Max Hatzoglou
Homelessness is becoming an increasingly concerning issue in Brimbank as numbers continue to rise, prompting calls for a community board to be created to tackle the issue.
A draft report into homelessness by Brimbank council says the city has the highest number of people in Victoria accessing homelessness services at 5033, while the 2016 Census found that 1460 people were experiencing homelessness in Brimbank, an increase of 30 per cent from the 2011 Census.
The council data from 2018-19 was brought to light during this week’s council meeting as councillors mentioned that homelessness was more visible in the community and getting worse.
The report also stated that research commissioned by council in 2020 revealed a shortfall of more than 4000 social and affordable housing dwellings in Brimbank.
The research said if no action is taken, the shortfall in social and affordable housing could increase to more than 5000 by 2041.
“I am such a big supporter of dense housing because according to that statement of intent we don’t have the 4000 homes that we need,” councillor Sarah Branton said.
“We only get that by adding bit by bit and we will have homes for people.
“You can’t do anything unless you have got a home. You can’t get a job if you don’t have a home, it’s impossible so I really support it.”
Cr Bruce Lancashire said he believed the number of homeless people had surged since 2016. He said a community board could help oversee the development of affordable and social housing in the municipality.
“I recall four, five years ago I was aware that there was homelessness in Brimbank but didn’t really see much of it, well back then hardly any of it,” Cr Lancashire said.
“Over this time we have all increasingly seen a more obvious exposure of it on the streets and shockingly a few weeks back, I’m riding around my estate and passed by a lady sleeping rough on a vacant block.
“It truly has become a huge issue.
“It’s not just people sleeping rough in cars but to sleep rough on the grass in a vacant block truly shocked me.
“I think we have all become convinced of the scale of this problem and the need to do things.
The federal government allocated $419 million to Victoria in 2021-22 under the National Affordable Housing and Homelessness Agreement.
The state government allocates the funding across about 64,000 public housing properties in the state, including about 1400 in Brimbank.
