Victorian Minister for Housing and Building, Harriet Shing, will appear before the Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee this week as part of its inquiry into the redevelopment of Melbourne’s public housing towers.
The Committee is inquiring into the Victorian Government’s 2023 decision to demolish and redevelop 44 high-rise public housing buildings in Melbourne.
A range of organisations including OFFICE, the Law Institute of Victoria, The Retrofit Lab, Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, Save Public Housing Collective and others will speak to the Committee on Tuesday 5 August.
On Wednesday 6 August the Committee will hear from Tenants Victoria, the Victorian Public Tenants Association, the Community Housing Industry Association, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, including Homes Victoria CEO Simon Newport, and others. Minister Shing is due to appear from 4pm.
The full schedule of witnesses is available on the Committee’s website.
The Committee will explore the rationale and cost of demolition versus alternatives such as refurbishment, the impact on public housing residents, and the relocation of residents.
It will also assess the adequacy of consultations with residents, stakeholders, and government entities, and evaluate the proposed financial and legal models. The Committee will review building standards, the integration of different housing models, and the impact of the plan on bedroom availability, public and community housing numbers, the Victorian Housing Register, and on homelessness.
Go to the Committee’s website for the full terms of reference, to sign up to email alerts, view information about earlier hearings or to download any of the more than 800 submissions to the inquiry.
Two days of hearings will be held Tuesday 5 August and Wednesday 6 August from 9am to 5pm. The hearings will be broadcast live on the Committee’s website.
The Committee expects to table its report by December.
