RESPONSES FROM CARETAKER MAYOR of MONASH COUNCIL -STUART JAMES

 

Many thanks to Stuart James, Caretaker Mayor of Monash Council who thanked us for reaching out 

and gave the following responses to Friends of Public Housing Victoria's Report Card.

FOPHV REPORT CARD

Q1. Do you support Public Housing as an integral part of the housing mix?    

 A.  Yes

Q2. In Victoria Public Housing, as distinct from Community Housing, makes up 2.7% of all housing.

        Is this too high? Is this too low?               

A.    Too low

3.    Is Public Housing the best model for preventing and addressing homelessness?          

A.    On face value, yes, but I’d like to discuss this further.

Q4. Have you or anyone in your family or friendship circle ever been homeless?    

A.   No.

Q5. Do you think the language regarding the various housing models should be more transparent?      

A.   Yes.

Q6. Do you think the issue of Public Housing versus Community Housing has been sufficiently discussed in the       public domain?              

A. No.

Q7. Do you think public tenants and those eligible for public housing have been sufficiently informed of the differences between  Community and Public Housing and of their rights and protections?            

A. I don’t know enough about this to be able to answer, however I would expect that protections and rights would be clearly explained to them to enable them to make the appropriate choices or seek assistance.    

Q8. Do you oppose the transferring of Public Housing stock to Community Housing corporations?               

A.   Very much so. Public housing is a community asset to assist the homeless and vulnerable and should remain   in public ownership.

Q9. Do you support a significant build of Public Housing in your area to address homelessness?     

A.    Yes, and sooner rather than later.

Q10. Would public land that is being earmarked for private and 'Social Housing’ be better utilised for Public Housing?                

A.  Largely depends on land ownership, but I think it’s worth a genuine and open conversation with stakeholders 

Any further comments you wish to make are welcome and will be published.

"The investment in to public housing over the past few decades has been absolutely abysmal and grossly inadequate. It is unconscionable to me that given the economic boom times we have been through that the percentage of people waiting for public housing has dramatically increased. As a taxpayer, it is also insulting that tax cuts are being handed out to fund an extra coffee or two a week whilst people live under bridges. Every single person in Australia deserves to have basic necessities such as food and shelter. The fact these absolutely fundamental human rights continue to be unaddressed, and more concerningly with the number growing at an alarming rate, are an embarrassment to our nation."

Thankyou from

FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA 

DEFEND AND EXTEND PUBLIC HOUSING 

HANDS OFF PUBLIC HOUSING

INDEPENDENT COUNCIL CANDIDATE STANDS UP FOR PUBLIC HOUSING

 

 

 

 

  

https://www.whoisemsage.com/

"My name is Em Sage. I am running as an Independent candidate for Yarra City Council.

I received a phone call from Fiona yesterday – I believe she is one of the original members of FoPH. I am very grateful to Fiona for raising my awareness of the largescale transfer of public housing to not-for-profit housing associations. Apparently, we are calling these associations the “community-managed sector”. 

What alarms me is that this transfer has been occurring across the country since 2009. Over 35% percent of our public housing is now managed and owned by private organisations.

We all know the risks involved when public assets and services are sold to the private sector. 

The Royal Commission into Aged Care has found that the privatisation of the aged care sector has led to a system that fails to meet the needs of vulnerable residents. It does not deliver safe and quality care and neglects the people it serves. 

We appear to be going through the same process in public housing. I believe community housing tenants in Victoria have been trying to address inadequate services and conditions, without success. 

I believe the parallels here should be the topic of public debate. And we shouldn’t need a Royal Commission to hear the voices of those suffering from neglect. These voices should be front and centre in a national dialogue about privatisation, about maintaining standards in care for vulnerable members of our society.

I call on those interest groups and individuals who made such a difference for aged care to join us in this debate about the privatisation of our public housing. "

https://www.whoisemsage.com/

In support of Team member Howard Marosi

Friends of Public Housing Victoria, established Nov 2011, has been working diligently on the campaign to save Public Housing, and we have weathered quite a few storms along the way…

 We continue to go from strength to strength… Our organisation is committed to fighting the privatisation of Public Housing, and we are staunch in our loyal support of one another.

Many individuals from various walks of life, have been generous with their time and energy over the years. And we are constantly recruiting new people into our group - public tenants as well as supporters. We have a very extensive contact list. It is good to have people from rural Victoria and interstate coming onboard.

Friends of Public Housing Vic is proud to be affiliated with Fair Go For Pensioners, an alliance that in Victoria is made up of about 14 community groups. In turn these groups represent between 2 and 10 other groups. One of these groups is representative of around 180 groups! Fair Go For Pensioners is building towards state-based branches Australia-wide.

The Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church has been a strong ally of ours. They began their own group opposing the privatisation of Public Housing called 'Hands Off Public Housing'. 

Today we would like to acknowledge and give a shout-out to a hardworking committed political activist, Howard Marosi. Howard is active in the group ‘Defend and Extend Public Housing’ as well as Friends of Public Housing Victoria. 

He was involved in initiating Defend and Extend PHA with well known radio personality and Anarchist Joe Toscano. 

Howard is a Union delegate and a skilled negotiator. He is a regular on 3CR community radio program ‘City Limits' every third Wed of the month. Tune in around 9.20am. 

Howard has worked tirelessly to further the Public Housing cause and expose the agenda of Social and Community Housing groups as well as the churches, in the ongoing decline and diminishment of Public Housing via stock transfers. 

Howard is a person who is motivated by a genuine desire that the world be a better place. He is a passionate believer in social justice and he sticks to his guns on matters of principle. 

Well Done Howard! 

Eileen Artmann, Founder of the Facebook page. 

Fiona Ross and Jeremy Dixon, Fellow Administrators 

 https://www.facebook.com/FOPHVIC 

About us - Friends of Public Housing Victoria - 

'For Public Tenants - By Public Tenants.’ 

FOPHV is a grass roots organisation, primarily made up of Public Housing tenants, as well as supporters of Public Housing. As Public Tenants with ‘lived experience’, we understand first-hand how Public Housing helps individuals and families, who would be in desperate straits without it. 

Public Housing is a public asset belonging to the people of Victoria. 

Both titles and management of Public Housing must remain in public hands. 

Public Housing must not be privatised. ie transferred to Community Housing aka ‘Social Housing’. 

FOPHV’s aim is to provide information to other tenants as well as to the general public. We support our fellow public tenants to advocate for their rights and engage in collective actions. We do this via social media, regular Press Releases and direct community engagement.

COMMUNITY HOUSING FAIL - COCKROACHES IN THE COFFEE CUP.

Below is an article taken from the website of Inner Melbourne Legal Service. Please consider making a regular donation to them. They have been deprived of adequate government funding for many years and they do incredibly important work.

https://imcl.org.au/

The article supports what Friends of Public Housing Vic has been hearing anecdotally for years. One of the main rationales for handing over Public Housing stock to Community / Social Housing has been the false claim that Community Housing make better landlords. That is nonsense.

A senior lawyer from  Inner Melbourne Legal has said that they are seeing 'clear and troubling trends' regarding Community Housing Organisations. “Their policies are not designed to sustain tenancies. Rather they are using eviction as a way to manage difficult behaviours, rather than as a measure of last resort. They’re pushing people with complex needs who need housing and support onto the streets."

'Community Housing' often goes by the name 'Social Housing'. 

At FOPHV we support Public Housing. We reject the term 'Social Housing' as deliberately misleading. It is disingenuous ( to say the least ) to conflate two very different housing models ( public and private ) and it serves to hide the ongoing Australia-wide privatisation agenda.

In so many countries around the world citizens are demanding the right to have their voices heard! ... Meanwhile here in democratic Australia, a largely covert movement to get rid of and privatise Public Housing continues to happen under the radar. 

Join our campaign! Email us at housinghumanrights@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE VOICES OF OUR CLIENTS 

- JACK'S STORY

Published on Tuesday 11, June 2019

Jack moved into his community housing apartment when it opened in 2010 as a 21 year old.

“It’s a small studio apartment, which is nice and all I need…[It] is staffed 24/7 which is fine I guess, it’s nice to have health and support on site but I feel institutionalised in a way,” he describes.

“We don’t have a lot of rights here … each room is like a self-contained unit yet the building [is] classed as a rooming house and that’s so we have less rights and they can make up rules on the spot. I don’t think they should be allowed to do that,” he reflects. 

This is because for Jack, after almost ten years, his apartment is his home and he’d like to have more freedom.

“My apartment [feels like home], but the rest of the building feels like an institution. Sometimes it feels like a hospital but you’re allowed to leave. It’s an odd feeling. I don’t bring friends back because I find it kind of embarrassing. They’ll be like, ‘Why is there workers here?’ You never know what could happen, there could be someone in the foyer screaming their head off at someone, stuff like that,” he says.

Sometimes he feels very out of place where he is living because of the complex presentations of other residents. Born with Spina Bifida, it’s hard for Jack to maintain a job because of his health and frequent hospital visits and his affordable housing options are limited. Once he accepted the community housing spot, his name was taken off the priority housing list for public housing and he can’t see a way out of his current situation.

Community housing is different to public housing – it is owned or managed by a private non-for-profit landlord. Whilst it is intended to provide affordable housing, IMCL has observed a range of issues with the sector through stories like Jack’s.

Over the years, Jack has found it increasingly difficult to get things fixed and conditions in the building have started to deteriorate.

“When the lights [are] blown or the intercom stops working … it can take quite a few months for someone to come fix it,” he says.

And the building’s currently infested with cockroaches.
“There’s lots of people [with this issue] … you’ll see it in the hallway. It seems like the entire building is crawling with [cockroaches] now. I’ll see [cockroaches] in the corners of the ceiling and stuff … [they] just crawl out from under my computer. I sometimes feel them crawling on me at night … and would find them in my coffee cups.”

Jack recalls that the cockroaches even got into the power sockets and his computer, causing it to short circuit.

“I told the landlord about it, they were just like, ‘it’s your own fault, go sort it out yourself.’ They told me to get cockroach bombs and stuff like that.”

Louisa, IMCL’s tenancy lawyer, stepped in after a number of residents decided to take action.

“[Louisa] came here … and we all spoke to her and told her [about] what was going on. Then she came with someone from Consumer Affairs ... She’s been in touch with me ever since and I get a call from her once every week or so.”

Louisa attempted to negotiate over a number of weeks with Jack’s landlord. When these negotiations went nowhere, she was forced to make an application to VCAT on Jack’s behalf.

IMCL wanted the landlord to rectify the outstanding pest issue on the basis that this falls within their duty to keep individual apartments and common areas in good repair. We sought orders for a systemic preventative approach to pest control be adopted throughout the building to avoid further infestation.

“This is the first time I’ve had anything to do with VCAT. I’m very nervous about it actually [because] I’m not a big complainer … but having cockroaches on your bed when you’re lying on your bed … that’s a bit much, that’s something to complain about.”

The rent and service charges that Jack was paying were also causes of concern for him.

“It was something that had been bothering me for years … I haven’t known the exact numbers but I’ve always felt I was paying more than 25% of my income ... but felt that I somehow couldn’t really fight it.”

Rent is capped at 25% for individuals living in public housing to prevent rental stress but this doesn’t apply to community housing providers.

Louisa helped Jack to make enquiries about the rent and service amounts that he was paying. When IMCL discovered that that Jack’s rent amounted to 35% of his income and included a service fee, we issued a formal complaint to the landlord.

We requested that Jack’s current rent be set to reflect 30% of his income as is the entitlement for community housing residents, and that his bills be calculated transparently and separately charged. 
 Separate calculations mean he’ll be able to more clearly identify what the service charges are and know his bills reflect no more than the costs of the services provided. 

He’ll also be at less risk of falling into rent arrears that might lead to eviction. 

After the landlord declined, IMCL appealed to the Housing Register who continue to consider the matter.

Louisa recently appeared before VCAT on behalf of Jack, which ordered his landlord to obtain a professional opinion regarding the pest issue from a pest control expert. Importantly, the court found the landlord to be in breach of their duty and ordered that the issue be considered holistically to take into consideration the state of the entire building and not just Jack’s room. 

She’s now considering bringing a separate claim to VCAT about his rent*.
*UPDATE: Jack took his rent issue to VCAT and won!

Sources :
https://imcl.org.au/news/housing/our-tenancy-work

https://imcl.org.au/news/housing/world-day-of-social-justice

PUBLIC LAND FOR PUBLIC HOUSING - NOT PRIVATE INTERESTS!

The Government has a practice of giving away PUBLIC LAND to foster and promote private empire-building - such as Community / Social Housing - and then using PR and Spin to make it sound like a good thing! This must STOP!

Many thanks to Jack Verdins and Martina Macey for their invaluable help in creating this Flyer / Press Release.

FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA PUBLIC HOUSING - GET THE

FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VICTORIA

SHAME ON YOU LABOR … WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR HOUSING ALL IN NEED? 

 

A HEARTLESS ANNOUNCEMENT ANYTIME - DEPLORABLE DURING PANDEMIC CHAOS. 

 

On July 6th 2020 a government press release trumpeted

“Car Park Key To More Affordable Housing In Port Phillip” 

 

The City of Port Phillip is handing over public land (formerly a car park) to a private business called HousingFirst, to build what they call 'affordable housing'. 

 

‘Affordable Housing’ is a term which can be used to mean up to 80% of market rents- 

often unaffordable for those on low incomes. 

 

FOPHV says build Public Housing on this public land for those in need. 

 

Public Housing is owned and managed by Governments. 

 

Community Housing, such as HousingFirst, is housing owned and/or managed by private non-government organisations. 

 

Public Housing tenants and advocates insist on Public Housing, not Community or "Social" Housing. 

 

In Public Housing

1. Tenants' rents are set at 25% of combined household income and is readily reset if income goes down ( rebated rents)

2. Tenants have ongoing security of tenure.

3. All who meet the income test are accepted on the wait-list. 

 

Community ( Social) Housing does not offer these protections. Prospective tenants are often cherry-picked. 

 

Victorian Governments- both ALP and LNP have been handing over Public Housing to Community Housing organisations for the past 25 years. 

 

FOPHV calls on governments to STOP giving away public assets. 

 

FOPHV urges all to write or phone your local state member of Parliament and the City of Port Phillip, demanding more Public Housing- NOT less. 

 

LABOR COULD AND SHOULD HAVE DONE MUCH MORE FOR THE HOUSING CRISIS THAN THIS CAR-PARK GIVEAWAY. 

 

YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF AN OPPORTUNITY LOST TO INCREASE DESPERATELY NEEDED PUBLIC HOUSING! 

 

 

Sources 

 

https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/car-park-key-to-more-affordable-housing-in-port-phillip/ . 

 

Please note - HousingFirst, formerly known as Port Phillip Housing should not be confused with a separate and very different housing project ( 'Housing First' ) in Finland. 

 

                                                                                                                                                   FOPHV -August 2020

 

 

 

         Martina Macey

        Member of Friends of Public Housing Vic.

BULLYING OF THE VULNERABLE - A BLIND MAN'S STORY

 

 

With Melbourne being in Stage 4 Lockdown, I've been sorting through some of my archival stuff and came across this video -an ABC 7.30 Report in NSW from 2009. 

THE ISSUES RAISED IN THE VIDEO ARE STILL RELEVANT. In order to get public tenants to sign their leases over to Community ( Social ) Housing, the tenants were threatened that they would be moved out of the area if they did not sign. 

A blind man said he had his hand held by staff from a Community Housing company to sign the change of lease forms!! He didn't really know what he was signing. He just wanted the stress and the sleeplessness to stop. He was thoroughly demoralised.

After this expose, the NSW Housing Department backed down, saying they would respect the choice of public tenants to remain in their homes as tenants of the government.

It would be interesting to know what has happened to this little estate in the meantime...

Maybe our friends at 'Friends of Public Housing NSW' - FOPHNSW - might be able to tell us?

Although the ABC at the time, called it surely one of the biggest property transactions to date- they did not challenge or debate this housing policy direction.

Meanwhile the privatisation of Public Housing to Community Housing companies continues, under the confusing and obfuscating term 'Social Housing'. 

 With very little public knowledge...