Family violence survivors miss out on public housing allocation

Liberal Party Victoria

The Andrews Labor Government continues to fail in their support for some of Victoria’s most vulnerable women, children, men and families.

New information provided to a Victorian Parliamentary committee in relation to the number of houses which are allocated to victim-survivors of family violence was disappointing and heartbreaking.

There are no specific houses reserved for these Victorians, leaving desperate victim-survivors to apply on general waiting lists to access safe, stable and affordable housing.

There are 29,268 families on the priority access waiting list for public housing, with almost one in ten priority applicants on the Victorian Housing Register (VHR) survivors of family violence.

Thousands of family violence survivors are stuck in limbo and the State Government is simply failing to address this problem.

Shadow Minister for Prevention for Family Violence, Emma Kealy said “Almost six years after the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence handed down its final report, Victorian women and children continue to be left in the cold with state Labor failing to implement 16 recommendations on time, some now over two years overdue.”

There is no strategy to deal with the growing list, no plan to deal with the backlog, and no plan to support those desperate for help.

“The state government has taken far too long to address the enduring housing crisis for women and children seeking to escape family violence, leaving women homeless or left to fend for themselves and their children in violent homes, said Ms Kealy”

The Government says that “access to safe, stable and affordable housing is vital for woman and children” fleeing domestic violence situations, but have offered nothing to support that statement.

“The Federal Liberal and Nationals Government have announced a National Plan to address family violence. It’s imperative the state government work collaboratively with the federal government to finally address the inequities in access to a safe haven for women and children where family violence threatens their every day life, said Ms Kealy

Vulnerable Victorians fleeing family violence deserve better than Government that is all spin and no action. Judge this government by what they do, not what they say.

/Public Release. View in full here.