The State Government Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee is inviting community members to share their views and ideas on addressing homelessness in Victoria.
An online submission form has been launched to collect information from people and organisations that have experience with homelessness and want to put forward suggestions to the committee.
“We are putting the spotlight on homelessness in our state, to assess the scale of it and to identify ways in which we can best address it,” committee chair Fiona Patten said.
“We want to hear from people across our community, living in urban and regional areas, so that we can make evidence-based recommendations on actions that are needed.”
The online submission form is aimed at making it easier for people to provide their views to the inquiry.
It is the first stage of the inquiry, which is investigating the many social, economic and policy factors that impact on homelessness.
The committee will also seek to identify policies and practices from all levels of government that have a bearing on delivering services to the homeless.
Star News Group has previously reported on the extent of the homelessness crisis in the region.
More than 200 people sleep rough throughout the Cardinia Shire every night and over 11,000 households earn less than $650 per week.
Additionally, over 3800 households across the shire are in ‘housing stress’, which equates to spending more than a third of their income on housing costs.
Seniors, young people, women with children and people with disabilities or mental health issues are the most vulnerable members of the community and are at the highest risk of homelessness.
Earlier this month Cardinia Council launched its Social and Affordable Housing Partnership Group, which aims to combat the current strain on housing while addressing future needs.The shire plans to work with local agencies to increase access to diverse, high quality, sustainable and affordable housing.
For more information on the State Government’s inquiry, go to the committee’s website: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/article/4284.
