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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

VCOSS submission to Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy 2026-2030

VCOSS strongly supports the Victorian Government’s commitment to climate action including a clear pathway to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045 or sooner, building resilience and taking steps to adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

This action is urgent, as we are already seeing the devastating impacts of climate change on people’s health, wellbeing and livelihoods across Victoria. These impacts are exacerbating existing inequalities in our state as climate change disproportionately impacts people who are already experiencing poverty and disadvantage.  

Climate impacts hit these people first and worse because they experience economic barriers that mean they’re more exposed to climate change through their home, their geographic location, their health or their job.  

The Victorian Climate Change Strategy 2026-30 is an opportunity for the Victorian Government to address this growing inequality by taking transformational approach to climate action. This means investing in systemic changes that address the root causes of vulnerability to climate change, putting equity at the heart of the response. 

This means Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy must include:  

1. A continued focus on mitigation via renewables, electrification, planning and the circular economy 

2. Greater investment into adaptation and disaster resilience, targeted at Victorians who are experiencing the most significant climate impacts  

3. Increased support for community organisations and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) that are already supporting people experiencing disadvantage to reduce emissions and adapt 

• Accountability across the whole of government for climate action and intergenerational equity  

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.

All systems and actors involved in disaster management are motivated by the goal of mitigating harm and building resilience. But to build a more resilient society in which all Victorians can thrive, the way these systems work together matters. 

Community organisations play a key role in collaborations for disaster resilience due to their trusted role in the community.  The community sector provides supports that knit together to form a safety net for Victorians who are most impacted by emergencies. 

In 2024, VCOSS conducted research to capture lessons from disaster resilience collaborations between the community sector, government and emergency management agencies in Victoria, and identify actions to strengthen collaboration. The report showcases six case studies of collaborations across a diversity of geographies, emergencies, and project aims 

The report identifies: 

• Outcomes of collaborations in practice 
• Challenges encountered 
• Four key enablers of collaboration  
• Practices by collaborations that support each enabler 
• Policy recommendations to strengthen each enabler 

The six studies featured in the report include: 

• Climate Partnerships Project, a partnership between Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places, ARC Justice, Eastern Community Legal Centre, and the Federation of Community Legal Centres.  
• Emergency Planning Advice Service, a collaboration between CFA, Australian Red Cross and the Victorian Council of Churches Emergencies Ministry.  
• Gippsland Lakes Complete Health’s recovery casework 
• Mornington Peninsula Resilience, Relief and Recovery Network, convened by Mornington Peninsula Shire.   
• Mount Alexander Connectors program, convened by Mount Alexander Shire Council.   
• Multicultural Community Engagement Network, supported by enliven Victoria (part of Each) 

Work status
Complete

Key contact
Lucy Manne

Partners
Community Connector for Resilience

Joint Submission to the VDO Review 2025-26 Draft Decision

This is a joint submission made by the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Consumer Action Law Centre, Council on the Ageing Victoria, Energy Consumers Australia, Financial Counselling Victoria, and Uniting. 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. 

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. 

Consumer advocates are pleased to see that the ESC’s draft decision on the VDO for 2025-26 keeps electricity costs stable, on average. However, it does represent around 1 per cent average rise across the distribution zones during a cost-of-living crisis.  

While this is a better outcome for Victorian consumers when compared to other jurisdictions, where the Default Market Offer draft price increased between 2.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent, we do stress that consumers are still dealing with very high prices. Electricity prices have been increasing over time since the establishment of the VDO, and especially with the 2023-24 VDO which increased prices 25 per cent. We also note that while the average cost in the 2025-26 draft price is stable, in CitiPower’s distribution zone, consumers will face a rise of up to 5 per cent under the draft decision. 

On a positive note, we acknowledge that the ESC has adjusted the methodology for wholesale load profiles to exclude solar exports. We support this decision. This is in line with the VDO’s role as a consumption price, and the ESC’s remit to set an efficient cost stack. This decision helps contain rises to the VDO price. 

This submission is made at a time when high costs for essential services like electricity are causing severe financial hardship in Victorian communities. For many people supported by the community sector, incomes are simply not sufficient to cover 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.  

The ongoing impact of high energy costs is that tens of thousands of Victorians are in energy debt. Social services report that community demand for assistance is at unprecedented highs. Meanwhile, large energy businesses make record profits. 

In this context, 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 also urge the ESC to undertake deeper analysis of retail behaviours and seek more granular detail of operational costs and, where possible, make that information public. This would provide for greater scrutiny on retailer behaviour and help to address the information asymmetry experienced by consumer advocates representing Victorian households in processes such as the VDO review. 

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 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. 

VCOSS submission to the Building Electrification Regulatory Impact Statement

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) strongly supports getting fossil gas out of homes. Electrification is the best pathway to decarbonising the residential sector, and efficient electric appliances are cheaper to run, healthier, and create fewer emissions. 

Historically, Victorian households were encouraged to connect to gas and use it liberally. Often this abundance led to the use of less efficient appliances, and the building of homes that were extremely energy inefficient – that is, difficult to cool in summer and difficult to heat in winter.  

Depleting gas fields, high demand, policy settings favouring export, and international market forces mean that gas is no longer a cheap source of energy for Victorians. Modern electric appliance technologies such as heat pumps are far more efficient than fossil gas alternatives. They are therefore cheaper to operate, consuming less energy for the same tasks. 

It is now also clear that burning fossil gas is a key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. Meanwhile, our electricity network is increasingly based on renewable energy sources. As such, getting off gas is essential to reaching our net zero targets. 

There is also a growing body of evidence that burning gas in the home is damaging to health, with fugitive (unintentional) emissions linked to increased rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses, especially among children. As much as 12 per cent of all childhood asthma cases in Australia can be attributed to gas cooktops.¹ 

Victoria uses more fossil gas for residential and commercial purposes than other states, accounting for two-thirds of national household and commercial consumption, and three times more than the next highest user, New South Wales. ² In fact, Victoria is the only state where the residential use of gas is higher than industrial usage. Victoria is also the only state where fossil gas usage is higher than electricity usage in the homes.³ 

In this context, VCOSS has long supported the Victorian Government’s policy of gradual household electrification, and reversal of historic policies that encourage new gas connections. 

If planned well, electrification, as with all climate policies, has the potential to address many of the drivers of inequality in our economy, such as the quality and energy efficiency performance of housing. The reverse is also true: a poorly handled transition will entrench and exacerbate existing inequalities.  

Low-income households already spend a disproportionate portion of their income on energy bills. As such, any effort that assists low-income households to electrify their homes will see a significant reduction in bill stress. This is particularly true when costs for all of life’s basics are high, stretching household budgets from all angles.  

The government has a crucial role to play in ensuring all Victorians can access the benefits of electrification, as some households face structural barriers to electrifying their home. This includes the upfront cost of appliances, the potential costs of rewiring homes, differing rights over modifications to properties between owner-occupiers, renters and people in apartments, the costs of goods and services in rural and regional areas, and language and digital barriers. Often those that would benefit the most from electrification are those that face the most challenging barriers. 

These obstacles can be overcome only through government interventions. We cannot leave the energy transition to market forces.  

In this submission, VCOSS details its support for the Victorian Government’s proposed regulatory changes and recommends: 

• The Victorian Government lead the way with social housing retrofits. 

• Support for low-income households to benefit from electrification. 

• Phasing out gas cooktops. 

• Enacting strong enforcement and compliance measures, alongside proactive community outreach. 

• Planning long-term for the eventual end of fossil gas usage in the home. 

Alongside the proposed building electrification requirements discussed here, VCOSS is also a strong supporter of the Victorian Government’s proposed energy efficiency minimum standards for rentals.⁴ Taken together, these policies represent a significant and ambitious step forward in improving the quality, liveability, and affordability of housing in Victoria. 

VCOSS submission to the Building Electrification Regulatory Impact Statement

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) strongly supports getting fossil gas out of homes. Electrification is the best pathway to decarbonising the residential sector, and efficient electric appliances are cheaper to run, healthier, and create fewer emissions.

Historically, Victorian households were encouraged to connect to gas and use it liberally. Often this abundance led to the use of less efficient appliances, and the building of homes that were extremely energy inefficient – that is, difficult to cool in summer and difficult to heat in winter.

Depleting gas fields, high demand, policy settings favouring export, and international market forces mean that gas is no longer a cheap source of energy for Victorians. Modern electric appliance technologies such as heat pumps are far more efficient than fossil gas alternatives. They are therefore cheaper to operate, consuming less energy for the same tasks.

It is now also clear that burning fossil gas is a key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. Meanwhile, our electricity network is increasingly based on renewable energy sources. As such, getting off gas is essential to reaching our net zero targets.

There is also a growing body of evidence that burning gas in the home is damaging to health, with fugitive (unintentional) emissions linked to increased rates of asthma and respiratory illnesses, especially among children. As much as 12 per cent of all childhood asthma cases in Australia can be attributed to gas cooktops.[1]

Victoria uses more fossil gas for residential and commercial purposes than other states, accounting for two-thirds of national household and commercial consumption, and three times more than the next highest user, New South Wales. [2] In fact, Victoria is the only state where the residential use of gas is higher than industrial usage. Victoria is also the only state where fossil gas usage is higher than electricity usage in the homes.[3]

In this context, VCOSS has long supported the Victorian Government’s policy of gradual household electrification, and reversal of historic policies that encourage new gas connections.

If planned well, electrification, as with all climate policies, has the potential to address many of the drivers of inequality in our economy, such as the quality and energy efficiency performance of housing. The reverse is also true: a poorly handled transition will entrench and exacerbate existing inequalities.

Low-income households already spend a disproportionate portion of their income on energy bills. As such, any effort that assists low-income households to electrify their homes will see a significant reduction in bill stress. This is particularly true when costs for all of life’s basics are high, stretching household budgets from all angles.

The government has a crucial role to play in ensuring all Victorians can access the benefits of electrification, as some households face structural barriers to electrifying their home. This includes the upfront cost of appliances, the potential costs of rewiring homes, differing rights over modifications to properties between owner-occupiers, renters and people in apartments, the costs of goods and services in rural and regional areas, and language and digital barriers. Often those that would benefit the most from electrification are those that face the most challenging barriers.

These obstacles can be overcome only through government interventions. We cannot leave the energy transition to market forces.

In this submission, VCOSS details its support for the Victorian Government’s proposed regulatory changes and recommends:

• The Victorian Government lead the way with social housing retrofits.
• Support for low-income households to benefit from electrification.
• Phasing out gas cooktops.
• Enacting strong enforcement and compliance measures, alongside proactive community outreach.
• Planning long-term for the eventual end of fossil gas usage in the home.

Alongside the proposed building electrification requirements discussed here, VCOSS is also a strong supporter of the Victorian Government’s proposed energy efficiency minimum standards for rentals.[4] Taken together, these policies represent a significant and ambitious step forward in improving the quality, liveability, and affordability of housing in Victoria.

[1] Knibbs, L. D., Woldeyohannes, S. Marks, G. B. and Cowie, C.T. (2018), “Damp housing, gas stoves, and the burden of childhood asthma in Australia,” Medical Journal of Australia, 208: 299- 302.

[2] Infrastructure Victoria (2021) Towards 2050: Gas infrastructure in a net zero emissions economy; Department of Transport and Planning (2024) Building Electrification – Regulatory Impact Statement, p32.

[3] Department of Transport and Planning (2024) Building Electrification – Regulatory Impact Statement, p32.

[4] For the minimum standards see: Deloitte Access Economics and Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (2024) Minimum energy efficiency and safety standards for rental homes – Regulatory Impact Statement. For VCOSS’ response to the proposal, see: Victorian Council of Social Service (2024) VCOSS Submission on Energy Efficiency Minimum Standards for Rental Properties and Rooming Houses.

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

This is a joint submission made by VCOSS, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Consumer Action Law Centre, Council of the Ageing Victoria, Energy Consumers Australia, Financial Counselling Victoria, and Uniting.

The Victorian Default Offer (VDO) has provided an important safeguard for consumers that are unable or unwilling to engage with the electricity retail market, and a key benchmark price for market offers. The VDO directly serves around 13 per cent of households and 20 per cent of small businesses, and since September 2020, operates as the maximum price for embedded networks (around 180,000 customers).[1] As the VDO is a benchmark, market offers tend to be priced below it, and so the VDO also indirectly influences the bills paid by all Victorian electricity users.

Broadly speaking, the VDO has been largely successful in its objectives, especially in eliminating unreasonably priced standing offers. The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) strongly supports the continued operation and regular review of the VDO.

Currently however, high costs for essential services like electricity are causing severe hardship among the cohorts that social and community services support. These organisations are experiencing unprecedented demand from Victorian households that are struggling to absorb mounting cost of living pressures.

This is critical context for the ESC’s deliberations. In this submission, we emphasise the need to recentre people in pricing decisions, put less emphasis on retailer profit margins, and more focus on the wellbeing of Victorians experiencing financial pressures limiting their capacity to pay for an essential service.

This is a joint submission made by VCOSS, Brotherhood of St. Laurence, Consumer Action Law Centre, Council of the Ageing Victoria, Energy Consumers Australia, Financial Counselling Victoria, and Uniting. 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.

Submission to the Department of Social Services consultation into General Foundation Supports

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Department of Social Services to inform their design and development of General Foundational Supports for people with Disabilities, their families, carers and kin.  

Our consultation with a wide cross-section of community sector organisations, including (but not limited to) the disability sector, has identified five critical factors for success. These must be in place for General Foundational Supports to succeed where previous attempts to address ‘the missing middle’ have fallen short.  

Key priorities for success 

1. General Foundational Supports must be genuinely accessible through multiple channels – digital solutions alone will exclude many people.  

While digital platforms play an integral role, for many people with a disability they create significant barriers. One organisation serving regional communities reported over 200 calls monthly to their intake team, highlighting that many people cannot or will not use digital channels to access information and advice. The assumption that digital solutions are universally accessible is false. 

2. Local, place-based approaches are essential – centralised, one-size-fits-all systems have consistently failed to meet community needs.  

When information about available services is generic it proves to be consistently inadequate, particularly in rural and regional areas where service availability can vary between locations. These communities need:   

• Accurate, up-to-date details about local services.  

• Real-time information about waiting times and eligibility.  

• Clear understanding of access requirements and costs.  

• Local knowledge about what really works. 

General supports will fail if people cannot access them in ways that work for their circumstances. Current systems often exclude the people who need them most.   

3. Integration with existing services is critical – creating new, separate systems will create additional barriers.  

Creating additional layers of bureaucracy for people with disability to navigate is counterproductive and burdensome. Instead, General Foundational Supports must enhance touchpoints including:   

• Maternal health services. 

• General practitioners. 

• Community health centres. 

• Local disability advocacy organisations. 

• Existing community networks.  

People most often seek information from trusted sources they already know. To build new or separate systems ignores this reality and risks creating additional barriers.     

4. Proper resourcing is non-negotiable – underfunding will guarantee failure.  

5. Communities must have ownership – successful implementation requires genuine co-design and local leadership.  

Financial counsellors are a fundamental safeguard to stop people slipping into crisis, and to support and advocate on behalf of those who are experiencing financial crises. 

However, financial counselling services are currently in high and increasing demand, placing severe pressure on the sector. This means that wait times are lengthening and often crisis support is the best that can be offered to clients. The opportunity for best-practice early intervention is constrained by the resources available to funded services. 

Demand is being driven by what is popularly termed a “cost-of-living crisis,” but is in fact worsening long-running structural inequalities in our economy. The impacts of high housing costs, expensive utilities, and inflation in the costs of everyday essentials have been exacerbated by opportunistic market actors who engage in risky lending and price gouging.  

The result is that not only are low-income households presenting for help to financial counselling services, but so too are middle income and dual-income households. Servicing these client cohorts is a distinct change for funded services. The other significant change is that clients are also presenting with more complex financial stresses.

Cumulatively, these pressures place increased demand on the whole community sector, not just financial counsellors, and constrain the whole sector’s capacity to collaborate – impacting even the ability to make a referral to another service.  

The Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Financial Counselling Services Review Discussion Paper (the Discussion Paper) lays out these challenges facing the sector well. The Discussion Paper also comprehensively explains the shortcomings of current funding models for the sector, and the risks these factors collectively pose for worker wellbeing and workforce sustainability.  

As the peak body for the Victorian social and community sector, the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) consulted with our members to provide feedback on the Discussion Paper to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV). 

VCOSS member organisation Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic) is the peak body and professional association for Victoria’s financial counsellors. FCVic has also made a submission to this review, based on extensive consultation with their members. Their consultation has helped inform VCOSS’ submission, and VCOSS endorses the recommendations made in FCVic’s submission to Consumer Affairs Victoria. 

Household energy is an essential service that Victorians on low incomes struggle to afford, and because of high energy costs, many are accruing unmanageable amounts of debt.

The average energy arrears for customers who cannot pay for their ongoing usage when entering tailored assistance from their retailer is currently $1,145 for electricity, and $1,003 for gas. VCOSS understands from our members that cases of debts above $10,000 are often observed by energy support services. Consumer Action Law Centre recorded a debt of $34,102 for one energy contact to the National Debt Helpline in 2023.

These impacts are compounded by retailer practice. Community sector consumer advocates observe that retailers often fail to deliver adequate assistance to customers in payment difficulty. A primary concern raised by VCOSS members is that retailers do not adequately support people onto cheaper energy offers or check for and apply eligible concessions.

In this context, VCOSS welcomes the ESC’s proposed reform objectives for this phase of the Energy Retail Code of Practice (ERCOP) review – Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council reforms. We are particularly pleased that the ESC has heard advocates’ calls to consider ways to require retailers to lower the ongoing cost of energy for households struggling with bills, and to explore options for automating some elements of this process.

Our submission has been written with input and support from VCOSS member organisations in the community sector, and from other energy consumer advocates.

VCOSS welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the proposed anti-vilification protections for all Victorians.  

As the peak body for social and community services in Victoria, and as an advocate for a sustainable, fair and equitable society, VCOSS is supportive of Victoria’s anti-vilification laws being strengthened to provide greater protections for more Victorians. 

Vilification, also known as hate speech or conduct, undermines Victoria’s social cohesion. It can also cause great harm to individuals’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.  Ensuring every Victorian can fully participate in society relies on individuals having equal rights, protections and opportunities. 

This submission: 

• Outlines our support for anti-vilification laws to be extended to protect more people.  
• Urges some caution in regard to strengthening criminal offences. It is important that the proposed reforms mitigate against any risk of increasing criminalisation of the cohorts of Victorians that the reforms are designed to protect.  For example, the Federation of Community Legal Centres notes in their submission that community legal centres have expressed concern over anti-vilification laws being inadvertently used to silence legitimate public protests in breach of rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. 
• Welcomes the Victorian Government’s commitment to improving research and data collection and delivering education programs and community awareness campaigns. Changing the law is only one part of the solution, and we welcome additional initiatives that will help strengthen the community, drive behaviour change and ensure that everyone can fully participate in society.   

VCOSS submission to Plan For Victoria

Victoria desperately needs more homes.

The Victorian Government has already set a bold target of building at least 800,000 new homes over the next decade. This level of ambition is required to make housing more available and affordable for every Victorian.

VCOSS is a strong supporter of this planned turbocharging of housing supply.

But how we deliver housing matters.

The Victorian Government’s Housing Statement wisely proposed a refresh of our entire planning system

Planning is a powerful tool. It’s much more than a set of rules determining how things are built. Planning is a process to decide what we value and the kind of society we wish to live in.

Plan for Victoria is a rare opportunity to reshape and reimagine Victorian communities.

We must rise to this challenge with audacity, clarity and intent.

Plan for Victoria must be a plan to deliver more liveable, resilient and thriving communities for future generations.

Throughout this submission VCOSS seeks to:

• Make practical recommendations to support Victoria to meet its ambitious housing target.
• Identify opportunities to make all communities sustainable, liveable and well-connected.
• Share a positive vision for how planning can be a tool for distributive justice and social change.
• Assist government to identify and avoid the negative consequences of poor planning.

So the Victorian Government can be supported in its decision-making, VCOSS wishes to present the urgent need for more housing within the context of broader trends and imperatives. These include:

1. Growing inequality, rising homelessness and soaring rents
2. The absolute need to be sustainable and climate-resilient
3. A recognition that all planning takes place on Aboriginal land.

We propose specific recommendations in the areas of wellbeing, housing, care for County, climate and thriving communities.

Building 800,000 new homes requires a whole-of-community effort, including developers, councils and local residents.

To drive this effort the Victorian Government must lead with action. As such, a central plank of this approach must be the Victorian Government directly creating more public and community housing – beyond current commitments. Plan for Victoria should include a target of building 332,100 additional units of social housing by 2051 (representing 13.5 per cent of Plan for Victoria overall target for new homes).

Let’s build the future we want.

Talking to the community

VCOSS convened three face-to-face community consultation sessions about Plan for Victoria, in Sunbury, Benalla and Maryborough.

Submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Food Security

Food insecurity affects around 16 – 22 per cent of Australian children and 25 – 40 per cent of university students. Poverty is the primary driver of food insecurity, with more than 215,000 Victorian children (17.6 per cent) living in poverty. The current cost of living crisis is exacerbating this issue, affecting previously food-secure families.

The impacts of food insecurity are far-reaching. This submission shines a light on the interconnected nature of food insecurity, poverty, and educational outcomes. It identifies solutions that – if adopted – would ensure that all children and young people have the nutritional foundation needed to thrive in Victoria, ‘The Education State’.
We have focused on these intersections because: