BIRD FLU BANS LIFTED Homeless in helpless spot
POULTRY restrictions have been lifted across Golden Plains Shire more than six months after bird flu was first reported in the region.
Agriculture Victoria lifted control areas at Lethbridge and Kerang in northern Victoria last week.
Permits are no longer required to move poultry, poultry products and production vehicles in those areas.
It’s understood a small control area remains around a Bairnsdale turkey farm.
Two strains of avian influenza were confirmed last year at four Lethbridge poultry farms. The state government said all properties had been decontaminated and birds culled.
VICTORIA’S homelessness sector is so overwhelmed trying to help those in immediate need that services cannot provide complex tailored support, a landmark report has found.
The inquiry into homelessness in Victoria tabled its final report on Thursday, presenting a damning picture of the state’s ability to support those who become homeless.
Chair and Reason Party MP Fiona Patten wrote the demand for homelessness services “significantly exceeds” the availability for support.
The report found 22 per cent more Victorians sought assistance from homelessness services in 2018-19 than in 2012-13.
It found a key consequence of the unmet demand for services was client spillover from metropolitan areas into rural and regional Victoria.
“This puts increased pressure on the already limited resources of regional organisations,” it said.
“Many Victorians across the state are not receiving critical support.”
The inquiry also found the state was facing long-term shortages of public housing stock that would not be entirely filled through the state
government’s existing Housing Build program.
It called for social housing to be a mandatory requirement in all new major housing developments.
The inquiry panel, which consulted Geelong stakeholders, heard Greater Geelong was among regional Victoria’s top five local government areas for homelessness.
It was told by the City of Greater Geelong that co-ordination of funding to better provide holistic services to clients with multiple needs was crucial.
In her opening comments, Ms Patten said she was “impressed” by early intervention work underway in regional Victoria and pinpointed the success of The Geelong Project, which works with high school students.
According to the report, the project led to a 30-40 per cent
Big reduction in presentations to youth homelessness and a corresponding 20 per cent improvement in-school retention for those involved in the program.
The inquiry made 51 recommendations, including that a similar school-based model be expanded to several sites across the state.
Council for Homeless Person chief executive officer Jenny Smith said the report highlighted that Victoria’s homelessness system was severely under-resourced.
“We welcome the committee’s recommendations for greater investment in the workers needed to have a stronger focus on prevention of homelessness, particularly for young people, for more early intervention to quickly rehouse people, and for a longer tail of support to help people with more complex needs to stay housed,” Ms Smith said.
A government spokesman said the report’s recommendations would be considered. “Our $5.3bn Big Housing Build will deliver more than 12,000 new homes and create 10,000 jobs every year over the next four years — the biggest single investment in social and affordable housing in Victoria’s history,” the spokesman said.