommodation; and
  
  
• provide 1,150 new social housing homes and provide 1,600 public housing dwellings with much needed upgrades in the coming financial year. 

Investments have also been made to provide: 

• $18.9 million over four years to build and operate two of three new Youth Foyers to provide structured assistance and accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness; and
  
  
• more than $200 million for programs to prevent homelessness and support those at risk of homelessness. 

The Coalition Government’s priorities include: 

• developing a framework for social housing into the future;
  
  
• $80 million for the New Norlane redevelopment in North Geelong, which will see 160 new public and 160 new affordable private homes built to revitalise the area;
  
  
• $160 million re-investment in public housing in Heidelberg West, Heidelberg Heights and Bellfield, which will see 600 replacement public housing homes built over a 10-year program;
  
  
• $56 million for the development of new social and private homes at Valley Park in Westmeadows;
  
  
• addressing youth homelessness and assisting young people at risk of homelessness to develop skills for economic and social participation, through a commitment of $30.1 million in three new Youth Foyers to create opportunities for young people to build life skills and follow pathways to better futures for themselves and their families;
  
  
• reforming the $200 million homelessness services sector, focussing on innovative programs to more effectively focus on breaking the cycle of homelessness;
  
  
• improving work and training opportunities for public housing tenants through piloting work and learning centres on five public housing estates, to help to break the cycle of generational disadvantage;
  
  
• continuing to support Victoria’s not-for-profit housing association sector, and continuing to partner with the community sector to deliver services which cater for the needs of vulnerable Victorians;
  
  
• reducing the waiting list for public housing by focussing on working more directly with people to meet their individual needs; and
  
  
• ensuring Victorians in need are housed more quickly by developing better vacancy management practices, to ensure properties are not left un-tenanted.

The Coalition Government is committed to improving the social housing system to meet the diverse and changing needs of Victorian families, now and into the future.

Achievements and policies implemented 

• Launched a new four-year $76.7 million Victorian Homelessness Action Plan (VHAP) to tackle homelessness across Victoria. The VHAP provides approximately $25 million, from 2012, for 11 Innovative Action Projects that focus on outcomes, including investigating models that specifically focus on early intervention and prevention. 
  
  
• Funded five Work and Learning Centre pilots to assist vulnerable public housing tenants participate in training and work opportunities.
  
  
• Upgraded over 1,800 public housing properties in 2011-12 and upgrading a further 1,600 properties in 2012-13.
  
  
• Acquired over 1,600 new public housing properties in 2011-12 and acquiring a further 1,150 properties in 2012-13.
  
  
• Tightened the laws to evict public housing tenants using their homes for drug dealing.
  
  
• Announced the site of the first two Youth Foyers in Broadmeadows and Glen Waverley, in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Hanover Welfare Services Kangan Institute of TAFE and Holmesglen TAFE.
  
  
• Delivered a new regulatory framework for rooming houses to improve safety standards for residents.
  
  
• Reduced the waiting list for public housing by over 4,000 applications since September 2010. The Coalition Government has done this by working more closely with applicants to meet their housing needs.
  
  
• Rolling out new security measures, including live streaming CCTV, to reduce crime at metropolitan public housing estates in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy.
  
  
• $260 million redevelopment of the Carlton public housing estate has reached another milestone, with the opening of Stage Two in November 2012. The Victorian Government has invested $80 million into the nine stage Carlton redevelopment, which is expected to be completed in 2017.

Related media releases »