Everyone should have a safe place to call home.

Yet here in Victoria, more than 100,000 people are waiting for public housing. Many have been waiting more than 10 years. Thanks to the government’s neglect, on any given night almost 25,000 Victorians are homeless. In the last 20 years, Victoria’s population grew by 1.46 million, but only an extra 89 public housing properties were built.

‘In my 15 years as a social worker, and my work as a volunteer for a local soup van, I met with many community members experiencing homelessness. I’ve heard their stories and I know the long-term impacts that homelessness can have on people.’

Ever since I was elected, I’ve used my position in Parliament to call for solutions to homelessness – urgently.

I’ve introduced legislation that would force the government to acknowledge housing as a human right and accept the responsibility to end homelessness by 2030.

During the peak of the COVID crisis the Greens pressure led the government to announce a commitment to build 9300 social homes and 2900 low-cost homes. While a welcome step forward, what we also really need is year on year investment to build public homes.

The Greens and I have called on the Victorian Labor Government to invest in a big build of public housing – enough to meet demand so that we don’t have thousands of people on years-long waiting lists. 

I will keep fighting to end homelessness in Victoria. Everyone in our community should have a safe place to call home. Please join me to help push the Victorian Government further and faster on homelessness.