Strengthening the flood resilience of the homes of Victorians experiencing poverty and disadvantage

Victoria’s flood risk is increasing, with catastrophic flood events predicted to double by the end of the century. One of the most catastrophic flood events in Victoria’s history occurred in October 2022, inundating hundreds of homes across Northern Victoria and Maribyrnong. Currently, about 20,000 homes in Victoria face severe and extreme flood risk.

Major flood events have devastating impacts. When people’s homes are damaged or destroyed, the effects on livelihoods, income-earning ability, education, health and wellbeing can persist for years. Many Victorians impacted by the 2022 floods are still on the far-too-long road to recovery. This compounds existing disadvantage in households and communities.

It need not be this way. By making Victoria’s highest-risk homes more resilient to future floods, these disastrous impacts can be addressed.

We spoke to ‘everyday’ people and community service organisations across Northern Victoria and Maribyrnong to understand what support Victorian households – especially those on low incomes – need to improve their flood resilience. We also reviewed flood resilience programs and policy outside Victoria to identify lessons that could be applied here.

By making Victoria’s highest-risk homes more resilient to future floods, these disastrous impacts can be addressed.

By supporting Victorians in flood-prone areas to improve the resilience of their homes, we can help break the link between disadvantage and disasters and reduce the devastating impacts of future floods.

These are our key findings:

• Victoria can improve flood resilience by supporting communities to lead and by building on efforts in other jurisdictions. Evidence from NSW and Queensland points to the importance of collaboration between Commonwealth and state governments, and to the imperative of financing adaptation across the public and private sectors.
• Exposure to flood risk is not equal. Victorians experiencing poverty and disadvantage are more likely to be exposed to major flooding because of where they live – which is particularly concerning as climate change increases the risk of major flooding across Victoria.
• Housing-related flood recovery takes far too long. Previous research has found that disaster recovery, including psychological recovery, can take upwards of 10 years. More than three years after the 2022 floods, some Victorians have not returned to a safe, healthy and stable home.
• Most Victorians who were impacted by the 2022 floods are still exposed to future flood events. The flood resilience of most homes has not improved since the event because support is not available when and where it is needed most. The people we spoke to identified access to financial resources and information around flood resilient housing as their top priorities for support.
• Insurers are a significant roadblock to building resilience. People are increasingly under- or uninsured, and even those with insurance face barriers to building back better through insurance.

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Feedback on Victoria’s draft 2027-31 Adaptation Action Plans (AAPs).

Climate adaptation is a social justice issue. Without explicit and sustained focus on actions targeted towards people experiencing poverty and disadvantage, the 2027-31 AAPs will miss a golden opportunity to address these systemic challenges. Ignoring the opportunity climate adaptation presents for local economic advancement also condemns the most vulnerable cohort of Victorians to being left behind along Victoria’s path to net zero. Therefore, climate adaptation is also a vital economic and investment issue. Executed effectively, climate adaptation can be a powerful lever for inclusive economic development. This submission provides insights on how Victoria’s adaptation agenda can act as that lever, with locally led decision-making and community service engagement as its key pillars.

VCOSS is pleased to see discussion of self-determined climate adaptation for First Peoples in Victoria embedded across the AAPs. We are also pleased to see the integration of adaptation with emergency management and disaster resilience agendas.

However, we are concerned that the draft AAPs focus primarily on Victorian Government operations, leaving out the ‘on the ground’ adaptation that happens within communities and throughout the community services sector. We are concerned that, without focus on these areas and without centring justice, equity and self-determination in concrete actions, the AAPs have the potential to entrench poverty and disadvantage.

The draft plans include a number of positive actions that we are pleased to see. This submission makes recommendations to ensure these actions are done equitably and with justice at the centre.

This submission focuses primarily on the following AAPs, noting VCOSS member priorities:

• Health and Human Services
• Built Environment
• Education and Training
• Transport

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The Community and Social Services Graduate Program is a 12-month, whole of sector graduate program for community and social services.

Developed by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Community and Social Services Graduate Program is open to graduates and organisations across the community and social services sectors to address the challenges of attracting and retaining graduate-level workforce. The program invests in early-career professionals, to build their skills and experience and develop the community and social services workforce of the future.

Here are some graduates* describing their experiences of the program:

Jimmy’s story

I understand lived experience, having been part of a family where not all emotional regulations were like that depicted in The Brady Bunch. 

What led you to community and social services and the Graduate Program?

As a country lad working at the local recreational centre and supporting an out-of-school-hours care program, my interest was sparked in how decisions are made when reports of child harm arose with the diverse families in the community. I understand lived experience, having been part of a family where not all emotional regulations were like that depicted in The Brady Bunch. 

Enrolling in a Bachelor of Psychology appeared scary at the time. It turned out to be the start of my career in state government, protecting children and helping families build their capacity. 

My career path started in community and social services in child protection in the Western suburbs. I work in the Assessment and Investigations team, supporting the reporting and early investigations of possible child harm. In a year I’ve progressed to standing in court with a mandate to protect children from evidence of harm.  

What made the Graduate Program a rewarding experience for you?

The pace of the activities can be managed in my workload. I’ve learnt a lot – so much so that I’m being asked by my supervisor to step up to lead the practice of new starters as I come to the end of my 12 months in the Graduate Program. I was not expecting that. 

I have enjoyed working with First Nations families and feel this is an area I will expand my practice in. 

I have loved all the peer networking in the Graduate Program, how valuable it is to be able to contact a peer in another sector to ask questions that will make a positive difference to my client’s outcomes. I get calls all the time, and through my peer group learning it’s great to know the scope of what others do in their day.  

What would you say to new participants in the program?

My advice to new starters is ask lots of questions and don’t think every client is the same. Understand the impact of trauma on individuals. 

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Daniel’s story

Who would have thought that as a tradie I could work with people who have support needs, some of which I have experienced in my past life. 

What led you to community and social services and the Graduate Program?

My story started out by taking the road less challenging. As an adolescent I was steered down the trade path, and that’s where I remained for over 10 years.  

My friend convinced me I could do a diploma course to work across the community and social services sector. I was amazed at how much I liked the course and the pathway to a new career. Who would have thought that as a tradie I could work with people who have support needs, some of which I have experienced in my past life. 

My career path in community and social services started in a housing intake team within a large statewide provider in the Mallee area. My role has increased to direct complex client support, meeting and maintaining people’s housing needs.   

What made the Graduate Program a rewarding experience for you?

While I missed the face-to-face cross sector orientation delivered by the Graduate Program, I heard how fantastic it was for networking. I’ve enjoyed the learning series and meeting up with lots of people, including clients. I love my work, and the confidence the Graduate Program has given me in my practice has been noted by my supervisor and team. 

Knowing what other peers across the sectors do is important to making connections for my clients to support their needs. The networking in the graduate program was valuable – although noting that, as I work in a rural area, the number of connections was less. 

The Graduate Program has made me want to learn about how to be a better practitioner. 

What would you say to new participants in the program?

My message to others is nothing is impossible. I also try to encourage my clients, telling them that life is not all bad.  

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Isaac’s story

I had transferable skills with customer service and managing a team.   

What led you to community and social services and the Graduate Program?

My previous role before this was in retail with Telstra. I had transferable skills with customer service and managing a team.   

I needed a career change so I went to study a Diploma of Community Services. That lead me to want to work in the community. 

I was invited by my teachers in my course to apply for the Graduate Program. This has been a great start to my new career in an information service with a large council area north of Melbourne. 

What made the Graduate Program a rewarding experience for you?

The learning series and peer network has fast-tracked my understanding of what other services do.  

My first conversation with clients was nerve racking, I didn’t feel confident. Now, after six months in my role, my confidence has increased and my understanding of how the community services sector works has been an asset to my practice. 

All the networks I have made are valuable. I appreciate the diversity of the roles across the group I was allocated to.  

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*Names have been changed

Read more about the Graduate Program here.

Rental fairness: evidence from the frontline

Since 2021, Victoria has been driving an ambitious rental reform agenda.

With about 250 changes to the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) over the past five years, Victorian renters have seen increased protections including key reforms related to:

• Family violence victim survivors
• Renters living in particular forms of disability accommodation
• Higher standards for thermal comfort and energy efficiency
• No-fault evictions
• Capping the frequency of rent increases

These rental reforms have delivered important gains.

However, Victorian renters are facing a combination of pressures that threaten to undermine the efficacy and ‘real world’ impact of this reform work.

Like the rest of Australia, Victoria is in the grip of a rental affordability crisis – fuelled by inequitable tax settings, wages lagging behind inflation, and decades of under-investment in social housing.

Over the past 10 years, median advertised rents in Australia have risen by 48% for both houses and units[1]. Across Victoria, only 14% of rentals on the market met the affordability criteria for low-income households[2].

A combination of factors including scarce social housing supply, low Commonwealth Government income supports and high rents is creating a pressure cooker for low-income renters trying to keep a roof over their heads and cover the essentials.

These conditions are putting significant pressure on Victoria’s rental reform agenda.

VCOSS’ fifth annual Renting in Victoria report provides insights from 250 community sector workers who are on the frontline of this crisis, supporting Victoria’s most marginalised renters.

The key issues that workers highlight in this year’s report as impacting renters include:

• Persistent housing stress due to excessive rent increases.
• The critical need to correct power imbalances between renter and landlord to ensure that rental laws operate fairly in practice, not just on paper.
• Marginalised renters facing various forms of discrimination across each stage of their tenancy.
• Rental properties failing to comply with minimum standards.

Community sector workers report that a lack of affordable housing, a highly saturated rental market, and limited statutory enforcement of rental rights are stacking the deck against renters, perpetuating a power imbalance in which renters are unable to assert their rights out of fear of ‘rocking the boat’.

This report sets out clearactions that the Victorian Government and the regulator, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), can take to:

• Get maximum impact from existing laws and regulations.
• Introduce additional legislative reform to combat discrimination and the long-tail impacts of eviction.
• Improve dispute resolution processes to strengthen RTA compliance.
• Increase the supply of social housing stock to protect low-income renters who are locked out of the private rental market.

These recommendations will build on Victoria’s ambitious rent reform agenda – including reforms currently being or soon to be phased in, such as:

• The implementation of Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria.
• The release of a standardised rental application form.
• The establishment of a Portable Rental Bonds Scheme.
• Curbing dubious bond claims lodged by real estate agents and landlords.
• The introduction of new energy minimum efficiency standards in 2027.

In a crucial state election year, and against a backdrop of new and unprecedented cost-of-living challenges, there has never been a more critical time to maintain the momentum on rental reforms and make renting fairer and safer for all Victorians.

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[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2025, ‘Housing affordability’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/housing-affordability#:~:text=Housing%20costs%20relative%20to%20income,costs%20(ANU%20CSPR%202025)..

[2] Homes Victoria 2025, ‘Homes Victoria Rental Report: September Quarter 2025’, https://www.dffh.vic.gov.au/publications/rental-report.

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The Community and Social Services Graduate Program is a 12-month, whole of sector graduate program for community and social services.

Developed by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the Community and Social Services Graduate Program is open to graduates and organisations across the community and social services sectors to address the challenges of attracting and retaining graduate-level workforce. The program invests in early-career professionals, to build their skills and experience and develop the community and social services workforce of the future.

Facilitated by sector partners and coordinated by VCOSS, the Graduate Program is an exciting opportunity for employers who want to access a pool of motivated, qualified graduates. Employers can also nominate an existing recent starter to participate.

Through the program, employers:

• receive financial incentives per graduate
• enhanced professional learning, peer networks and other support for graduates and supervisors
• retain new workers by offering a supported early-career experience.

Read more here.

See what graduates say about the program.

Register for the program.

Climate change is here. Adapting to its impacts is not an optional extra – it is a social and economic imperative.

Already in Australia, disasters cost the economy a combined $38 billion a year, along with unquantifiable human and animal suffering, and ecological destruction.

Regardless of what actions are taken to address climate change, significant harms are already locked in, including risks to people’s lives, livelihoods, health and wellbeing. In the currently projected 2.6°C warming scenario, there will be more frequent and intense disasters and around four times as many heatwaves by 2050. Water and food security will be undermined, and First Peoples’ cultural connections with land devastated.

There is still a wide array of possible emissions pathways and climate futures, so climate mitigation is, rightfully, a priority for government and interested groups across our communities.

However, given what is already here and what is coming, climate adaptation must also be non-negotiable.

The focus of adaptation matters enormously. This is because, while everyone will be impacted by climate change, not everyone will be impacted equally.

The same groups who are hardest hit by climate change are those facing the greatest limitations on their capacity to adapt to it, because of systemic barriers such as:

• Location, which affects access to education and employment opportunities, and exposure to heat and disasters
• Gender, with women often taking on greater caring roles and having less capacity and resources to adapt
• Experiences of disability, which often put households in financial precarity and at greater physical risk.

Recent research by VCOSS and the University of Melbourne sheds light on the underlying inequities that affect who is hardest hit – including people experiencing poverty, First Peoples, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. It also reveals how inequities are entrenched and exacerbated by climate change and disasters, creating a feedback loop of disadvantage.

Adaptation to climate change will not work unless it addresses the needs of the most imperiled groups. What is needed is transformative adaptation, which means dismantling those barriers to adaptation, and shifting the burden of adapting away from individuals and towards systems-level adaptation.

Victoria’s community services sector plays a vital role in creating the conditions for exactly this kind of community-led, transformative adaptation. They do this by working with people experiencing systemic disadvantage, involving community members as active partners in the projects, building capacity and enabling people to take actions that work for them in their context.

The case studies in this report explore some of the models the community sector already has in place for this vital capacity- and resilience-building work, with a view to providing guidance, inspiring broader adoption at the community and sector levels, and catalysing funding, systemic planning and upscaling at the government level.

Each project has resulted in multi-faceted outcomes for health, wellbeing, empowerment and environmental outcomes, demonstrating how transformative adaptation can simultaneously strengthen adaptive capacity and improve people’s lives. These models shed light on the transformative adaptation that can be achieved through partnerships between all levels of government and the community services sector. 

The case studies are also contextualised through an exploration of the learnings emerging from each project, as well as a brief analysis of as well as how the adaptation activities work within and further the objectives of Victorian legislation and policy priorities around climate adaptation. This context is provided for funders, and for community sector workers seeking to implement or upscale their own initiatives.

Climate adaptation must look different depending on the where, who and what: the location of adaptation initiatives, the people involved, and the climate impacts being addressed. These case studies show what this can look like in practice, where the community services sector is adequately resourced to support communities.

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The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) welcomes the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) draft decision on better protections for life support customers in Victoria. People who rely on life support equipment are often some of the most vulnerable consumers in the energy market, with multiple and complex support needs. For those customers, the register is a crucial safeguard against harms created by planned and unplanned interruptions.

VCOSS acknowledges that there are some well-documented issues with the current operation of the register, as was found through the 2024 Network Outage Review. In that context, the ESC’s review is both necessary and timely.

We believe that the changes laid out in the draft decision are an improvement on the initial proposal. It is our view that the proposed reforms are better geared towards minimising the risk of harm to customers with life support needs than those in the initial consultation paper. VCOSS is pleased so see how this proposal has evolved, as it is clear that the ESC has taken feedback from community sector respresentatives and consumer advocates onboard.

Finally, VCOSS is very pleased to see that there are no references in the draft decision to the assertion, advanced by some energy businesses and expressed in the initial consultation paper, that some consumers deliberately misuse the life support register to avoid disconnection for non-payment. It was our view that this was an entirely unfounded assumption based on a misunderstanding of consumer behaviour and the reasons for an expanded life support register.

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MEMBER ADVOCACY

With the impact of fuel supply pressures from the war in the Middle East being felt across our communities, VCOSS wants to hear directly from our members about the emerging impacts on vulnerable households and frontline services in Victoria.

We know the conflict is contributing to rising cost-of-living pressures, increased demand for emergency relief and food security supports, and heightened stress across communities.

VCOSS is gathering stories, data and frontline insights from community service organisations to inform our sector intelligence and advice to government.

Your experiences and data — especially from regional areas — will directly inform VCOSS’ advocacy to the State Government as we work to secure urgent responses that relieve pressure on low income households and strengthen the capacity of the community sector.

We need to hear from you to ensure that our work is grounded in and represents the diversity of community organisations — large and small, metro and regional — and leverages examples of what is emerging on the ground, the pressures you are facing and the supports you have identified as necessary now and in the months ahead.

For VCOSS members: please fill out this short survey to tell VCOSS about the issues your community and/or organisation are facing.

You can remain anonymous if you choose.

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You can also reach out to us directly about how fuel pressures are impacting you and your community: email Rory.Anderson@vcoss.org.au, Policy Advisor, Energy and Cost of Living.

Together, we are stronger.

In October 2022 Victoria experienced its wettest month on record and major floods devastated communities across our state.

The consequences of the floods were deep and long-lasting, causing ripple effects for communities that are still being felt today.

Sixty-three of Victoria’s 79 local government areas were affected. Two people tragically lost their lives, 5,017 homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 5,000 known Aboriginal cultural heritage sites were impacted.

Disasters like the 2022 floods affect everyone, but not equally.

This report finds that certain Victorians were more likely to live in flood-affected areas, including people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. A majority (59%) of regional flood-affected areas had rates of poverty above the regional average.

Almost one-third (32%) had very high rates of poverty of more than 15%. In Shepparton South East and Mildura North, for example, approximately one in five people were experiencing poverty in 2021. 

In 2021, more than one in three (33.96%) households in regional flood-affected areas were experiencing the highest levels of socioeconomic disadvantage according to the ABS Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage. This is almost 6% higher compared with unaffected regional areas.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were also more likely to live in regional flood-affected areas. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was higher in 93% of flood-affected regional areas than the average in unaffected regional areas.

In regional Victoria, culturally and linguistically diverse people were more likely to live in the flood-affected areas. In Melbourne, almost one in two people in hard-hit Maribyrnong were culturally and linguistically diverse.

Disasters like the 2022 floods affect everyone, but not equally.

This report also considers community-level outcomes after the floods.

After the floods, inequality was exacerbated in affected areas.

• After the floods, disposable income was $22,818/year lower for households in affected areas compared with similar households in unaffected areas.
• Poverty increased after, with one in five people experiencing poverty in affected areas in 2023, and poverty 6.1% higher compared with unaffected areas.
• After the floods, unemployment and nonparticipation in the labour force increased along with the need for government income support.
• The floods had negative impacts for social, physical, and mental health outcomes.

Following the 2022 floods, the Australian Government, Victorian Government and local governments put in place a number of supports for Victorians impacted by the floods, with $1.66 billion spent on flood relief and recovery by June 2023. Supports for households included relief and reestablishment payments as part of the Personal Hardship Assistance Program and the Flood Recovery Support Program.

However, this report makes clear that more needs to be done to support those most impacted, and to address the risk that future emergencies will further entrench spatial injustice.

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Support for the community sector

Join the VCOSS Disaster Resilience Network 

The VCOSS Disaster Resilience Network is a space for Victorian community organisations to present and discuss key lessons and best practices in disaster resilience, and share upcoming reports, consultations, and events.  

The Network meets every two months online, with updates sent in between meetings. 

To join, please sign up here or email Lucy Manne, Disaster Resilience Policy Advisor

Useful resources

Vic Emergency website and app: The Vic Emergency app and website provides a centralised location to access emergency information and warnings.

DFFH’s emergency management policy and resources: DFFH’s website contains a range of helpful resources, including:

• The social services emergency management policy
• A guide to emergency psychosocial supports
• Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness

Victorian Emergency Management Planning Toolkit for People Most at Risk: The Planning Toolkit is a practical resource providing a range of guidance and support materials, to help emergency management practitioners to consider and plan for the needs of groups of people and communities most at risk in emergencies.

The Country Fire Authority’s People at Higher Risk resources: The CFA has developed a range of resources to build the capability of the Community and Social Service Sector to develop bushfire plans with their clients at greatest risk in a bushfire.

ERV’s resource library: The Emergency Recovery Resource Portal provides a central point to access resources for the disaster recovery workforce in Victoria.

The Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub: The AIDR Knowledge Hub is a national, open-source platform that supports good practice in disaster resilience.

Emergency Management plans

• The State Emergency Management Plan explains Victoria’s emergency management arrangements, including the roles of different agencies.
• Regional Emergency Management Plans can be found on the EMV website.
• Contact your local council for your Municipal Emergency Management Plan.

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.

VCOSS’ key recommendation is that the concessional rate be extended to Seniors Health Care concession card holders.

 

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.

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[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.

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Resources for community members 

Emergency assistance and payments  

Centrelink and Disasters – Tips and Common Issues (Social Security Rights Victoria): Information on disaster and crisis payments, Centrelink, and mutual obligations. Includes contact information for SSRV. 

Emergency relief support (Australian Red Cross): Information on emergency relief payments for people on temporary visas, including how to apply.  

Emergency assistance and accommodation (Disaster Legal Help Victoria): Information on emergency relief payments, financial counselling services, and short-term emergency accommodation. Includes contact details for Safe Steps (family violence support) and Department of Fairness, Families and Housing. 

Replacing lost documents (Financial Counselling Victoria): How to replace lost or damaged identification documents (passports, citizenship certificates, driver’s licences, certificates from Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, damaged banknotes).  

Insurance 

Steps to take after a disaster to stay safe and start your insurance claim (Vic Gov): This webpage contains information about starting an insurance claim after a home has been flooded, but is also applicable to bushfire. 

Practical information on what to do during and after a disaster (Insurance Council of Australia): A series of articles from the Insurance Council of Australia about insurance before and after a disaster. 

Insurance law (Financial Rights Legal Centre): fact sheets to help answer insurance questions and concerns. 

Legal assistance  

Do you need legal help after a disaster? (DLHV): Web link, QR code, and phone number for Disaster Legal Help Victoria.  

Disaster Legal Help (Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service): Contacts for assistance from VALS for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians. Includes a checklist of areas one may require assistance with (e.g., housing, debt, employment, insurance, etc).  

Disaster support for renters (Tenants Victoria): Guidance around rights and responsibilities, and seeking legal support, for renters after a disaster. 

Legal Health Check (Disaster Legal Help Victoria): Assists with the identification of legal needs and issues., with a corresponding resource for each legal area (e.g., safety, court, housing, insurance, employment, money, children, crime, legal documents).  

Email disasterlegalhelp@vla.vic.gov.au for further assistance.  

Recovery and psychosocial support 

Coping after a crisis (Australian Red Cross): What you or others might experience after a crisis, and how to manage it. Includes information about returning home after a crisis, cleaning up, maintaining wellbeing and staying healthy.  

Dr Rob’s six tips for disaster recovery (NZ Red Cross): Dr Rob Gordon is a psychologist and disaster recovery expert. In this video he provides six tips to assist people in the immediate aftermath and months following a disaster. This video was recorded after the 2013 NZ earthquakes, but is applicable to all disasters.  

Young People and Disasters Resource Hub (Youth Affairs Council Victoria): Bushfire resources for Victorians with disability, and resources for disaster preparation.

Blktrx service directory (VACCHO): Find culturally safe and responsive mental health, social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and suicide prevention services to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families, communities and workforce across Victoria

For other support, please visit a recovery hub, call the numbers available on Vic Emergency’s website, or call the recovery line. 

Emergency preparedness 

Protect what matters most (Australian Red Cross): A disaster preparedness guide to help prepare an emergency plan.  

Resources to help you (Australian Red Cross): A range of resources around how to help after a disaster, preparing for disasters, multilingual preparedness resources, responding to disasters, and recovering from disasters. 

Health

Virtual women’s health clinic Free, specialist reproductive and sexual health care.

The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department Ambulance Victoria: The Victorian Virtual Emergency Department allows you to access care for non-life threatening emergencies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You will be connected to doctors and nurses via a video call and receive medical advice from the comfort of your home.

Family Violence

During the recovery phase family violence increases and services are harder to access.  Family violence can happen to anyone.

Dial Triple Zero 000 if you are in immediate danger.

1800 Respect

• For people experiencing or at risk of experiencing sexual assault, domestic or family violence.

Call 1800 737 732 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Child Protection

For children and young people whose safety is at risk – after hours Child Protection Emergency Service.

Call 13 12 78 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 am Monday to Friday (24 hours on weekends and public holidays).

Child protection contacts

• Men’s Referral Service

The Men’s Referral Service is the national counselling, information and referral service for men who use violence and abuse to change their behaviour. They can have a conversation with you, help you with some short-term tactics and put you in touch with some supports that can help you along the journey.

Call 1300 766 491 available 24/7.

Men’s Referral Service

• Orange Door

The Orange Door provides help for adults, children and young people who are experiencing family violence.

Orange Door

• Safe Steps

For women and children who are victims of family violence.

Call 1800 015 188 crisis phone line 24/7.

Safe Steps

• Sexual Assault Crisis Line

For victims of sexual assault.

Call 1800 806 292 after hours from 5:00 pm to 9:00 am (including weekend and public holidays).

Sexual Assault Crisis Line

Resources for community service organisations  

Emergency management information for service providers from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).  DFFH’s website includes several key resources for community organisations:

o   Social services sector emergency management policy;

o   A guide to emergency psychosocial supports;

o   Victorian Emergency Management Planning Toolkit for People Most at Risk; and

o   Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) Toolkit.

Total fire bans and fire danger ratings (CFA): Includes current ratings and status of fire bans.  

Relief and recovery 

Disaster Legal Toolkit (Justice Connect Not-For-Profit Law): Guidance to help your not-for-profit organisation navigate disaster-related legal questions and issues. 

Youth-Focused Disaster Recovery Protocol (Youth Affairs Council Victoria): This protocol has been developed for all levels of government and community services who engage with young people in disaster affected areas. It provides guidance on key matters for inclusion in post-disaster recovery and rebuilding to ensure positive outcomes for young people. 

Bushfire safety and preparedness 

Fire Safety for the Care Sector (CFA): Resources, links, and information community service organisations can use to enhance bushfire safety for clients.  

Bushfire Preparedness (CFA): Slides, including info and links, on how to prepare for bushfire safety as a community service organisation. 

Victorian emergency preparedness briefing for community and not-for-profit organisations (Emergency Management Vic): Slides, including info and links, on emergency management arrangements in Victoria, risks and priorities for the 2025-26 high risk season, relief and recovery.  

Find your fire weather district (CFA): Map and search function for the nine Fire Weather Districts based on council boundaries. 

Preparedness for the 2025-26 high risk weather season (VCOSS Disaster Resilience Network): Meeting recording, minutes and slides from the November 2025 meeting.  

Victoria’s State Emergency Management Plan (Emergency Management Vic): Provides the details of emergency management arrangements at a state level. 

Young People and Disasters Resource Hub (Youth Affairs Council Victoria): A range of resources to enable organisations to empower young people in bushfire recovery, including a guide to meaningful youth engagement, use of trauma informed language, and more. 

Community Recovery Toolbox

East Gippsland Shire Council’s Community Recovery Toolbox provides useful information to support communities across East Gippsland. It will help local groups establish and build recovery processes before and after an emergency.

Reflections and Lessons Learned by the Community Recovery Committees (CRCs) of the 2019-20 East Gippsland Bushfires.

The Reflections and Lessons Learned by the CRCs report captures the experiences of the CRCs from the 2019-2020 black summer bushfires and what they thought worked well, opportunities for improvement, and what to pass on to help communities in future events.

‍Reflections and Lessons Learned – Executive Summary

Reflections and Lessons Learned – Report

Reflections and Lessons Learned – video

Inquiry into the 2026 summer fires across Victoria

The Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee has announced a Parliamentary Inquiry into the 2026 summer fires across Victoria. The deadline for submissions is 19 April 2026.

It is crucial to have as many community voices and community organisations putting in submissions as possible. This will ensure community voices, leadership, and recovery priorities are front and centre in this Inquiry.

VCOSS has prepared a submission guide for community organisations. Please consider putting in a submission, and reach out to VCOSS’ Disaster Resilience Policy Advisor, Lucy Manne, if you have any questions or would like support in relation to this Inquiry: lucy.manne@vcoss.org.au

Feedback to the Inquiry into Matters of Import.

The Victorian Default Offer (VDO) is a crucial safeguard for consumers who face structural barriers to engaging with the electricity retail market. We strongly support the VDO’s continuing role in the Victorian energy market, and the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) role in regularly reviewing and renewing the VDO.

Energy is an essential service, one that people cannot live without and cannot safely discontinue using even if they are unable to pay for ongoing usage and will end up accruing debt. As described in previous community sector submissions to VDO reviews, many people supported by the sector simply cannot afford expensive energy as well as the costs of other essentials, especially if they are living in poor quality housing that is difficult to heat and cool. Because of this, some consumers accrue large amounts of debt. Others, in an attempt to avoid debt at all costs, go to great lengths to pay their energy bills, such as forgoing other essentials, or reducing consumption to dangerously low levels.

As such, we encourage the ESC to consider the costs of pricing decisions holistically, and to centre the consumer in decisions, rather than businesses. This is especially important for vulnerable and low-income households, for whom costs and benefits are a required consideration for the ESC, under the Commission’s statutory obligations.

We welcome the ESC’s consideration of a regulated free power period tariff structure as part of the VDO. As this type of offer is already available in the market, it is crucial for Victorians to have access to a reasonably priced benchmark.
However, we strongly emphasise the difficulty that many consumers face in shifting their usage out of evening peaks, meaning that many households who are most likely to benefit from a free power period offer are those who are already well-off.
In this submission we detail potential consumer protections that would safeguard consumers when selecting free power period offers, including:
• Opt-in only application
• A better-off price guarantee and easy switch back when consumers find they are paying more compared to their previous tariff
• Access to a simple flat tariff that consumers can move to at any time
• Requirements for bill comparisons between a consumer’s current offer and a free power period offer are based on actual consumption and not assumed behaviour change

Similarly, while recognising the need for the ESC to shift VDO time of use (TOU) tariff pricing to a three-price structure to reflect proposed 2026-31 distribution charges, we again emphasise the difficulty that some consumers face in responding to price signals.
Finally, we note that, although the VDO works as a crucial regulatory safeguard, it is ultimately a price calculated on the costs of an unfair and unaffordable market. As such, consumer advocates urge regulators and policymakers to investigate complementary measures above and beyond the VDO, such as a targeted social tariff, to deliver electricity to low-income households at a truly affordable rate.

This is a joint submission made by the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Community Information and Support Victoria, Consumer Action Law Centre, Council on the Ageing Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria, Energy Consumers Australia, Financial Counselling Victoria, Uniting Vic Tas, and Westjustice. This group brings a deep knowledge of people’s experiences navigating the Victorian electricity market and the impacts of energy hardship and poverty. Collectively, we work towards a Victoria free from all forms of hardship, where everybody can experience genuine wellbeing.
This submission includes case studies detailing the lived experience of electricity consumers who have been supported by community sector organisations. The names of individuals have been changed.

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VCOSS appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback to the Department of Justice and Community Safety (the Department) on government proposals to reform the Infringement Regulations 2016 and Fines Reform Regulations 2017.

We understand that, in initiating this process, a key objective for the Victorian Government is to minimise the costs of operating the fines system. From VCOSS’ perspective, this should not come at the expense of people already experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.

As it stands, Victoria’s fines system is not fair or equitable. The proposed increases to late fees will exacerbate financial hardship and psychological harm for people who are already experiencing significant vulnerability. That’s because people who face disadvantage are those most likely to have unpaid fines and be most affected by added penalties and enforcement actions.

These are the key regulatory impacts that the government should consider in this process.

To this end, VCOSS does not support the proposed Regulations which seek to increase late fees for fine recipients who are unable to pay their fines by the determined due date.

We also note that these fee hikes are being proposed at a time when more Victorians than ever are unable to afford the essentials – with some households skipping meals and foregoing healthcare and medicines to pay rising rents and energy bills.

VCOSS’ core recommendation is for the Victorian Government to abandon the proposed fee increases and to implement concessional exemptions for fee payments.

We also note the proposed Regulations include amendments aimed at providing clearer information to fine recipients. While VCOSS is supportive of these changes, our submission details further opportunities to ensure fine recipients receive plain language information early, ensuring they know where to go for support and the options available to them.

Finally, in this submission we detail the importance of the Victorian Government providing additional funding to community legal centres, Victoria Legal Aid, and financial counsellors to enable services to meet the increase in demand resulting from changes to referral information on correspondence.

More broadly, we urge the government to work with the social and community sector (including the community legal sector and financial counselling sector) to institute a broader suite of fairer fines reforms.

The current punishment and deterrence model does not work. It fails to recognise that some groups have no or limited capacity to pay fines, or how they get trapped in the system in the first place. The system needs to reflect a greater understanding of disadvantage and vulnerability; be simpler to navigate; and have better hardship provisions. The community sector stands ready to work with government to design a fairer and better system.

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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

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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.

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The cost of energy represents a large portion of the cost of living for Victorians. These costs have increased over the long term, but particularly in recent years.

Energy is an essential service, one that people cannot live without. And yet, it is delivered through a privatised system, subject to market forces. And energy retailers often don’t adequately support people when they’re struggling to afford energy costs.

The Energy Retail Code of Practice (known among energy experts as the ERCOP) regulates the terms and conditions of energy contracts, the marketing of energy offers, and billing practices. Included in the ERCOP is the Payment Difficulty Framework, which sets the rules and minimum standards by which energy retailers are required to assist customers experiencing hardship.

On 30 September the Essential Services Commission (ESC) announced their Stage 1 Final Decision as part of their ongoing review of the ERCOP.

These ambitious reforms represent a big win for Victorian energy consumers, and for the community sector organisations whose advocacy helped achieve it.

Changes to the code include increased protections for energy consumers, including strong new measures to support customers struggling with costly bills.

These ambitious reforms represent a big win for Victorian energy consumers, and for the community sector organisations whose advocacy helped achieve it.

Because of the importance of the reforms to the sector and many of our clients, VCOSS has produced a briefing document outlining the changes, how they happened, what they mean and why they matter.

Download the briefing document below.

You can also read VCOSS’s submission to the review, and the Government’s announcement.

Reimagining What’s Possible

On Monday 6 October, more than 350 community and social service leaders from across Victoria came together at Melbourne Town Hall for the first major gathering of its kind since COVID.

It was a chance to talk, listen and plan, to strategise about the big issues facing our sector and the communities we serve.

We’re incredibly grateful for the insights and perspectives provided by an amazing lineup of speakers and facilitators. Emceed by Wren Rapture, this included Treasurer Jaclyn Symes, Opposition Leader Brad Battin, Uncle Perry Wandin, Kos Samaras,Tony Barry, Prof. Jo Barraket AM, Dr Jill Gallagher AO, Sarah Davies AM, Ahmed HassanOAM, Margherita Coppolino, Dr Alison Roberts, Stefan Gruenert and Chris Christoforou.

And as Matthew Schulz said in a wrap-up of the day for the Institute of Community Directors Australia, the formal panels provided a springboard for what was in many ways the main event: “a chance for community leaders to converge to consider the sector’s challenges and create momentum for coordinated action.”

In four afternoon workshops, provocateurs Bill Mithen, Noel Lim, Erin Turner and Ilo Diaz inspired big thinking and bold discussion in themed sessions designed to encourage cross-sector collaboration..

The expertise and insights contributed to this event will be used to shape our shared advocacy and priorities for 2026 and beyond. If you would like to learn more, we’ve created this post-event summary that highlights what we heard across the sessions.

Thank you to everyone who made the VCOSS Community Sector Summit so special.

This resource has been developed for community sector organisations in Victoria that are, or are considering, hosting student placements. It provides evidence-based guidance to help organisations host high quality placements that provide mutual benefits for the students, host organisations and education providers.

This resource focuses on placements in four key courses relevant to the community service sector:

• Master of Social Work
• Bachelor of Social Work
• Diploma of Community Services and
• Certificate III in Individual Support.

It presents best practices for hosting students in these courses. These practices may, however, apply to other
courses, as the resource does not present specific requirements of individual courses, accrediting bodies or education providers.

Education providers facilitating student placements may also have tailored resources and manuals for host organisations which they are strongly encouraged to access.

This resource is intended to assist organisations of different sizes, hosting experience and levels of resourcing. The principles, tips and reflection prompts can support organisations wherever they are in their hosting journey – whether small organisations looking to host a student for the first time, or large, experienced host organisations seeking to demonstrate current best practice.

This resource is an initiative of a larger VCOSS project to support the sector in hosting quality student placements. VCOSS understands that some community sector organisations do not currently have the resources to demonstrate best practice in student placements. However, the resource should assist readers to reflect on their organisation’s current processes and context and identify some opportunities to strengthen practice.

The resource was developed based on findings from VCOSS’s Supporting high quality placements in the community services sector Insights Paper, a scan of current literature and policies, and consultations with community service organisations, Victorian education providers and the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

Please also see the VCOSS insights paper Supporting high-quality placements in the community services sector.

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The work of Victoria’s community services sector is central to the state’s wellbeing, its economic growth and its prosperity.

It is a key enabler of the Victorian Government’s flagship social reforms.

Currently, the healthcare and social assistance sector (which community services is a part of) is the state’s largest industry based on employment and Victorian Government modelling projects that Victoria will need 83,324 new workers in the healthcare and social assistance workforce by 2026.

To meet the required growth in community services – and ensure that Victoria is able to deliver on its reform agenda – State and Commonwealth governments, education providers and the community services sector need to ensure that there is a supply of high-quality student placements.

Student placements are a mandatory component of accredited social work and community services qualifications.

Placements are important because they help students build workplace skills, connect theoretical knowledge to real-life problems, and transition to employment.

Placements are also essential to successful outcomes for the higher education and the vocational education and training sectors. Evidence demonstrates that lack of access to high-quality placements has an impact on completion rates, further impacting supply. For example, in higher education, the Australian Council of Heads of Social Work Education submission to the Australian Universities Accord, cites that 62 per cent of domestic students complete bachelor degrees within six years of commencing studies, with 9 per cent not returning after the first year. In comparison, less than half (48.3 per cent) of social work students complete bachelor degrees within six years, and 14.5 per cent do not return after their first year of studies. While the reasons for non-completion are varied, the research in this paper supports other evidence showing that challenges in students placements contribute substantially to low rates of completion.

Currently, the student placement/new worker pipeline is not working optimally:

• Community sector organisations are not supplying enough high-quality placements to meet demand from education providers and students because of resource constraints. This supply challenge is impeding coursework completion, talent acquisition, and industry growth and development.
• The quality of placements is variable because the sector is struggling to resource consistent and high-quality supervision in the face of workforce shortages and other resource challenges.
• Placement poverty is also impacting on quality – students are experiencing hunger, stress and exhaustion while in the field, making it difficult to concentrate and learn, and giving rise to a myriad of risks on the job. Some are dropping out of courses; others are completing but moving into other industries following a difficult placement experience.

The Insights Paper shares expert knowledge from peak and professional bodies, community sector organisations, education providers and students about structural-level reforms that are needed to improve supply and quality.

Please also see the VCOSS resource Hosting student placements: Best practice guidelines for Victorian community sector organisations.

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The community sector is an in-demand industry.

Victorian Government modelling predicts the healthcare and social assistance workforce will need a further 86,482 workers by 2027, increasing to 335,464 new workers by 2034. Currently, community sector workforce growth is not on the right trajectory to meet that target.

Gender-based undervaluation is the biggest obstacle to student pathways into the community sector. The historical perception that care-related professions are “women’s work” and are less skilled has led to many roles in the industry being undervalued relative to other sectors, creating the conditions for low-paid and insecure work. The Fair Work Commission’s Gender-based Undervaluation Review has recognised this issue by giving priority consideration to awards that cover roles within community and social services.

Current government reforms to senior secondary education – for example, VET in schools – are helping to position the community sector as a priority industry to schools, students, families and carers. However, without addressing the root causes of gender undervaluation of the sector, we will struggle to attract enough students to commence or continue a community services pathway.

To do this, we need to first address the underlying economic conditions. For workers, this means we need to lift the rates of pay. While we are aware that the Fair Work Commission has work underway to address gender undervaluation of various community sector awards, this is only one part of the issue. We also need to provide workers with security of employment by offering longer term employment contracts. Workers need access to the certainty of reliable hours of work, to avoid underemployment, and many also require workplace flexibility to balance their paid work with other (including unpaid) care roles.

Community sector organisations need to be funded adequately, not only to deliver safe, high quality services, but also to be able to offer fair, flexible and secure employment. This means ensuring that community sector roles are appropriately paid and encompass all regulatory requirements and entitlements (such as award requirements, the Superannuation Guarantee, portable long service leave contributions and WorkCover premiums), as well as providing opportunities for upskilling and career development. We need to create the conditions for the community sector to become an industry of choice.

The care economy, of which the community sector is a huge part, is a significant contributor to employment, economic growth and societal wellbeing in Australia . It is capturing the attention of policymakers in productivity conversations across the country for these reasons. We need to continue to improve awareness and understanding of the substantial impact that community sector careers have on society and shift perceptions about the sector’s contribution and its value.

Along with addressing the economic factors, creating the conditions to enable the community sector to become an industry of choice, and changing perceptions of the sectors contribution and value, we also need to ensure that there is increased awareness and understanding of what the community sector offers and promote the pathways to a community sector career. One of the many consequences of historic gender undervaluation of the sector has been less curiosity and therefore less awareness of what the community sector offers in terms of roles, opportunities for career progression and qualifications required to enter the sector. The result is that pathways into the sector are not necessarily well understood by students and those who influence them.

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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.  

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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.

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Watch ‘Adaption for All’ online launch

ANALYSIS

2024 was Australia’s second-hottest year on record. As climate change progresses, Victoria is experiencing not only hotter days and more frequent disasters, but significant impacts to people’s health, wellbeing and livelihoods.

These impacts are not felt by all Victorians equally – those who are already living in poverty or facing other forms of disadvantage experience the impacts of climate change first and worst. 

This report views the impacts of climate change to Victorians on low incomes through the lens of their capacity to adapt – to adjust to these impacts while maintaining their health and wellbeing. 

This report finds that as climate change progress, it’s fuelling a feedback loop that erodes the capacity of Victorians experiencing poverty and disadvantage to adapt. During heatwaves, for example, some Victorians remain isolated at home for days. Many are adopting drasticmoney-saving behaviours such as avoiding using any energy-consuming equipment at homeor rationing food. People are not choosing these actions because they’re desirable, but rather because they have very few options as the cost of living rises and making ends meet becomes more and more difficult.

This research also finds that the capacity of people experiencing poverty and disadvantage to adapt to climate change mirrors the same structural drivers that perpetuate inequality — such as income insecurity, housing precarity, and systemic marginalisation. As climate change progresses in Victoria, existing social and economic inequities are being compounded. 

If the people with the least capacity to adapt aren’t adequately supported as climate change progresses, the gap between the amount of adaptation needed and people’s capacity to do it will continue to grow. With this, we risk a widening chasm between those who can adapt and those who can’t.  Expecting Victorians on low incomes to support their own adaptation, without adequate support, will exacerbate existing inequalities. 

To close this gap, Victoria must prioritise transformative adaptation — adaptation that addresses systemic inequities and improves health and wellbeing for those on the lowest incomes. If individuals and communities with the least capacity to adapt are the focus of adaptation efforts, wellbeing outcomes can be improved, while growing inequity curbed.

Despite significant cost-of-living pressures, people experiencing poverty and disadvantage – where they are supported by community service organisations – are taking positive steps towards adaptation. Reducing the burden for adaptation on individuals by strengthening action within community organisations and the Victorian Government can help achieve transformative adaptation. 

We have the tools we need to support Victorians living in poverty or experiencing disadvantage to adapt to climate change. Victoria must prioritise transformative adaptation to ensure all Victorians can thrive under a changing climate. 

Recommendations

To work towards transformative adaptation, we recommend the Victorian Government to:

1. Continue to urgently invest in climate mitigation to reduce the scale of climate change impacts. This includes: 

a. Ensure access to electrification, energy efficiency upgrades and solar for people on low incomes — so no one is left behind in the energy transition.

b. Expand minimum energy efficiency standards in rental homes to protect renters from heat and other climate risks.

c. Align planning decisions with climate mitigation goals and more equitable social outcomes.

2. Target adaptation investment towards Victorians experiencing the most significant climate impacts

a. Identify the most climate-vulnerable communities and support them with community-led adaptation planning.

b. Invest in the equity-centred actions in Victoria’s Adaptation Action Plans.

c. Develop and implement an Aboriginal Climate Justice Strategy to respond to climate threats to Country, health and wellbeing.

d. Strengthen the resilience of Victoria’s housing stock through targeted upgrades and support for low-income households.

e. Expand minimum rental standards to include resilience measures that protect renters from a wider range of climate risks.

3. Increase funding for community service organisations (CSOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs)

a. Create a climate adaptation fund for CSOs and ACCOs.

4. Strengthen whole-of-government accountability on climate change and intergenerational equity

a. Create and fund an Office of the Commissioner for the Wellbeing of Future Generations to hold the whole of government accountable for decision-making that promotes the health and wellbeing of future generations.

b. Embed collaboration between Victorian Government departments to address climate change by legislating and strengthening the climate budgeting process.

c. Transparently report progress against Victoria’s Adaptation Action Plans.

These actions are essential for a fair and effective response to climate change—one that ensures no Victorian is left behind as we adapt to a changing climate.