Question details
Morwell electorate
(1092) My question is for the Minister for Consumer Affairs. How will the minister address the disproportionate concentration of rooming houses in Morwell? According to the consumer affairs register, there are 17 rooming houses in Morwell, making up 106 bedrooms, but many suspect the number is much higher, with rogue operators not on the register operating unregistered and unregulated. Rooming houses have a role to play in offering housing to disadvantaged individuals, but the over-representation of rooming houses in Morwell is having a disastrous impact on public safety. These individuals, many of them recently released from prison, are being moved from Melbourne and pushed into Morwell because the rent is relatively cheap. Police have told me it is having a huge impact on their resources. The Business Licensing Authority, which is responsible for providing licences for rooming houses, is meant to balance the interests of businesses, consumers and the public when granting licences for rooming houses, but I would argue the BLA is failing to do this.
The Victorian Government is committed to the effective regulation of rooming houses. The government recognises that rooming houses are often the last resort in securing housing for some of Victoria’s most vulnerable people. We will continue to work with our partners in local government, the industry and community to ensure rooming houses provide safe, secure and fair housing for residents and the communities they live in.
The Business Licensing Authority is responsible for granting rooming house operator licenses to applicants who are ‘fit and proper persons’ according to a strict criteria set out in the Rooming House Operators Act 2016.
The obligation to be licensed is in addition to the requirement to register their rooming houses with the relevant local council. It is the responsibility of local councils to determine whether a premises should be registered in their municipality, in accordance with the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008.
CAV conducts regular and targeted inspections statewide, including in Morwell, to ensure that rooming house standards are being upheld and that operators are complying with their obligations. CAV also works with local councils on any reports of unregistered rooming houses to help ensure requirements around registrations are met.
I encourage Victorians who have concerns to contact CAV or their local council directly to provide any information they may have available.
The Hon Nick Staikos MP
Minister for Consumer Affairs
Minister for Local Government