How is HOUSING a Council issue?
Access to adequate, affordable, secure long-term housing is the foundation of a strong and thriving Community.
#1 - A Council’s role is to act for the benefit and wellbeing of the community.
Housing is the foundation of every community. In Hume, access to appropriate, affordable, secure and long term housing has become a major challenge. Housing stress is a major contributor to reduced wellbeing for residents, with housing costs leaving little left for basic necessities like food, clothing and medical care. With some of the highest levels of housing stress coupled with the highest poverty rate in Victoria[1], urgent action is needed at all levels of government to keep a roof over our heads.
The Local Government Act (2020)[2] states that “The role of a Council is to provide good governance in its municipal district for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community”, and “..a Council has the power to do all things necessary or convenient to be done in connection with the performance of its role”. With the pain of the cost of living and housing crises hitting us hard, it is within Council’s duty to be actively involved in protecting our community from harm.
Hume City Council “has an ethical duty and a legal obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil the human rights of our residents, and to hold ourselves accountable for human rights outcomes” under Hume’s Social Justice Charter[3]. Section 5 of the Victorian Government’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities (2006)[4] provides for our human rights to be inclusive of rights given under international law, including the right to housing as specified in the International Declaration of Human Rights (1948)[5] and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)[6].
Councils are also the Authority for local town planning. This means that Councils have the ability to prioritise land for the purpose of meeting the community’s housing needs. Hume City Council have made a start to addressing housing affordability through their Affordable Housing Policy (2021)[7], however the policy needs to be strengthened by measuring and setting targets for public and affordable housing.
It is Hume City Council’s ethical and legal duty to play an active part in making sure that our community has accessible, affordable and secure housing.
#2 - Council has the resources and relationships to advocate and coordinate local action.
Councils have benefited most from the explosion in house values over the last decade, as rising valuations push up a property’s yearly Council rates. With an absence of debt and the site of booming new suburbs, Hume City Council has accumulated some serious wealth. The Commonwealth Government and Victorian Government have both committed funding to address the housing crisis, with programs and projects underway across the country. Now is a once in a generation opportunity for Councils to play a major role in utilising their relationships with Federal and State Governments to advocate, collaborate and secure funding for critical local housing projects.
As the level of government closest to our community, Councils have the community networks to find where needs are greatest, and collaborate with local organisations to develop and deliver solutions. With so many people in need of affordable housing in Hume, one level of government or one organisation will never be able to meet the need alone. We must work together if we’re going to make a difference.
That’s why I want to establish a Hume community led housing program - to bring together all of the pieces of the housing puzzle and coordinate our efforts to improve our community’s access to suitable housing.
#3 - Community Housing helps lift people out of poverty
Accessible housing isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ - it’s a practical investment in our community’s future. There is always going to be a need for public and community housing, and waiting lists have been growing year on year for decades. In the poverty statistics, public housing tenants are significantly less likely to be living in poverty due to the rent control that accompanies their tenancy. It's a highly effective anti-poverty tool.
Poverty harms our community. People surviving in deprivation have poorer health and mental health outcomes, are more likely to be socially isolated and excluded from community life. A Council’s role in protecting human rights and benefiting community wellbeing is incompatible with the levels of poverty that we are seeing. Hume City Council must take a more active role in securing more public and community housing to start lifting our community out of poverty, or commit to more and more people living on our streets and in our parks.
#4 - It’s an investment in our Community’s future
Meeting our local housing deficit is no small task - it is going to take decades of significant and coordinated effort to meet our community’s needs, and people can’t afford to wait. We need to pursue every option to deliver what’s needed, and where gaps emerge, Council could invest directly to meet that need. Hume Council has the wealth and duty to invest where it’s needed most. Just like a library, community centre, or sports pavilion, community housing is an infrastructure investment that directly supports our community, and if done right can be a purposeful, financially viable investment in our community’s wellbeing, now and into the future.
References
[1] VCOSS (2023), Cost of Living Poverty Maps
https://vcoss.org.au/cost-of-living/2023/08/povertymaps/
[2] Victorian Local Government Act (2020)
https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/local-government-act-2020/019
[3] Hume City Council Social Justice Charter (2021)
[4] Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006
[5] International Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
[6] International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
[7] Hume City Council Affordable Housing Policy (2021)