Victorian Government Takes 1st Step Towards Redeveloping 44 Public Housing Towers

Victoria’s housing minister says the state will power ahead with plans to build bigger, better social housing towers.

An aerial view of the public housing towers on Racecourse Road, North Melbourne, in Australia on Aug. 26, 2020. Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

A Victorian government scheme to retire or redevelop 44 public housing towers in Melbourne by 2050 has edged a step closer.

The plan, which was first announced by former Premier Daniel Andrews last year, was met with resistance by residents in those towers, the majority of whom joined a class action against the move.

In a joint statement released on Nov. 28, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Housing Harriet Shing offered a glimpse at what the first development would look like in Carlton.

They also said the redevelopment of the 1960s properties would add hundreds of extra social homes with improved facilities, such as individual laundries.

Some apartments will include four or five bedrooms to accommodate larger families, and the new homes will also be more energy efficient and incorporate improved accessibility.

“I want families to have decent homes because I want kids to have decent lives. Every Victorian deserves a home near the people they love, close to transport, jobs and services,” Allan said.

Shing said the government would stand by its plan to provide modernised social housing for residents.

“The (existing) towers no longer meet modern standards of living—particularly for families with kids, and Victorians living with a disability,” she said.

“And so while others try to block, we’ll continue to build more homes across Victoria that are bright, modern, secure, connected, and accessible.”

Public housing is seen in Ascot Vale in Melbourne, Australia on Aug. 26, 2020. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Class Action Details

Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) launched a class action lawsuit against the state government in January, claiming the decision to demolish the city’s social housing towers was unlawful.

IMCL CEO Elisa Buggy said the way the Victorian government had handled the decision was incompatible with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic).

“Public housing residents have human rights, too—the right to live free from arbitrary or unlawful interference with home and with family, the right to have families protected, the right to have the best interests of children be protected, property rights, and the right to security,” she said in a statement earlier this year.

Buggy said she was confused by the government’s decision to demolish the homes of more than 10,000 people during a housing crisis.

In a more recent statement issued on Oct. 30, IMCL announced the class action had been adjourned because “Homes Victoria does not want to produce a Cabinet submission that could explain the reasons behind Home Victoria’s decision to demolish all public housing towers in September 2023.”

Residents will likely have to wait until next year for an outcome.

According to IMCL, only five of the 489 affected households decided against being included in the class action.