In January 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a Submission to the Victorian Legislative Council Family and Community Development Committee’s inquiry into the adequacy and future directions of public housing in Victoria.
The Centre submits that the future direction of public housing requires a holistic rights-based approach from government, based on the legislative entrenchment of the right to adequate housing. The Victorian Government has the opportunity to be a leader in the protection of housing rights, by introducing legislative protection of a right to adequate housing and a principled and workable framework in which to address the future of public housing and interconnected issues, such as homelessness, disadvantage and poverty. It would also provide a comprehensive and coherent framework within which to address other issues identified in the terms of reference, including access to public housing, impacts on marginalised and disadvantaged groups, and safety and location.
The legislative right to adequate housing would not create a right to housing on demand, but instead would be implemented by:
- requiring the provision of emergency housing to people with priority needs;
- preventing arbitrary, unlawful or forced evictions from public housing;
- ensuring the participation of people living in public housing or experiencing homelessness in the decision making and policy that affects them;
- addressing the intersecting issues of discrimination suffered by people in public housing or experiencing homelessness; and
- providing remedies for the violation of the right to adequate housing.
