City Limits' monthly housing update with Shane McGrath from Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG) and Jack Verdins from Friends of Public Housing Victoria.
Updates provided by Jack Verdins:
CLASS ACTION UPDATE FROM INNER MELBOURNE COMMUNITY LEGAL
Public housing class action against the Victorian Government
The Victorian Government made the decision to ‘retire and redevelop’ all public housing towers across Melbourne by 2051 on 18 September 2023. Inner Melbourne Community Legal ("IMCL") filed a class action on behalf of public housing residents in North Melbourne and Flemington against Homes Victoria over the decision.
What happened in the class action trial?
IMCL argued in the Supreme Court of Victoria that Homes Victoria's decision to demolish the public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne was made without regard to the policies and procedures it is required to follow. It was also argued and that Homes Victoria did not properly consider the residents’ human rights before it made the decision and compatible with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic).
Homes Victoria said its proposal for the redevelopment of 44 public housing towers across Melbourne was based on the understanding that the towers could not be refurbished. They said the decision was based on documents that cannot be shared with the Court because they are Cabinet documents and therefore cannot be released. The Judge has paused the trial to decide whether the documents should be produced in Court and considered as evidence in the matter.
The class action documents can be found on the Supreme Court of Victoria's website.
What happens next and what do you need to do?
IMCL will return to Court before the end of the year to argue the documents the decision was based on should be included as evidence in the trial. Once this issue is decided, the trial can resume. This means the timeline for the trial has been extended and we will not have a final decision until next year.
Residents do not need to leave their home for now.
The Judge has ordered Homes Victoria to not send residents eviction notices to make them leave their homes because the trial is still underway.
Public housing residents can contact IMCL for free legal advice on (03) 9328 1885 or by email at '; // --> .
Services overwhelmed as 3 million at risk of becoming unhoused, says Homelessness Australia report - Monday 18 November
A new Homelessness Australia report has found more than a 60 per cent increase in risk of homelessness since 2016. The Impact Economics modelling estimates that between 2016 and 2022, the number of Australians at risk of homelessness increased by 63 per cent, representing between 2.7 and 3.2 million people.
due to increasing rental stress and low incomes
service providers say they are having to shut their doors to new clients due to poor resourcing.
Homelessness Australia has commissioned modelling of the number of Australians struggling with complicating factors such as low income, rental stress or low social resources, and says people with two or more of those factors are 'at risk' of becoming homeless. "People who could have afforded private rentals just a few years ago are now resorting to couch surfing, sleeping in cars or pitching a tent."
Victoria and Queensland the fastest growers
A state-by-state breakdown found Victoria and Queensland had seen the greatest growth in people at risk of homelessness, due to rental stress.
In Victoria, 987,405 people were at risk of losing their home, the report found, after the state saw a 23.1 per cent increase in rental stress.
The ACT was the only state to see a decrease in homelessness risk.
Homelessness Australia acknowledged the Albanese government's increase investment in social housing, but said those homes would take some time to be built and there was still a shortfall of 640,000 social homes.
Kevin Healy, Zeb Peake & Karina Aedo-Aguilera
