Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Public housing

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (20:13): (340) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Housing, and it concerns the unauthorised subletting of public housing by tenants. Homes Victoria quite rightly will not permit tenants to sublet or assign their public housing property. It is only fair. After all, the system is there to provide for those in genuine need, not to provide an income stream for unscrupulous tenants who are ripping off the system and exploiting the goodwill of taxpayers and Homes Victoria staff.

The background to this is the growing housing crisis in our state. Recent figures show nearly 70,000 applications for public housing are still left in limbo, including more than 36,000 deemed urgent. The state budget showed some victims of domestic violence are waiting more than 20 months for accommodation, despite being entitled to express treatment. The same figures showed 58,131 families were waiting for long-term accommodation in March and that more than half of those were classified as priority cases. So it is only fair to ask: what measures are being taken against those who exploit the system, make money for themselves and leave the vulnerable without public assistance?

Looking into this matter, I could not help but be concerned. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing website contains guidelines on undeclared occupants, subletting and squatters. It notes that staff must provide evidence of a tenant advertising a room; that an agreement has been reached with the new occupant; that the tenant has granted exclusive rights to occupy; and that the tenant is receiving regular rental payments – for example, through bank statements and/or evidence in relation to payment of utilities. This seems to be an extremely high bar for what could be verbal agreements and cash-in-hand payments. It is surely difficult for Homes Victoria staff to investigate and prove. The guidelines then note that:

… management will consult with Legal Services … to determine the best course of action in light of the individual circumstances and human rights considerations of the tenant –

and –

the sub-letter …

I can understand a measured approach being taken to subletters, but fair-minded Victorians will not hold highly the human rights of deliberate fraudsters. The action I seek from the minister is a reassurance that the situation is well understood and that appropriate enforcement action will be undertaken. This would include, I suggest, the estimated number of unauthorised sublets, an assurance that Homes Victoria staff have sufficient investigative powers and a full statistical breakdown of the number of tenancies terminated annually due to subletting to undeclared occupants.