Submissions Library

The Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum  comprises thirty-eight Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, Traditional Owner groups and Aboriginal Trusts who are either delivering housing and homelessness services in Victoria or who are interested in becoming registered housing providers.

This submission looks at: how to arrest the crisis; how the housing system can support and strengthen community and culture; and preparing for treaty.

Denise Sweet is a Bundjalung Gumbaynggirr woman currently on Wergaia country.

This submission is a transcript of Denise Sweet recounting her family’s experiences of injustice since colonisation.

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation with 50 years of experience providing culturally safe legal and community justice services to First Peoples across Victoria.

This submission looks at: governance, oversight and accountability; Aboriginal housing and homelessness; overarching issues impacting culturally safe, adequate and secure housing for Aboriginal peoples; positive approaches demonstrating good practice, innovative approaches to improve housing and homelessness experiences; and a self-determined approach to addressing housing and homelessness.

The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria is the independent and democratically elected body that represents First Peoples in Victoria in the state’s Treaty process.

This submission:

• provides an overview of the Assembly and the Treaty process
• outlines the inherent rights of First Peoples
• acknowledges the important role of knowledge holders
• identifies the structural reform that is needed through Treaty
• addresses reforms in the education system
• addresses reforms in the health system
• addresses reforms in the housing and homelessness system

Council to Homeless Persons is the peak body representing organisations and individuals in Victoria with a commitment to ending homelessness.

This submission provides data on the higher rates of homelessness among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and advocates for a strong and well-resourced Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations that are empowered to develop and deliver unique, responsive solutions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples without a home.

The Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) is the Peak voice for Aboriginal children in Victoria.

This submission takes a right-based approach centred in Aboriginal self-determination and makes recommendations for reforms and investment to respond to the current and historical housing and homelessness crisis.

The Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) is the Peak voice for Aboriginal children in Victoria.

This submission looks at: Aboriginal family violence in Victoria; the Victorian Government’s family violence reform agenda; the child protection system’s response to family violence; family violence service delivery; policing and legislative responses to family violence; MARAM and VACCA’s leadership in embedding a cultural lens; consistency across jurisdictions; the implementation of international treaties and declarations; the intersection of family violence and homelessness; and reform priorities.

Smart Justice for Women is a coalition of nearly 40 organisations from the legal assistance sector, Aboriginal  Community Controlled organisations, community services sector and academia who are working together to end the criminalisation of women in Victoria.

This submission highlights the link between housing instability and criminalisation for First Nations women, in particular those who are victim survivors of family violence. It also sets out key principles that should guide the development of housing policy to address the unacceptably high rates of homelessness and housing instability for First Nations women who have had contact with the criminal legal system.

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) is the peak body for Aboriginal health and wellbeing in Victoria, with 33 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations as Members. VACCHO Members support over 25,000 Aboriginal people in Victoria, and combined are the largest employers of Aboriginal people in the state.

This submission shows how colonisation and discriminatory government policies and systems caused substantial harm and that there is a clear line from that harm to the poorer health and wellbeing outcomes of Aboriginal people living in Victoria today. It also shows how current policies are still contributing to poorer health and wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria, and preventing Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations from serving Community to the fullest. It also makes recommendations to transform systems.

The Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic) is the peak body that represents the not-for-profit community housing sector in Victoria.

This submission provides a brief overview of Victoria’s current social housing system and the specific needs of Aboriginal Victorians for social housing. It outlines two areas where urgent action is needed to build the scale and impact of social housing for Aboriginal Victorians:

• The development of a long-term strategy for growing the supply of social housing for Aboriginal Victorians.
• Ensuring access to appropriate and culturally safe supports.

And it identifies opportunities for government to improve access to affordable rental and homeownership for Aboriginal Victorians.