In Victoria, Australia, Public Housing is owned and managed by the Government of Victoria (Director of Housing). The Government provides public housing to eligible disadvantaged Victorians including those unemployed, on low incomes, over 55, with a disability, with a mental illness or at risk of homelessness.
To residents of public housing, it is their home, a place that underpins their psychological wellbeing, economic security and social connection.
WHY IS PUBLIC HOUSING IMPORTANT?
Public Housing plays a fundamental role in the health and wellbeing of marginalised persons, by providing shelter, safety and security. The availability of affordable, sustainable and appropriate housing enables people to participate in the social, economic and community aspects of their lives.
By 2025 an estimated one-third of the world’s city dwellers will struggle to secure decent, affordable housing. Australia is currently in the midst of a housing crisis, and in Melbourne, key public housing estates are being sold off to the private sector under the Government’s ‘real estate model’ of renewal.
The waitlist for access to public housing in Victoria continues to grow – over 1200 new applicants in June 2019 alone – as the public housing stock continues to shrink. Homelessness is growing at higher and higher rates, whilst there is less housing available to relieve the pressure for those that feel it most.
The overwhelming body of housing and health research shows that the cost related to the health system, social services, and the provision of further housing, decreases significantly when a person has access to adequate, safe, affordable housing in the form of public housing. The social and personal cost of abandoning public housing residents and the system that is meant to support them has recurring and devastating effects that exacerbate socio-economic inequality and impoverish us all.
