VCOSS welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the Department of Justice and Community Safety (the Department) on government proposals to reform The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Fees) Regulations 2016 (the Regulations).

As the peak body for social and community services in Victoria, VCOSS recognises the critical role the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) plays in Victoria’s justice system, as a cheaper alternative to courts, including lower fees.

While VCAT resolves disputes under more than 150 Victorian Acts[1], the Residential Tenancies List is VCAT’S highest volume list, receiving an average of 45,000 new cases each year[2]. VCOSS’ annual Renting in Victoria reports consistently finds low-income and disadvantaged Victorians rely on VCAT to uphold their rights and safeguard them from eviction.

This underscores the critical role that VCAT plays in ensuring access to justice, a cornerstone of a fair and equal society. However, this can only be fully realised if key equity measures are built into the service model, including concessions and fee waivers.

We support the Victorian Government’s initial review of VCAT fees which identified opportunities to strengthen equitable access to justice. We are pleased that the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) recognises the current Regulations provide insufficient fee waivers or reduced fee options for those with lower capacity to pay, specifically pensioners and veteran gold card holders. This is the central regulatory issue that the government should prioritise in this process.

To this end, VCOSS is strongly supportive of the proposed fee structure which expands access to justice for vulnerable Victorians, including expanding fee waivers to victims of crime and expanding concessions for people unable to access fee waivers.

The Proposed fee structure will strengthen access to justice for vulnerable Victorians, but there are further opportunities to broaden the concessions eligibility.

VCOSS strongly supports the principle that VCAT fees should be structured to enable access to justice for all parts of the community, including mechanisms such as concessions and fee waivers.

Both Option 2 and Option 3 propose a new fee structure which seek to strengthen access to justice by:

• Expanding waivers to include a review of applications by victims of crime to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), so victims of crime do not face additional barriers.
• Expanding concession fee payer categories to include pensioner concession card holders and some veteran gold card holders, to better align with Commonwealth policies.

However, while the expansion of eligibility to other concession card holders is a welcome improvement, we are concerned that the proposed regulatory changes will still exclude key groups including card holders of the means-tested Senior Health Care Cards.

VCOSS recommends extending concessional eligibility to Seniors Health Care holders to strengthen equitable access to justice.

VCOSS is strongly supportive of the proposed fee waiver for victims of crime applying for review of FAS decisions, as well as the continuation of fee waivers for clients of Community Legal Centres, Victoria Legal Aid, and other not-for-profit legal providers.

However, while the expansion of eligibility to other concession card holders is a welcome improvement, we are concerned that the proposed regulatory changes will still exclude key groups including card holders of the means-tested Senior Health Care Cards.

VCOSS recommends extending concessional eligibility to Seniors Health Care holders to strengthen equitable access to justice.

[1] Department of Justice and Community Safety 2026, ‘Victorian Civil and Administrative (Fees) Regulations 2026’, Victorian Government, https://engage.vic.gov.au/vcat-fee-regulations.

[2] Anika Legal 2025, ‘Unrepresented: Improving VCAT and RDRV for self-represented renters’, https://anika-clerk.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Unrepresented_-_Anika_Legal_-_November_2025.pdf.

Tough times are exactly when we must invest in what matters most.

When things are hard, it’s tempting to tighten our belts and batten down the hatches.

But that’s not how you build a strong, safe, thriving Victoria.

Every Budget tells a story about the state of our State — what we value, what we fear, and what we’re willing to walk past.

Right now, Victoria’s story sits against a backdrop of growing economic inequity and social fragmentation – fuelled by the realities of rising cost of living, the housing crisis, community safety concerns, reverberations of international conflicts and intensifying climate impacts. Our social and economic fabric is under real strain.    

Meanwhile, the public purse is under pressure. There’s lots of talk about debt, budget repair, fiscal austerity and ‘efficiencies’.

In this context, some might say that now is not the time to invest in tackling root causes of entrenched problems like housing insecurity, family violence, climate-related impacts, social cohesion or the sharp edge of poverty. Some might say that’s in the ‘too-hard basket.’

They’d be wrong.

Now is precisely the time for smart investments that prevent social and economic problems from escalating and compounding, or ideally from starting in the first place.

With the political will to prioritise what matters most, we can break vicious cycles of crisis-end spending, avoiding long-term costs through prevention and early intervention.

By investing in what will pay off in the long run, Victorians can have secure housing, good healthcare, and genuine safety and security in their families and communities.

And critical to this is Victoria’s community sector – the fastest growing industry in the State, whose workforce shows up every day for people doing it tough.

Community services are operating under immense pressure, with rising demand, a changing regulatory landscape and a highly feminised workforce carrying the emotional load of the state’s most difficult and complex social issues.

No austerity agenda can fix entrenched problems like housing insecurity, family violence, social cohesion or the sharp edge of poverty.

Our sector deserves respect, fair funding and industry development support to meet the challenges of our times and keep doing what Victorians rely on. 

If we want a stronger, safer, fairer Victoria, we must invest across the whole spectrum of support – from crisis response to long-term recovery – but especially in the early intervention and prevention efforts that stop harm before it takes root. And we must invest in a skilled, flourishing, future-focused community sector that delivers across that spectrum of support.

That is how we stabilise our communities.

That is how we strengthen our economy.

And that is how ensure the things that matter most are never pushed into the too-hard basket.

Juanita Pope
VCOSS CEO

Opportunities to build on the Victorian Government’s housing agenda

Having a home is the foundation for a good life.

Right now, too many Victorians are missing out.

At the last Census, more than 30,000 Victorians were without a home – forced to ‘couch surf’ at someone else’s house, get a bed for the night at a dodgy motel, sleep in a car or tent or on the street, or try and secure a place in temporary crisis accommodation. Extraordinarily, 13,715 of those who sought homelessness assistance in 2023/24 were people with jobs.

Others have a roof over their head but are making major sacrifices to hold onto their home. Skipping meals, not turning on the heater, going without vital medicines to pay the rent. Victoria has more people in housing stress – paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – than any other Australian state or territory.

And some are keeping quiet about breaches of their housing rights for fear of being evicted, living in unsafe situations to avoid homelessness.

Put plainly, Victoria – like the rest of Australia – has a housing crisis.

On a positive note, political leaders at a state and Commonwealth level have recognised there’s a problem and made a series of flagship policy commitments and investments to tackle supply and affordability.

In Victoria, the signature piece is the State Government’s 10-year Housing Statement. This statement, released in September 2023, comprises five focus areas: immediate planning system reform, strategies to unlock supply in established suburbs and towns, more protections for renters, more social housing, and a new long-term (25 year) plan to guide housing growth (Plan for Victoria).

This paper marks the two year anniversary of the Housing Statement. It takes stock of the current challenges in our housing system, and considers what elements of the government’s strategy could be refined to deliver even greater benefits for Victorians who have least power and opportunity in our housing system, particularly those on low and very-low incomes, those who are victim survivors of family violence and people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Signatories to the paper are:

• Victorian Council of Social Service
• Aboriginal Housing Victoria
• Council to Homeless Persons
• Justice Connect
• Safe and Equal
• Tenants Victoria
• Victorian Public Tenants Association

Together, we urge the Victorian Government to up the ante in six priority areas.

Insights from frontline community sector workers

Victoria has nation-leading protections for renters.  

So why is it that renters continue to experience insecurity, housing stress, and discrimination in the market? 

Across Australia, tax and policy settings, coupled with decades of under-investment in social housing for people on very low and low incomes,¹ have created a perfect storm.  

Australia is now the second most-expensive nation for housing globally, and Melbourne is one of four major markets in Australia identified as “impossibly unaffordable”². 

The decline in rental affordability is particularly pronounced. In many areas of Victoria, the median rental rate is no longer affordable relative to the income of an average rental household.³  

This is exacerbated by the mismatch between demand for social housing rentals and supply. Victoria has the lowest proportion of social housing in Australia. This has pushed more low-income Victorians into the private rental market, where they compete with higher-income renters, including those who have been shut out of home ownership. 

Many renters also face increasing energy, food and health costs. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Government income supports have not kept pace with these rising costs, adding to housing stress.   

These market conditions are putting Victoria’s rental fairness reforms to the test.  

In a housing system in which demand continues to outstrip supply, the power imbalance between rental providers, property managers and renters persists.  

VCOSS’ fourth annual Renting in Victoria report provides insights from the community sector workers who are on the frontline of this crisis, supporting vulnerable renters.  

In this year’s report, workers highlight: 

• Persistent housing stress for renters due to frequent rent increases. 

• Renters struggling to find suitable and affordable properties.  

• Rental properties failing to comply with mandatory minimum standards. 

• Renters facing barriers to raising renting issues. 

Community sector workers tell us that a lack of affordable rental housing and rent increases are compounding other cost-of-living pressures, pushing more renters further into housing stress and the most vulnerable renters into poverty.  

Workers describe a market in which renters often feel they are ‘treading on eggshells’, with anxieties constantly looming in relation to rent increases, evictions, and – if they leave a rental – fear of receiving a bad reference.  

This is despite the Victorian Government’s strong policy commitment to making renting fairer and safer, and tranches of legislative and regulatory reform over multiple years, including: 

• Limitations around evictions. 

• Limitations around rent increases (limited to once every 12 months). 

• Specific protections for victim survivors of family violence. 

• Higher standards for amenity, thermal comfort and energy efficiency.  

This report recommends further actions that the Victorian Government and the regulator, Consumer Affairs Victoria, can take to: 

• Realise the full potential of existing laws and regulations.  

• Introduce additional legislative and regulatory reforms, to better respond to market trends and close emerging gaps in renter protections. 

• Increase the supply of rental housing to alleviate pressure in the market – in particular, this report recommends measures to grow social housing.   

These recommendations are intended to augment existing Victorian Government commitments – including reforms that will be phased in from November this year, as part of the Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Act 2025, including:  

• Establishing clearer and stronger criteria for rental increases when assessed by Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).  

• Compulsory minimum standards for advertised rentals. 

• Stronger penalties for real estate misconduct. 

• Mandatory licensing, registration and education and professional development requirements for estate agents and agents’ representatives.  

One-third of Victorians now rent. It’s vital Victoria continues to maintain the momentum on fairer, safer renting.  

1. Victoria has the lowest rate of social housing of any Australian jurisdiction – see the Victorian
Housing Peaks Alliance report, Growing Social Housing, which provides data insights commissioned
from SGS Economics and Planning, Growing Social Housing.
2. Gruber, J 2025, ‘Australian house prices close in on world record’, Firstlinks, Australian house prices
close in on world record.
3. Commission for Residential Tenancies and SGS Economics and Planning, ‘Renting in Victoria: 2024
Snapshot’, https://files.rentingcommissioner.vic.gov.au/2025-04/Renting%20in%20Victoria%20Snapshot%202024.pdf.

A VCOSS Insights Paper: Barriers to rental fairness for family violence victim survivors and ways to dismantle them

Family violence is a major driver of homelessness. Safe, accessible and affordable housing is central to victim survivors’ safety and long-term recovery.  

This was recognised in the Victorian Government’s 2021 rental reforms, which included a raft of new protections specifically geared to make renting fairer and safer for victim survivors of family violence (see Box 1). 

Many of the 2021 reforms – including, but not limited to, the family violence provisions – were nation-leading at the time of their introduction. They have since been tested by changing market conditions which have necessitated a further tranche of policy, legislative and regulatory reforms, with more to come.¹  

These new changes stand to benefit all renters, including specific protections for family violence victim survivors. However, they do not specifically strengthen family violence provisions in the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) – and this is where VCOSS is calling for some focused attention in the next reform and investment package.  

VCOSS’ third annual Renting in Victoria report, published in March 2024, highlighted the need to reassess the effectiveness of the RTA in supporting fair, safe renting for victim survivors.  

That report – based on a survey of more than 300 frontline community sector workers who support vulnerable and disadvantaged renters – found that victim survivors still face critical inequities and barriers in the rental market. These include: 

• Not having clear and accessible information about their rental rights. 

• Being subject to discriminatory practices by real estate agents. 

• Being pursued by rental providers for debts and other liabilities incurred by the person using violence. 

• Compounding challenges securing and sustaining housing when experiencing family violence. 

This Insights Paper delves deeper into those headline findings on family violence and renting, to elucidate when, how and why the rental market still fails some victim survivors.  

The paper explores whether specific rental issues faced by victim survivors are a product of implementation challenges (for example, barriers to exercising existing rights), or whether they are caused by remaining gaps in legal and regulatory protections. 

Drawing on the insights and experience of community sector workers and people with lived and living experience of family violence², the primary purpose of the paper is to identify opportunities for the Victorian Government to make further progress towards its ambition of a fair and safe rental market for victim survivors of family violence. The paper identifies legislative and regulatory levers, as well as other opportunities to leverage community sector and industry capability and reach.   

This paper will be socialised with other system stakeholders and system actors – including the broader community sector (beyond organisations with specialist knowledge of family violence and renting) as well as the real estate industry – to help raise awareness about victim survivors’ rights and needs, and drive continuous improvement in the market.  

VCOSS gratefully acknowledges that it has produced this paper with the support of the Victorian Government, as part of a three-year Rental Fairness project funded by Consumer Affairs Victoria through the Victorian Property Fund.  

VCOSS Submission to the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee Inquiry into the Supply of Homes in Regional Victoria

Victoria’s Housing Statement and the Plan for Victoria recognise the need to sustainably grow housing stock in regional Victoria.
Currently, regional Victoria faces shortages across the housing continuum.

VCOSS is particularly concerned about the under-supply of social housing following decades of under-investment in this essential infrastructure. Social housing (public housing and community housing) is a crucial safeguard for people who cannot access the private housing market or who struggle to hold onto private market housing, because of high costs/low incomes, lack of appropriate or accessible homes, discrimination or complex needs.

In regional Victoria (as in other parts of the state), people who are eligible for social housing, but unable to access it because of insufficient supply, are pushed into homelessness or the bottom of the private rental market where they struggle to meet housing costs. This puts more pressure on temporary emergency accommodation, already in short supply in regional Victoria. It also increases competition for private rentals, driving up rents.

Safe, accessible, affordable, secure and healthy homes are the foundation for a good life. VCOSS members highlight challenges in supporting clients to achieve their goals because of insufficient housing – for example, escaping family violence, achieving family reunification for parents and children involved with Child Protection, and sustainable exits from prison are often contingent on access to housing.

Challenges in regional housing systems are also a drag on regional economies. For example, community sector employers in regional Victoria cite housing shortages and housing affordability as a key constraint for efficient social services delivery in regional Victoria. Those struggling to fill vacant staff roles often identify housing as one of the barriers to attracting and retaining workers.

In this submission, VCOSS recommends measures to:

• Significantly increase social housing.
• Address key workforce shortages through appropriately defined and targeted affordable housing initiatives.
  We particularly highlight that how and where we deliver these new homes matters.

This submission outlines how Victoria can achieve optimal housing outcomes by:

• Ensuring we build dense, interconnected, and sustainable regional centres where communities have access to essential services and amenities.
• Addressing systemic housing injustices experienced by Victoria’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, by supporting the implementation of self-determined housing and homelessness solutions.

In developing this submission, we also heard from regional VCOSS members about the challenges that regional Victoria faces in relation to climate change and disaster preparedness, and how these must be factored into future housing decisions.

To this end, our submission also includes recommendations to:

• Use contemporary data that accounts for climate change and future threats to inform decisions.
• Build future-proofed homes to ensure long-term safety.
• Proactively plan for temporary housing following disasters.

Finally, in this submission, we detail the need to invest in refuge and fit-for-purpose crisis accommodation for family violence victim survivors. We thank regional VCOSS members who shared their expertise and community insights to help inform this submission.

Victoria is in a housing crisis.

At the last Census there were more than 30,000 Victorians without a home. Victoria also has more people than any other Australian state or territory living in housing stress – that is, on a low income and paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.

Social housing (incorporating both public and community housing) is an essential component of our housing system. It ensures that where the private market fails – through discrimination, high rents and low incomes, or other shortcomings – Victorians can still secure a roof over their head.

However there’s not enough social housing for everyone who needs it.

Despite Victoria’s landmark four-year Big Housing Build, decades of under-investment in social housing by previous governments has left our state with the lowest proportion of social housing in Australia.

In Victoria, the current proportion of social housing is 3.1%. After the Big Housing Build, it will be about 3.5% – still well under the national average of 4.5% (which itself isn’t enough to meet demand).

Currently, the state has housing targets for the private market, but no targets for social housing. Without this, we are missing a crucial policy lever, market signal and investment driver.

New data – derived from research into social housing growth targets commissioned by the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance from SGS Economics & Planning – shows that we need to build 7,990 new social homes a year for the next 10 years to catch up to the national average.

This will put us on a pathway towards meeting future demand, which will be 377,000 by 2051.

Social housing is essential infrastructure. Unless we grow social housing to meet total demand, we’ll continue to have a housing crisis.

Growing social housing is a key to:

• Ending homelessness
• Providing safe exits from family violence
• Supporting First Nations housing justice
• Driving down housing stress

That’s why the Victorian Government should set a target – and establish a strategy – to build 80,000 new social housing homes in the next decade.

You can read the report derived from SGS’s research and data analysis here.

You can also read our media release and statements from the leaders of the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance here.

We encourage VCOSS members and others to get behind this call for Victoria to grow social housing.

We’ve prepared social media stories and example posts that you can use or adapt for your social media. Download Word and PDF versions.

It’s also a great idea to let your local member know that you support this essential work.

Don’t forget to tag VCOSS and use the hashtag #growingsocialhousing.

Contact our Housing Policy Adviser, Ella Longhurst, at ella.longhurst@vcoss.org.au if you have any questions.

People are hurting. It’s time for a budget focused on care – and the care economy.

A note from VCOSS CEO Juanita Pope

In a time of constrained fiscal conditions and mounting social disunity, there’s one thing most of our state – indeed our country – can agree on: people are hurting.

The current cost of living is placing immense strain on Victorians. Many people are being pushed to the brink, an increasing number skipping meals just to pay the rent.
This is not a new phenomenon – it’s just more visible. Well before the cost-of-living crisis became a media talking point, 800,000 Victorians were living in poverty. The current situation is symptomatic of deep rooted social and economic inequality.

Now is the time for strong, compassionate, smart responses from government. And bold action on poverty and economic exclusion.

Governments make choices about how public funds will be spent. That’s what budgets are for. The choices that government makes – who it chooses to invest in – send a powerful message, especially to people who need support. If decisions are made that prioritise commercial interests over the wellbeing of people, this is not only socially and morally unsound, it’s economically shortsighted.

A truly prosperous economy is one that enables all citizens to thrive – that lifts them up when they are down. It’s an economy underpinned by robust, holistic foundational supports – things like housing, healthcare, good schooling, childcare, community connections and the skills to get a decent job and lead a fulfilling life.

Investing in these foundations – and in the services that provide them – is key to Victoria’s economic and social prosperity. Drip-fed, short term, siloed support will not cut it.

In 2025, Victoria needs a budget that values care and focuses on the care economy. When we invest in care and wellbeing, we unlock the potential for a more resilient, inclusive economy.

The organisations that deliver care and social supports for Australians – including health and human services, children’s early education and community development – represent the largest employing industry in the country. They offer enormous potential for economic and social returns.

As more Victorians turn to care services in hard times, Victoria should invest in the sector that has caring at its core. Investing in the care economy not only generates real jobs, but also builds a solid social foundation – both for Victorians who are hurting right now, and for future generations.

When we invest in care and wellbeing, we unlock the potential for a more resilient, inclusive economy.

Victoria’s investment in the care economy must be approached strategically. We need to ensure support for the workers who make the industry successful and sustainable. Boosted resources for workforce development, core operations and care infrastructure will ensure that the care economy remains a stable, sustainable driver of good jobs, social wellbeing and economic growth. This allows us to tackle both immediate needs and long-term challenges, like the ageing population and the escalating impacts of climate change.

It’s about priorities.

Compassionate and smart policy-making puts social equity and human wellbeing as its central tenets.

It’s time for leaders to return to the basics: alleviate poverty, provide essential services, help people and invest in care that works.

Only when we prioritise these fundamental pillars will we achieve an inclusive, sustainable economy that our society desperately needs.

Juanita Pope
VCOSS CEO

ANALYSIS

We must build homes to withstand the weather of the future now.

It’s no secret that Victorians who experience disadvantages like poverty and rental stress tend to be locked out of safe, high-quality and comfortable housing.

High prices leave people with little choice about where to live, often forcing them into areas that expose them to higher temperatures and other climate-related harms. And in these areas, people get stuck with substandard and poorly maintained homes.

Energy efficiency standards help ensure new homes have critical, basic features that keep them comfortable and keep energy bills affordable: things like insulation, air tightness, efficient heating and cooling, and double-glazed windows.

However, most of Victoria’s homes were built before energy efficiency standards were introduced into the National Construction Code (NCC) in 2006. On the National House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS), these homes achieve an average rating of just 1.8 out of 10 stars.

Energy efficiency advocates refer to these homes as ‘tents’.

Homes built today, with stricter energy efficiency requirements, must achieve at least 7 stars under NatHERS.

This wide disparity creates a divide between those who can afford to live in efficient, healthy, comfortable homes and those who can’t. Newer or recently renovated homes command higher purchase or rental prices, locking out people on low incomes.

But lower quality homes tend to have higher running costs. This is a trap: while rents may be lower, energy bills are much higher. These homes also expose occupants to unhealthy indoor temperatures, often leading to poor health outcomes. 

And the situation is about to get much worse.

That’s because homes built today are constructed to withstand the temperatures of the past. They’re not built with a view to what temperatures will be in the coming decades, let alone 50+ years from now.

According to recent research, homes built to today’s 7-star standard could become as uncomfortable in the heatwaves of 2070 as today’s very inefficient homes are now. The homes we currently consider energy efficient will require more air conditioning to stay comfortable during heatwaves and in hotter day-to-day conditions.

homes built today are constructed to withstand the temperatures of the past. They’re not built with a view to what temperatures will be in the coming decades, let alone 50+ years from now.

This is obviously a problem on many levels. Not everyone can afford air conditioning, and people who do have it can’t always afford to use it. And using air conditioning is maladaptive, contributing to climate change and creating an endless feedback loop.

Reverse cycle air conditioners are efficient and can reduce this effect, particularly if they’re run on renewables, but this expensive technology is out of reach for many people.

And if homes that are currently considered ‘energy efficient’ are going to leave people unsustainably dependent on air conditioning in coming decades, this begs the question: what about the ‘tents’.

The answer is that they will be unlivable. And this will expose many of the most vulnerable people in our communities to far higher temperatures, to heat-related suffering, and even to death.

The way forward is to amend the NCC to require new homes to be built to withstand the temperatures of the coming decades, and to ensure that all Victorians – including those experiencing disadvantage – have equitable access to them.

VCOSS and others have called for this necessary change to the NCC in submissions to the Government’s Plan for Victoria, which presents an opportunity to build this kind of forward-looking planning into the state’s regulatory infrastructure and keep communities safe.  

If you’re a social justice advocate, the intersection between climate change and housing is an important one that affects everyone. VCOSS convenes a network of advocates in this space called the One Million Homes Alliance. Get in contact with Julianne Tice if you’d like to get involved.

You can read the research by Renew and Sweltering Cities here.

VCOSS Submission on Energy Efficiency Minimum Standards for Rental Properties and Rooming Houses

VCOSS strongly supports the Victorian Government’s proposal to introduce new minimum energy efficiency standards in rental properties.
The proposed standards for ceiling insulation, draught sealing, water heating, and heating and cooling are a good start for comprehensive minimum standards for energy efficiency in Victorian rental properties. Safety standards for securing blind cords, and the introduction of a heating standard for rooming houses, are crucial and timely measures.
VCOSS recommends strong implementation measures that will ensure the efficacy of the current suite of proposed standards. We also note some improvements that are required now and in future rounds of reform.
Energy efficient homes are critical for people’s health and wellbeing, their wallets, and the planet. They are more comfortable to live in, cost less to heat and cool, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In terms of thermal performance and energy efficiency, the rental sector currently serves up some of the worst quality homes in Victoria. More Victorians are renting, the impacts of climate change are increasing, and energy costs are consistently high. Improving the quality, comfort and safety of rental homes to a basic, liveable standard is critical to mitigate the impact of these factors on renters. Benefits include reductions in the rates of chronic illness like asthma, reduced depression and anxiety, and even prevention of suicide.

Read the full report here.

How can it be that Victoria has some of the best protections for renters anywhere in the world, and yet renters are struggling to find an affordable rental property, and are feeling powerless, confused and insecure?

On paper, renters in Victoria now have stronger rights than in any other state or territory. Victoria’s Residenial Tenancies Act was amended in March 2021 to make renting fairer and safer. Renters now have more protections, including:

• Limitations around evictions.
• Rents can only increase once every 12 months.
• Specific protections for victim survivors of family violence.
• Higher standards for amenity, thermal comfort and energy efficiency.

These are immensely positive reforms that changed Victoria’s renting landscape for the better.

Yet, reports from the frontline remain grim.

Support workers who assist renters – and were consulted for this analysis – report that:

• Renters are struggling to find a suitable property, particularly properties that are affordable and meet people’s specific needs
• Rental properties fail to comply with minimum standards, with mould still identified as a common concern.
• Renters who receive rent increases are forced to choose between making cutbacks on essentials to absorb the rent increases or facing the hostile open market, which often involves homelessness or settling for unsuitable housing.

EVENT SUMMARY

Three years after the introduction of Victoria’s new rental rules, the changes to the Residential Tenancies Act are ‘only just starting’ to make a real impact to renters’ lives.

This is the assessment from lead lawyer at Tenants Victoria, Ben Cording.

In the latest Renters’ Rights Rundown, Mr Cording told the forum that some of the biggest improvements from the legal changes are associated with the Equal Opportunity Act, which now covers renters.

“It creates a global awareness. So whenever you apply for a rental property, now they have to actually give you a full statement: ‘This is what discrimination is, these are what are protected attributes’.”

“It gives someone a much stronger position to say you’ve engaged in discrimination,” he said.

Mr Cording also deemed getting rid of no-fault evictions “a cracker” move, saying it has improved stability for renters.

The Tenants Victoria legal expert told the forum minimum standards have, according to some research, led to improvements in the housing being offered in the rental market, but renters are still struggling to assert their rights in a burning hot market, and many are a long way from realising the dream (and the essential service) of safe, stable and affordable housing.

“Has it had an impact? Absolutely, it has. But the pressure, all of this anxiety about being able to have an essential service, comes from supply. It comes from affordability and benchmarking.”

“So when we talk about the rent increase framework … there is no cap. We have no benchmark that refers to the hardship on the renter, which ironically we did in older legislation, in the old 1958 Act. There was ‘what’s going to be the impact on the renter?’ And we don’t have that anymore.”

“So, has it had an impact? Yes. But are we impacting the right spots? We’re only really just starting to look at them.”

Mr Cording provided practical tips for renters and support workers about topics including getting a first foothold in the rental market without any references, how the laws apply to people in social and public housing, and attending VCAT.

“The biggest challenge for people is that they’re scared to go [to VCAT], they’re scared of retaliation … There’s a whole bunch of baggage, legitimate baggage that we need to try and unpack and understand to get our clients to feel safe and even confident to get there.”

Other topics included how the new rules are operating in relation to:

• Evictions
• Pets
• Discrimination
• Rent increases
• Rent arrears
• Minimum standards
• Modifications
• Bonds
• Family violence
• VCAT

“We know that if people say yes, I have a dog, you don’t always find out why you don’t get your rental property. They don’t come back and say…  this is why you didn’t get. It doesn’t work like that, which makes it really hard for people.”

A full transcript of the session and a copy of Mr Cording’s presentation are available here.

VCOSS’s new report Renting in Victoria will be available soon: it’s a deep dive into the current realities of renting, with insights from community sector workers.

VCOSS submission to development of a National Housing and Homelessness Plan

The Road Home in 2008 was Australia’s last national homelessness strategy. It promoted a new public discourse about who experiences homelessness and why, and was a lightning rod for new conversations about how to prevent and end homelessness. Importantly, it provided some opportunities to trial the effectiveness of then-new best practice models with funding through the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH) (and the subsequent National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA)).  

Some jurisdictions have continued to build on The Road Home. For example, in Victoria, the State Government and other system actors – including specialist homelessness services and other parts of the community sector – have enacted bold policy and program reforms, and driven significant new investment, through the 2016 Royal Commission into Family Violence, the 2018 Homes for Victorians initiative, the Homeless and Rough Sleeper Action Plan and the four-year Big Housing Build, which commenced in 2020.  

However, across Australia, the housing challenges we faced in 2008 have only become more acute. Homelessness, already a complex issue 25 years ago, has become even more so. That’s because the drivers of homelessness have persisted. Our social safety net has been weakened. The rate of income support continues to trap people in poverty. Gender inequality continues to drive high rates of family violence, pushing women and children into homelessness. Social housing as a proportion of all housing stock in the market is at historic lows, leaving people on low incomes to languish on waiting lists whilst sheltering in insecure, over-crowded or unsafe accommodation settings. 

Adding to these challenges are the global cost of living and energy crises, climate change and a higher incidence of disasters and emergencies, and the long-tail health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In this context, a new 10-Year National Housing and Homelessness Plan is welcome and necessary. With the right scope and resources, the NHHP can provide much needed coordination and resourcing of the necessary policy, program and funding responses required to end homelessness, across government portfolios and jurisdictions, the market and the community.  

ANALYSIS

The Victorian Government has unveiled a broad suite of reforms designed to fix the state’s housing crisis.

The long-anticipated Housing Statement includes changes to planning laws, more social housing, a new short-stay levy, rent regulation and more.

This page provides a snapshot summary and analysis of these reforms.

It will be progressively updated as new information become available.

Do you have questions?

VCOSS is collecting sector questions about these reforms. We will seek clarity from the Victorian Government and arrange a member-only briefing to communicate this additional information.

Please make sure you have subscribed to receive VCOSS emails.

EVENT SUMMARY

Community lawyers are urging renters to challenge rent increases they feel are excessive or invalid.

Rental providers are only allowed to raise rents once a year and don’t face any hard rules limiting how big an increase can be.

But Tenants Victoria lead lawyer Ben Cording says there’s an obligation on landlords to document and communicate any proposed rent rise correctly, or it could be deemed invalid.

“They need to give you at least 60 days clear notice before the increases to take effect,” Mr Cording told a recent VCOSS Renters’ Rights forum.

“If they only gave you 58, that won’t be valid. If they gave you 59, it won’t be valid.”

Landlords must also use the correct form, specify the “method of increase”, send the notice in a valid way and give clear and correct advice on how a renter can challenge the proposed increase.

Failure to meet any of these requirements, as spelled out in Victoria’s Residential Tenancies Act, will make the proposed rent increase invalid.

“Many years ago I had a client who had paid very low rent, and each year got a little letter in the mail saying ‘Your rent’s going up a hundred bucks’.”

“Then we realized that there was no proper advice about being able to challenge [the increase] and it wasn’t in the right form, so it was invalid.” Mr Cording said.

The notice of proposed rent increase must be given to you on the official form, either in person (between 8am and 6pm), sent in the mail (in a timely manner) or via email, but only if you’ve given written permission that this is okay.

The requirement for landlords to detail the “method of increase” – essentially how they calculate and justify the proposed rent hike – is one of more than 130 changes to rental regulations made recently by the Victorian Government.

Mr Cording told the forum while there’s no hard formula dictating what constitutes a “fair” rent increase in Victoria (VCOSS is pushing for exactly this), landlords are required to explain and justify their calculations in some detail.

This should include references to similar rentals in the area (not social housing), the condition of the premises, any changes to the property and the value of the dwelling, among other things.

Mr Cording said vague or unsupported references to market forces won’t cut it.

“You can’t just plunk a figure … and use the phrase ‘comparative market research’ to check the box. Not good enough.”

If renters are unsuccessful in rejecting or negotiating a reduced rent increase through direct conversation with their landlord or real estate agent, they can take the matter to VCAT for a formal determination.

Mr Cording acknowledged it was unfair individual tenants were responsible for identifying and challenging suspected invalid rent increase notices, but said help was available through Tenants Victoria or one of Victoria’s more than 50 community legal centres.

The VCOSS Renters’ Rights Forum covered a host of issues specific to rental increases and how social sector workers can support clients to navigate rising rents.

A full transcript of the event and copies of Ben Cording’s presentation is available here.

ANALYSIS

The Victorian Government is promising the “greatest shakeup” of housing policy in decades.

The need for bold reform is self evident. Our state doesn’t have enough social housing, renters are being asked to pay too much, and many property managers and landlords (no, not all landlords) are taking advantage of the immense power they wield over tenants.

This means an increasing number of Victorians are teetering on the edge of homelessness or making heartbreaking sacrifices just to pay the rent — and pay off somebody else’s investment property.

The Victorian Government’s promised Housing Statement is being developed just as a cross-parliamentary committee is investigating the same issue.

So what should be done?

There are five key things housing advocates and anti-homelessness bodies are hoping for:

At the moment, renters are struggling. And the tenancy support services and other community sector organisations that assist renters are also over-stretched and will need more resources to keep up with demand.

The housing crisis is so complex and entrenched that there’s no single (or quick) solution.

The best response will be a suite of coordinated and complimentary measures introduced in tandem.

Submission to the Inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria.  

As the peak body for community services in Victoria, VCOSS and our members work on the frontline of the global cost-of-living crisis.  

For a long time, we have observed that housing issues are at the heart of every policy challenge we face.

These issues – which have built over decades – are now acute. 

This submission highlights a significant supply challenge that is driving up the cost of housing. Our advice to this Inquiry is that policy interventions and program investments that increase supply – such as Victoria’s landmark four-year $5.3 billion Big Housing Build – are the most effective way to address housing affordability in the long-term.  

We have long called for at least 6,000 new social housing homes to be built every year over the next decade – a total of 60,000 new properties over a decade – to build on the Big Housing Build. We continue to make the case for a long-term commitment to a social housing growth pipeline in this submission.  

However, we also acknowledge that the quantum of new supply needed will take years to enter the market and have any effect on prices. Given this, it is necessary to consider additional regulatory interventions and programmatic investments to protect renters against excessive rents now, as part of a suite of government interventions to address our housing affordability challenge.  

Victoria can meet this challenge.

VCOSS eagerly await the release of the Victorian Government’s Housing Statement later this year. 

Main image: Pat Whelen/Unsplash

Victorians rejected for a rental property because they’re on a tenancy ‘blacklist’ should investigate having that listing removed, a Victorian renters’ rights forum has been told.

Blacklists are databases run by private companies which collect information on renters for use by real estate agents.

“Tenancy databases are unfortunately still an issue for people in Victoria,” Justice Connect Homeless Law lawyer Jemma Donaghey told the forum.

Ms Donaghey says rejected renters should ask to inspect the black list entry to determine if it’s valid.

“Is that information accurate? Should it still be on there? Is there something they can do to have it removed?”

The issue was raised in an audience question during the broader session dealing with renters’ rights, evictions and tenancy protections in Victoria, two years after sweeping changes to the state’s tenancy regulation regime.

VCOSS Policy and Advocacy Director Deborah Fewster moderated the session, and said renters are dealing with surging rents, low vacancy rates and a global cost-of-living crisis.

“The aim [of today] is to address the rental market power imbalance and make renting fairer and safer,” Ms Fewster said.

The session also heard from Angela Kyriakopoulos from the Council to Homeless Persons, who shared strategies for community sector workers who are helping renters avoid evictions and homelessness.

“Specialist programs should be able to assist [people] to stop and prevent [them] from being evicted when they receive a Notice to Vacate,” Ms Kyriakopoulos said.

“They should be able to have the skill, and … know how to access different types of funding programs”. ▇

More on renters' rights

This is a partial summary of VCOSS Renters’ Rights Rundown: Making sense of evictions sector forum held on 22 June 2023. A full transcript, slides etc can be found here.

Thanks to the Council to Homeless Persons and Justice Connect Homeless Law.

Got a question or suggestion? Please make contact.

This project is supported by the Victorian Government.

ANALYSIS

A summary of the VCOSS Renters’ Rights Rundown: Renting and family violence, 3 May 2023.

On Wednesday 3 May 2023, people around Australia lit a candle to remember those who have been killed by domestic and family violence.

The Candlelight vigil aims to honor victims memories and bring light to this national crisis.

Family violence causes serious social, economic and health consequences.

Homelessness is one such consequence – domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Victoria. Nearly half of all requests for assistance from specialist homelessness services are related to family violence.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence in Victoria highlighted the complex link between victim-survivor’s safety, the ability to recover from family violence and access to long-term housing.

Since the Royal Commission, significant progress has been made towards keeping women and children safe and establishing better responses to domestic and family violence.

To coincide with the Candlelight Vigil, VCOSS hosted an event in our Renters’ Rights Rundown series, focused on some of these responses, as well as tenancy rights under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 available to victim survivors to prevent the risk of homelessness.

Kim Hay and Courtney Wamala from Safe and Equal talked us through the Safe at Home response, where victim survivors are supported to safely remain at home, while the perpetrator is removed. This response includes a variety of risk- and safety informed interventions across the service system that work together to keep victim-survivors safe, including:

• Interventions with perpetrators
• Justice responses
• Case management support
• Safety modifications and technologies (e.g. security doors, home alarms)

Recognising the significant costs associated with staying safe at home, a key intervention is brokerage, which can help cover costs including but not limited to: safety and security items, education costs, housing costs, furniture, removal costs and legal fees.  

There are a range of brokerage options throughout the service system, as outlined below.

The Personal Safety Initiative is a program that helps victim survivors remain safely in their homes, through the identification and installation of safety and security items on a victim survivor’s home.

Sally Kenyon from Justice Connect Homeless Law talked us through new renter rights around making safety modifications in rental homes that complement these safe at home programs.

Other new provisions under the RTA include rights that allow renters to:

• Change locks
• Prevent open house inspections
• Object to advertising photos or videos
• Terminate a rental agreement
• Reduce the term of a rental agreement 
• Terminate a rental agreement and create a new one 
• Allow access for the removal of belongings
• VCAT can make orders about distribution of bond and liability for rent, damage/maintenance and/or utilities
• Defend a possession order application
• Protect bond
• Remove a renter or amend a database listing / blacklisting

Sally talked us through an example of how this would work in practice with a case study about Chris:

Chris’ ex-partner is excluded from their property via IVO and Chris finds out the rent has not been paid in over a month. They want to stay. 

Chris can change the locks and make other some modifications to help keep them safe – like installing non-hard-wired security cameras and lights.

Chris can apply to VCAT to terminate the tenancy agreement and have a new tenancy created in their name. Chris can also ask VCAT to make orders that the ex-partner is responsible for the outstanding rent and about how the utility bills should be dealt with.

To learn more about renters rights and supports available in family violence circumstances, you can watch the whole event and download the resources.

VCOSS will be hosting more Renters’ Rights Rundown sessions throughout 2023, including:

• Healthy homes – minimum standards, modifications, repairs and more
• Making sense of evictions

Keep an eye on https://vcoss.org.au/projects/rentersrights/ to find out more about these sessions and for other helpful resources for supporting renters.  

Please let us know if there are other renters’ rights topics you’d like to know more about by emailing Karen Taranto at karen.taranto@vcoss.org.au.

▇ VCOSS thanks our colleagues at Safe and Equal and Justice Connect Homeless Law for their participation in this event.

VCOSS thanks Consumer Affairs Victoria for their support of VCOSS’s rental fairness sector capacity building work and acknowledges this work is undertaken thanks to a grant from the Victorian Property Fund.

VCOSS Submission to the Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s Inquiry into Land Transfer Duty Fees

Stamp duty is highly inefficient and an unstable source of government revenue.

It fuels housing inaffordability and stymies mobility.

VCOSS believes Victoria should phase out stamp duty — as recommended by a diverse range of economists and independent bodies — and replace it with a broad-based land tax, with suitable exemptions.

VCOSS’ primary interest is reform that can improve housing affordability, create a fairer, more sustainable housing system, and free government revenue from the volatility of the property market so governments can continue to deliver essential services to all Victorians.