Opposition to public housing changes
By Bridget Riggs
MELBOURNE — Several hundred people took to the streets on September 5 to voice their opposition to the state government's current public housing "reform" package. The rally at the Town Hall followed a week-long vigil outside the GPO, organised by People for Public Housing.
Flemington Tenants' Association, one of the tenant advocacy bodies cut by these reforms, called tenants to "Come and tell Kennett you're not happy with him closing down Flemington Tenants' Association and putting the future affordability and security of your homes at risk!".
Without the tenants' associations, People for Public Housing notes, "there will no longer be a body truly representative of tenants. The alternative will be a board of professionals offering regional rather than local access, who will be contractors to the department."
The changes will affect both private and public housing tenants, low-income and middle-income earners. Groups often discriminated against in housing are hardest hit: students, women, the aged, people with disabilities, those from non-English speaking backgrounds, families and young people.
The changes will include rent increases, introduction of medium-term leases and a more stringent waiting list for public housing.
These changes translate to emergency "welfare"-based housing, transient in nature, which can only mean a breaking down of the sense of community in public housing estates. With the private rental market becoming increasingly tight, many people will be forced into substandard accommodation or onto the streets.