Creating thriving communities for future generations

Recommendations

To get the system settings right so Plan for Victoria delivers for current and future generations:

• Enshrine protecting and promoting the health and wellbeing of current and future generations as an objective in the Planning Act.
• Ensure broad and equitable community participation in planning and decision-making – earlier, rather than later, in the process.
• Commit to a coordinated, whole-of-government implementation strategy including targets, funding, supporting policies and governance.
• Create and fund an Office of the Commissioner for the Wellbeing of Future Generations to hold authorities accountable for decision-making that promotes the health and wellbeing of future generations in the long term.

To deliver safe, accessible, affordable and suitable homes for all Victorians:

• Turbocharge social housing construction through Plan for Victoria with a target of building 332,100 additional units of social housing by 2051. (This represents 13.5 per cent of the Plan for Victoria overall target for new homes.)
• Establish and enable a long-term strategy to increase and maintain social housing. At a minimum this should include:
  • An investment strategy with a clear development pipeline and a sustained and predictable level of direct government investment in new public housing and grant funding to community housing organisations.
  • The introduction of a mandatory inclusionary zoning scheme for private developers to contribute to the social housing growth pipeline.
  • A significant increase to the amount of social housing that will be delivered through the Urban Renewal project on the high-rise estates (above the current Housing Statement commitment of a 10 per cent uplift). The process to identify the revised target should centre the rights and aspirations of residents on the impacted sites. .
• Use data and set targets to guide decision-making on the location and type of social housing delivered to ensure it meets community needs.

Appropriately target affordable housing. To do this, Plan for Victoria should:

• Release clear definitions and parameters for affordable housing initiatives that distinguish it from social housing, and drive consistent application of these definitions across all relevant policies, laws and regulations in Victoria.
• Prioritise government investment in social housing, since that is where the most acute need is.
• Use affordable housing to address the spatial impacts of the housing affordability crisis. In particular, to support a better distribution of labour across cities and towns

• Use Plan for Victoria to ensure our housing system is supplying homes that are responsive to housing needs of all Victorians:
  • Embed Self-determination and centre the housing needs and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities by fully funding the implementation of Mana-na worn-tyeen maar-takoort: Every Aboriginal Person Has a Home. Victorian Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Framework and the Blueprint for an Aboriginal-specific homelessness system in Victoria
  • Ensure homes are accessible and meet people’s needs throughout their life course.
  • Create a sustainable and equitable housing system for young people and future generations.

To embed the principles of self-determination and care for Country:

• Provide the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria the power to appoint representatives to planning decision-making bodies.
• Develop a holistic framework for engaging with Traditional Owners, Custodians and Aboriginal communities in planning and design of infrastructure, precincts and public places.
• Resource Traditional Owner groups and the First Peoples’ Assembly to participate in planning and design processes.
• Establish a fund that invests in care for Country initiatives.

To create more sustainable, climate-resilience places:

• Protect land for food production, biodiversity and water resources.
• Use contemporary data that accounts for climate change and future threats to inform decisions on flood and bushfire overlays and land-use strategies.
• Reform disaster planning regulations to enable communities to rebuild effectively and sustainably such that communities are less exposed to future hazards.
• Prioritise land use, transport and development that reduce emissions and support the transition to renewable energy.
  • Advocate to the Federal Government to strengthen the National
    Construction Code with lifecycle emissions and climate resilience
    standards.
  • Decarbonise existing buildings and public transport.
• Work proactively with communities to understand the impacts of climate change on health and wellbeing and enact strategies to mitigate them.
  • Increase tree-canopy coverage and green space availability, focusing on
    low socioeconomic areas that experience higher than average warming.
    18.2. Ensure public transport, community and social infrastructure can
    withstand heat and other climate impacts.
• Invest in resilience upgrades to Victoria’s housing stock, starting with public housing and Aboriginal housing.

To enable connected and thriving communities everywhere:

• Set up the system to deliver liveability and amenity for every community.
  • Release placemaking principles and invest in public places that are
    accessible for all and promote connectedness and wellbeing.
  • Set liveability and amenity targets for precincts and fund investments in
    transport, social and community infrastructure to meet them.
• Facilitate access to local health, social and community services for all communities, especially those that are growing and/or where access is currently poor.
  • Develop and fund a community and social service workforce strategy to
    attract and retain workers in outer suburban, regional and rural areas.
  • Plan for and fund multi-purpose community hubs that include co-located
    services.
• Invest in accessible public and active transport.
  • Invest in public transport in service of connected and compact cities and
    towns, including expanding Melbourne and regional bus networks.
  • Ensure social infrastructure is connected into the public transport network.
  • Deliver on the Transport Accessibility Strategy.
  • Map and build better links with community transport networks.
  • Set targets for the proportion of journeys taken by active transport and
    invest in the infrastructure required to meet them.
• Enable local food resilience, including community-owned food resilience hubs and connection to local food production.
• Tighten regulation of the locations and concentration of socially harmful industries such as fast food, liquor stores and gambling.