Brimbank residents with a disability are celebrating after the state government scrapped a planned 50 per cent rise in rent for people living in supported accommodation.
The decision followed class action by thousands of Victorians with disabilities.
Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service represented more than 2000 residents at an initial hearing last week and was given the green light to begin legal action on September 13 to demand the government reverse its decision to increase board and lodging fees to levels that threatened to eat up 75 per cent of the disability pension.
The government backed down after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) said each resident would have to present their case individually.
Roslyn Fitton, whose son, Michael, has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability and lives in supported accommodation in Deer Park, welcomed the decision.
She told the Weekly she feared her son’s active social life would have changed drastically with less money.
“The past few weeks have been hard. I’ve been stressed and sick myself; it gets to you,” she said.
The government said the higher fees would have put Victoria on par with other states. It said the changes would have saved $44 million over four years and funnelled more money into support packages for people with disabilities waiting for accommodation.
“The government remains concerned that the current fee structure is unfair, inequitable and lacks transparency for people with a disability,” a spokesman for Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge said.
Kevin Stone, chief executive of the Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability, said the planned hike was “grossly unfair, deeply unjust and poorly constructed”.
“This is a victory for people with disabilities and their families,” he said.
