Thursday, 29 August 2024

 Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:45): (796) My question is to the Minister for Housing, and I ask on behalf of residents who reside in public housing: when will the government implement the recommendations laid out in the Ombudsman’s report on the social housing complaints handling system? Two years have passed since the Ombudsman’s investigation report and the public housing complaints system remains broken. Public housing residents in the Prahran electorate regularly contact my office about a range of issues, be they maintenance requests or security concerns, but a key source of frustration is a lack of a clear pathway for their issues to be reported, escalated and, if necessary, resolved. They are encouraged to call their local housing office, but when they do, it is so under-resourced that the calls often go unanswered or unreturned with requests not being followed up, leaving residents feeling frustrated and helpless and often reaching the point where their health and safety are at risk. The Ombudsman has subsequently released a progress report noting that the Victorian government has not yet taken any clear action to implement the recommendations. Given the government has now had well over a year to actively consider these – (Time expired)