Victorians escaping family violence are now waiting a year-and-half on the public housing waiting list, after average times blew out by a further six months.
While the government has embarked on a major social housing construction program, advocates say they are gravely concerned by new figures showing waiting times are still going backwards for the most vulnerable people in the state.
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing’s latest annual report revealed Victoria missed its targets for priority housing applicants by a significant margin.
It aimed to have priority applicants – who are facing domestic violence, already homeless, or need to move for health reasons – housed within 10.5 months.
Instead, family violence priority applicants waited an average of 17.1 months in 2021-22, up from 11.1 months in 2020-21.
Among all those on the priority list, the average waiting time was 15.2 months in 2021-22, an increase from 12.4 months.
The department blamed the result on “a decrease in tenants moving out of public housing which has provided fewer opportunities to allocate properties to people on the register”.
In the case of family violence victim-survivors, it noted there was increased demand.
Tania Farha, the chief executive of the Victorian family violence services peak body Safe and Equal, said she was “gravely concerned”.
“The consequences of this is that victim-survivors are being forced to make an impossible choice between being homeless and violence,” she said.
“Because you either leave the abuse of the perpetrator and face homelessness, or you keep a roof over your head in an abusive home.”
The report showed Victoria also failed to meet its target for total social housing stock, the term that describes public housing and homes run by nonprofits.
There was an overall net increase of 858 homes to 85,969 at 30 June 2022, with the number of new builds and spot purchases outstripping sales and demolitions.
The new data reflects the first year of the Andrews government’s new social housing construction scheme, known as the “Big Housing Build”.
Most of the proposed 12,000 affordable homes are meant to be completed in the next three years.
About 1,000 of the 9,000 social housing properties to be built under the “Big Housing Build” will be allocated to family violence victim-survivors.
It comes as a report released on Friday by the Productivity Commission found the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which governs funding agreements between the commonwealth and the states, was ineffective.
National data shows most states except New South Wales made little progress on social housing stock over the past decade, but Victoria has been one of the worst performers.
Jenny Smith, the chief executive at the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP), said the ballooning waiting times showed the consequences of an “intermittent, stop-start approach to developing social housing”.
She said the new investment had the effect of temporarily reducing social housing stock as properties were redeveloped and residents were moved into other public housing properties.
At the same time, the rental crisis meant people already in social housing were reluctant to move into the private market, which further reduced vacancies, she said.
The “Big Housing Build” scheme was welcome, but it was insufficient and only temporary, Smith said.
Smith said Victoria needed to build 6,000 social housing properties a year to meet demand.
Fiona York, executive officer of the Housing for the Aged Action Group, said the benefits of the “Big Housing Build” were yet to be realised, and even if they were, it would not be enough to meet demand.
York said many older Victorians had few affordable housing options.
“People in their 70s, 80s and 90s [are] calling us having received a notice to vacate, and they have 60 days to find somewhere else,” she said.
She said some older women were reluctant to front up at the emergency homelessness services, so “when they’re calling us they’ve often already exhausted all of their resources”.
“They’re either sleeping in their car or on the verge of having to do something like that,” she said.
York said the longer wait for priority applicants meant others who’d already waited several years had little chance of ever getting a social housing property.
There were about 55,000 households on the social housing waiting list in March.
Katelyn Butterss, the chief executive of the Victorian Public Tenants Association, said last year was the first in which more people had called the organisation’s helpline asking to be on the waiting list rather than for housing maintenance.
A Victorian government spokesperson said the $5.3bn “Big Housing Build” was the “largest single investment in social and affordable housing in any state or territory’s history”.
“Victoria is also leading the nation with our work to end all forms of family violence, backed by more than $3.7bn invested since our landmark royal commission,” the spokesperson said.
“We’re acquiring more social housing dwellings, including 309 new homes to be built in areas where they are needed most, supporting women and children experiencing family violence.”
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
