Push for social housing
A POWERFUL coalition of family violence and homelessness support services warns women and children are at risk because the Andrews Government is failing to deliver enough social housing.
Domestic Violence Victoria, the Salvation Army and the Council to Homeless Persons are among dozens of groups demanding the Government boosts housing supply to meet the recommendations of the family violence royal commission from four years ago.
Government data crunched by the Council to Homeless Persons shows more family violence victims are falling into homelessness today than before the royal commission.
In 2016, 9259 adults and children became homeless after fleeing family violence, and 59 per cent remained homeless even after contacting support services. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows 11,565 people in a similar situation sought help last year, and 62 per cent remained homeless.
In an open letter to the Government the support services say this is because of the inadequate supply of social housing, which is creating “blockages in and out of family violence refuges and crisis accommodation”.
“The reality is that women and children are still fleeing family violence into homelessness, and that this homelessness is less able to be resolved in 2019 than it was in 2016,” they say. “We know that women and children remain in violent homes because they do not have a safe place to go.”
A Government spokeswoman said finding new housing was vital to helping Victorians escaping family violence. “Which is why they are one of the key groups prioritised for placements into social housing,” she said.
THE first local hooded plover has fledged for the 2019/20 nesting season — marking a “very rare” moment for the species.
The ‘hoodie’ chick made its first flight at Whites Beach in Torquay earlier this month.
Hooded plovers have a 2.5 per cent chance of survival, with only 12 chicks surviving across the Surf Coast since 2010, according to the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee.
GORCC conservation supervisor Evan Francis said it felt “hugely satisfying” to see the latest chick fledge.
“It’s rewarding; it’s hard to not get attached when you’re out there every second day, you get invested,” Mr Francis said.
The shore-nesting birds have one of the lowest survival rates of any species due to challenges including high tides, predators and disturbances from humans and dogs.
GORCC recently implemented temporary exclusion zones to help protect the birds and alert the public to nest sites.
From the two times temporary exclusion zones have been put in place, two chicks have managed to fledge, according to GORCC.
GORCC currently manages six breeding areas along the coastline at Whites Beach, Point Roadknight, west of Point Roadknight tip, Anglesea, Fairhaven and Moggs Creek.
Mr Francis said the nesting season, which finishes at the end of this month, continues to “look positive” after two chicks hatched at Aireys Inlet in late February.
“People are more understanding now, most locals are fully aware of them,” he said.