HOUSING shortages and subsequent increased homelessness, floods, fires, the COVID pandemic and inflation are making for tough times in Gippsland.
At a forum hosted by Catholic Social Services Victoria (CSSV) at St Mary’s parish centre in Bairnsdale on September 29, more than 30 locals attended to hear from members of parliament and experts working in social services and discuss what is important to them before the Victorian election on November 26.
The forum, Regional Matters, was the first of three in Victoria organised by CSSV, the peak body that represents 43 social services organisations across the state.
Guest speakers at the forum included Cath McMahon, retiring president of the St Vincent de Paul Society Bairnsdale Conference; Cherie Draper, a microenterprise coach with Good Shepherd Australia-New Zealand; Anne-Maree Kaser chief executive of Gippsland Lakes Complete Health; Tim Bull East Gippsland MP and; Tom McIntosh MLC, representative for eastern Victoria.
Members of the East Gippsland Shire Council were invited to join the panel, however, both the mayor and deputy mayor apologised for not attending.
Joshua Lourensz, CSSV executive director, said the forums were about “teasing out the issues and listening to the community” in order to “work to address challenges while being informed of the great work already happening by people”.
He referred to the ‘Dropping off the Edge’ (2021) research released by Jesuit Social Services together with their Centre for Just Places, which shows that complex and entrenched disadvantage is experienced by a small but persistent number of locations in each state and territory across Australia, including parts of Gippsland.
Anne-Maree Kaser said she struggled to find accommodation when starting her new job.
“In my first four months of this role I stayed in hotels and serviced apartments, and only secured a place through a personal connection. I now pay $600 per week,” she said.
Cath McMahon said the local Vinnies, which receives no government funding (rather relying on donations and revenue from its opportunity shops), covers halfway between Bairnsdale and Sale to the NSW border and sometimes beyond.
“In a nutshell, our community is in crisis,” she said.
“By far the greatest issue for us at the moment is the housing crisis and subsequent homelessness.
“From January 1 2022 until September 28 2022 we have interviewed 173 homeless people (112 men and 61 women).
“Of those, we have had 27 later return for more assistance as they were still homeless and in our area. And these statistics don’t reflect the other agencies in town assisting the homeless, so the overall statistics would be much higher,” she said.
“I have been blown away by the increase in homeless people knocking on our door.
“We have a beautiful new assistance centre at 92 Macleod Street.
“Yes, we can provide food, clothing, shower and laundry facilities and a multitude of other assistance, but with all our best attempts we cannot provide what they really need – a roof over their heads.
“All we can do is support them in their homelessness,” she said.
Tom McIntosh, who grew up in Victoria’s western Mallee region, was keen to do “more listening than talking” at the forum, he said.
He said the further people were from Melbourne, the bigger the disadvantage.
“Activism and social justice have always been a part of my family,” he said.
“The best of the Catholic Church does incredible things supporting people and families,” he said.
“The word that has crystallised everything for me is ‘equality’ – everything we look at, we need to ask, ‘what is this doing to improve equality?’”
Questions and discussion among those who attended focused on the critical housing shortage, and what can be done to address the immediate needs of those who are homeless.
There was also discussion about ageing volunteers, who fear they can’t continue to provide the same level of support to the community in coming years.
In addressing these issues, Tim Bull said availability and affordability were intimately connected.
“Council is struggling to get through subdivision and planning approvals. The state government could assist with a fast-track process.
“It’s not an overnight fix, but it will assist in supply,” Mr Bull said.
“East Gippsland has had the perfect storm – long drought, bushfires and COVID.”
Mr Bull said other contributing factors to homelessness were the fires – 400 houses had been burned down, so many locals were occupying rentals, and during the COVID lockdowns Melbourne residents bought homes or took rentals to avoid city lockdowns.
“I’ll give credit to the Labor government for investing $5.3 billion in building new homes. But there are 50,000 people on the public housing waiting list and this is growing,” Mr Bull said.
There was consensus in the room that the issues needed to be worked on together, with local, state, and federal government input, and from both government-funded organisations and others.
