Tuesday, 5 March 2024

Housing

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:20): (440) My question is to the Minister for Housing. There is a public housing estate with 36 units across 1–9 Alamein Avenue, Ashburton. On 5 August 2023 there was a fire at number 1, causing significant damage. The units damaged by the fire and those that were left unoccupied by tenants who have been relocated were left open and unsecured. Ten units across four buildings are still occupied, and residents such as Karen and Kris have told my office that they have felt unsafe for months. Squatters are coming and going regularly, and there are mounds of rubbish to climb across to get up the stairs. My colleague Samantha Ratnam wrote to you about this site last month, and then literally yesterday, seven months after the fire, housing staff and police arrived at the site to finally secure the damaged and unoccupied units. Minister, is it acceptable that public tenants need to wait seven months for their homes to be made secure?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:21): Thank you for that question. In the first instance, I want to acknowledge that any tragedy or damage or loss that is sustained across anyone’s home, whether it is in rental accommodation, whether it is in a home ownership situation, whether it is in social housing or whether it is in temporary housing, can be really devastating, and the loss of that measure of safety and security is really significant. There are a range of steps that are taken upon damage to properties that are about ensuring that tenants – residents – are given appropriate, safe and secure accommodation and that their homes are fit for purpose. There is also a process which is about assessment and upgrades and whether there are any structural remediation works that can be undertaken to ensure that a property can be restored to a fit state prior to renters moving back in to that accommodation. In the first instance, I am really happy to get further information for you or indeed for Dr Ratnam, who you have just indicated wrote to me in February –

Katherine Copsey: Last month.

Harriet SHING: Sorry, February?

Katherine Copsey: Last month.

Harriet SHING: We are in March now. Yes, okay, last month. Why don’t I have a conversation with both of you, perhaps, about the progress of that work?

But to be really, really clear, we want to make sure that in bringing down the backlog of maintenance, upgrade and repair and in funding additional work that is needed across our stock we are addressing that need as the population grows. I also note that the standard life span for a social housing dwelling is about 45 years, so we are not short of challenges and opportunities around making sure that upgrades occur in the right way, whether they occur because of fire or for some other reason. Why don’t I get some further information for you on that particular matter and on the progress and the discussions that have been occurring with residents, and we can go from there?

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:23): I thank the minister for her answer. That would be most appreciated. Minister, Alamein Avenue is one of many public housing sites where I am hearing about poor maintenance and cleaning being ongoing problems. Multiple constituents across my electorate who are also public housing tenants have raised that they feel their homes and estates are being deliberately run down. This includes a lack of responses to requests for either urgent or routine maintenance, poor or non-existent cleaning and lack of garden maintenance in common areas. Minister, you have been very clear about the government’s decision to privatise public land and public housing through the ground lease model. Are these deliberate tactics? Are public housing sites being run down in order to justify Victorian Labor’s agenda to privatise public housing sites across the state?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:24): I want to be really clear: community housing is not private housing. Community housing is as much part of the fabric of delivering on the record numbers of homes across the state as public housing. That is why I refer to ‘social housing’, because for-purpose, not-for-profit organisations that are there to support vulnerable communities, who are either funded directly by government or where government actually funds the work to invest in the buildings that they run and manage, are integral to meeting that need around shortfall. So I absolutely, categorically reject the premise of your question. What I would say is that we have provided maintenance services to over 64,000 dwellings at a cost of about $281 million, and we undertake 350,000 maintenance activities per year. We have got a comprehensive program of renewals, upgrades and planned maintenance, and we are continuing to work towards that and reducing the shortfall.