First Nations social housing to built in suburbs across Geelong

Greater Geelong is set to get 28 new social homes as part of wider $153m investment. Here’s where they’ll be built.

Housing minister Harriet Shing made the announcement on Friday. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

New modelling shows Geelong has the highest demand for social housing in the state, with a key social advocacy forecasting a need for more 5414 homes in the region by 2026.

The Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) has called on the state government to “turbocharge the construction of new public housing”.

According to modelling commissioned by the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance from SGS Economics and Planning, Victoria will need to build an extra 377,000 social housing dwellings by 2051 to meet projected total demand from low-income Victorians.

Geelong would need a further 6454 houses by 2031 and 7256 by 2036, according to the modelling.

The Surf Coast would need 690 homes by 2026, 774 by 2031 and 816 by 2036.

VCOSS chief executive Juanita Pope said decades of under-investment in social housing by previous governments has left the state with the lowest proportion of social housing in Australia.

“Housing is the foundation for a good life and social housing is essential social and economic infrastructure,” she said.

“Strong, sustained investment in growing public housing and community housing should be the number one infrastructure priority for this state. It’s the key to solving our housing crisis and other big societal challenges.”

It comes as the state government last week announced 28 new social homes for First Nation Victorians were approved for construction across six suburbs in Greater Geelong.

The homes will be built as part of a statewide project involving the construction of 230 homes across regional Victoria, including Shepparton, East Gippsland, Wodonga, Ballarat and Geelong.

Geelong is one of several regional towns where homes will be built as part of the project. Picture: Supplied.

The project is designed to support Aboriginal Victorians, with the new Geelong dwellings part of the government’s commitment to ensure 10 per cent of all new social homes under the Big Build are set aside for Indigenous Australians.

The homes will be built in Grovedale, Hamlyn Heights, Belmont, St Albans Park, Corio, and Whittington.

Aboriginal Housing Victoria chief executive Darren Smith said the waitlist for housing in Geelong outnumbered homes available by more than 500 per cent.

“The 28 new homes announced are a very welcome step forward and will make a real difference to the families who will call them home, but it’s not enough to meet the needs of community,” he said.

“As Geelong continues to grow and thrive, we need to make sure Aboriginal people aren’t left behind and have genuine pathways to safe, secure, and affordable long-term housing.”

Originally published as First Nations social housing to built in suburbs across Geelong