Thursday, 2 May 2024

Ministers statements: housing

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:05): I rise today in my capacity as the Minister for Housing. Following Ramadan last month, Homes Victoria embarked upon its largest ever engagement program when it launched Our Communities: Our Values. This is a six-week-long consultation with tenants across the high-rise housing towers. When finalised, Our Communities: Our Values will be Homes Victoria’s commitment to renters, and it will guide how they engage with communities as the Allan Labor government embarks upon Australia’s biggest ever urban renewal project, retiring and redeveloping all of Melbourne’s 44 ageing high-rise public housing towers. Our renter communities are strong and they are vibrant. We want to involve them in the redevelopment process by drawing on their lived experience and insights.

The journey started last year when Homes Victoria held nine workshops with more than 85 tenants across the public housing tower sites. When asked what values were most important to them when government engages with community, the following values were identified as priorities: connection, respect, self-determination, diversity and inclusion, and a genuine and transparent process. These values are all reflected in the draft Our Communities: Our Values document, and now Homes Victoria wants to hear from the whole renter community as well as neighbouring communities and stakeholders to ensure that they have gotten it right. This is a really important opportunity for tenants and stakeholders to share what is important to them and to shape the way that we work and engage with communities throughout that redevelopment process.

Each and every household across our 44 public housing towers was sent an invitation to attend any one of the 23 face-to-face engagement sessions or to complete a survey via Engage Victoria. These materials are also translated, and interpreter support is available. Consultation closes on 27 May, and I look forward to hearing from Homes Victoria on the feedback provided by hundreds more renters at the next 20 events that are scheduled to take place, including events this week at Carlton, South Yarra and Flemington.