BRUMBY IGNORES ROOMING HOUSES
9th December 2008
State Liberal MP Nick Wakeling and Shadow Minister for Housing Wendy Lovell today condemned the Brumby Labor Government for failing to take action to protect members of the community by tightening restrictions on rooming and boarding houses.
"We were promised action on this very important issue, yet once again the Brumby Government has failed to deliver" State Member for Ferntree Gully Nick Wakeling said.
"This is an issue which we have been pushing for years. The Brumby Labor Government effectively flagged its intention to amend legislation in its ‘Annual statement of government intentions'[1] but they have failed to deliver protection for some of the most vulnerable in our society" Mr Wakeling said.
"Earlier this year the Premier himself gave a commitment in Parliament that during 2008 "residential tenancies legislation will also be improved to protect residents of rooming houses", a commitment that has obviously been broken.
"Some of the most disadvantaged people in my area remain unprotected and in untenable circumstances" Mr Wakeling said.
"Moreover, current Planning legislation on boarding houses only covers residencies with more than ten habitable rooms meaning that there are no restrictions on where these smaller boarding and rooming houses are established," Mr Wakeling said.
Deputy leader of the Liberal Party (Legislative Council) and Shadow Minister for Housing Wendy Lovell was in the electorate today to discuss the problem with Mr Wakeling and view some of the contentious boarding houses.
"There is a gap in legislation which effectively means that some of the most vulnerable members of society are unprotected" Ms Lovell said.
The Residential Tenancies Act defines a rooming house as a building which has at least one room available for rent and the total number of people who may occupy those rooms is four or more. In contrast to this, Section 5 of the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations only includes premises where more than five people, other than the family, occupy the premises.
Under the Health (Prescribed Accommodation) Regulations a rooming house where six or more people (other than the family) are accommodated, must register with the local council and are subject to inspections.
"The different legislation and regulations in regards to rooming houses is a shambles.
"There is no continuity in the assorted legislation, there is no legislation which protects residents in rooming houses with less than six residents and there are no planning restrictions on buildings with ten or less habitable rooms.
"The Government was warned of these discrepancies in the Residential Accommodation Issues Paper which was released in July 2007 however over 16 months later the Brumby Labor Government has failed to align these laws and protect rooming house residents and local communities" Ms Lovell stated.
Mr Wakeling said that the Government had misled his community.
"The community of Ferntree Gully was under the impression that the Brumby Labor Government had committed to taking action on this very important issue, but as the political year draws to a close they have done nothing to protect our community" Mr Wakeling said.[1]Delivering for Victoria, Annual statement of Government intentions, February 2008
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Nick Wakeling MLA
State Member for Ferntree Gully
Unit 4, 91 Dorset Road,
Ferntree Gully 3156
Phone: (61) 3 9758 6011
Fax: (61) 3 9758 8053
Email: nick.wakeling@parliament...