New data shows Victoria remains in last place in providing social housing, prompting the state’s peak community housing body to call for immediate government action to address the deepening crisis.
Public and community housing residents make up just 2.9 per cent of Victoria’s households, according to the Productivity Commission’s latest Report on Government Services.
This is the lowest proportion in Australia, and falls below the national average of 3.9 per cent.
Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic) CEO Sarah Toohey said the Victorian Government must deliver stronger action that will create more social housing to lift the state out of its persistent and unenviable last-place ranking.
“Year after year, Victoria continues to receive the wooden spoon for having the lowest proportion of social housing in the country. Victoria's entrenched last-place ranking is pushing more Victorians into housing stress and homelessness, further deepening the state's housing crisis,” Ms Toohey said.
“On current settings, the proportion of social homes is set to decline even further over the next decade. CHIA Vic has developed a 10-year funding and building plan to turn this around, and Australia already has many of the systems in place to shift the dial on the housing crisis.
“The Victorian Government has taken positive steps to build more social housing, including the Big Housing Build and its Housing Statement but these measures alone are simply not enough to meet the huge scale of demand.
“To ease the housing crisis in Victoria we need the state’s proportion of public and community housing to rise from 2.9 per cent to at least 4.8 per cent in the next decade. This is entirely achievable if both the Victorian and federal governments commit to a long-term plan, backed by sustained investments to expand social housing in our state.
“Our 10-year roadmap outlines the actions governments must take to increase the proportion of social housing in Victoria and shift the dial on the housing crisis. We need the federal government to increase the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) to $50 billion, and the Victorian government to boost the Social Housing Growth Fund (SHGF) with an extra $6 billion.
“Easing the housing crisis goes beyond securing more government funding, it’s also about streamlining processes and unlocking new opportunities to create more social housing. That includes implementing an Affordable Housing Contribution Scheme for private developers, and giving not-for-profit community housing organisations the first right of refusal on the sale of government land.
“Building up the community housing sector means building more homes for renters. By expanding our not-for-profit sector, we can help reduce the social housing waitlist, ease demand on the private rental market, provide more Victorians with housing security, and finally change Victoria’s legacy on social housing provision.”
|
State/Territory |
Social housing proportion |
|
NT |
11.3% |
|
ACT |
6.5% |
|
Tasmania |
6.1% |
|
SA |
5.7% |
|
NSW |
4.4% |
|
WA |
3.6% |
|
Queensland |
3.2% |
|
Victoria |
2.9% |
|
Australia |
3.9% |
Source: Productivity Commission; ABS
Media contact: Sofie Wainwright 0403 920 301