By Casey Neill
A support service for rooming house residents is safe following a State Government back-flip.
The Journal reported last week that funding to the Peninsula Community Legal Centre (PCLC) Rooming House Outreach Program ended on 30 June.
PCLC CEO Jackie Galoway said the cut would leave boarders in Greater Dandenong’s 100-plus illegal rooming houses more vulnerable.
There are also 87 registered rooming houses in the municipality.
The State Government initially said that the funding wasn’t being cut, just being redirected into a more comprehensive system.
But on Monday it confirmed that the Tenants Union of Victoria and PCLC would share $500,000 to partner with support agencies and continue the program for at least two years.
“The government has extended this funding to help tenants in private rooming houses find and sustain long-term housing,” a spokesman said.
The Rooming House Outreach Program is the only dedicated tenancy support program that went into illegal homes to provide advice and support to residents.
It helps to identify where illegal rooming houses were and systematically reported illegal operators to bring dodgy properties into the legal registration system.
Tenants Union of Victoria CEO Mark O’Brien said the Rooming House Outreach Program had a proud 12-year history and supported more than 1200 Victorians over the past year alone.
He said about half of those supported were identified as vulnerable through having children, mental illness, disability, family violence or other health issues.
More than 65 per cent were referred to housing and health services they would otherwise have missed out on.
“This program punches above its weight in terms of housing and other outcomes for individuals and it plays a vital role in identifying and reporting illegal rooming house operators,” he said.
“This type of program offers our community significant benefits, particularly given the proliferation of private rooming houses, and should be considered for expansion in the next state budget.”
Mr O’Brien said the decision also meant the Tenants Union was well-placed to continue a strong partnership with regulators to make sure a new licensing scheme, including Victoria’s first ‘fit and proper person test’ for rooming house operators, was a success.
“We want to be partners in shutting down the slumlords and turning Victoria’s private rooming house sector into a place where people can find safe, secure and affordable housing,” he said.
