Australian state of Victoria facing growing housing crisis: Report

Sydney, Oct 1 (IANS) The Australian state of Victoria is facing a growing housing crisis, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The report, which was published by an NGO, the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP), found that 66,117 people were on the waitlist for government-supported social housing in Victoria as of March 2025, an increase of 7.4 per cent from 2024.

It said that Victoria's proportion of social housing, which is reserved for people who cannot afford housing in the general market, is 3 per cent -- the lowest in any of Australia's eight states and territories.

Over 13,000 people in Victoria every month seek support from homelessness services due to family violence, the report said, adding that more than 10,000 each month access homelessness support services because of housing affordability stress.

The report said that 33,467 Victorians were receiving support from specialist homelessness services in June, an increase of 9.7 per cent since July 2017.

Victoria is Australia's second-largest state by population, with 7.05 million residents -- 25.6 per cent of the national population -- as of March, reports Xinhua news agency

The CHP report made three key recommendations, calling for the state government to build at least 4,000 new social homes every year, increase investment in homelessness prevention and boost funding for crisis accommodation and homelessness services.

"Every day in Victoria, tens of thousands of people are forced into impossible choices between paying rent, escaping violence or facing homelessness," Deborah Di Natale, chief executive officer of the CHP, said in a media release.

According to the report, Victoria accounts for more than one-third of all Australians who access specialist homelessness services because of housing affordability stress, but the state government's investment in housing and homelessness services is below the national average.

--IANS

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