Creating better futures for high-rise public housing residents in Melbourne

High-rise public housing is a distinctive form of public housing in Victoria. In the inner city where house prices and rents have continued to rise, high-rise public housing plays a key role in providing affordable rental housing for low income households. The current and future importance of this role is again reinforced in a recent Research report by Burke and Hayward from Swinburne Institute of Social Research, Melbourne’s Housing Past Housing Futures (2000). However, it is clear that the availability of this affordable housing stock does not equate with the availability of safe, secure and appropriate housing for a number of tenants. Buildings that do not meet contemporary community standards, difficulty in keeping buildings clean due to anti-social behaviour, fears for safety and security by both residents and service providers visiting the sites and isolation are but some of the problems experienced across the high-rise towers as well as in other areas of concentrated public housing. Improvements are required in the quality of the life they provide for tenants and consideration needs to be given as to whether they have potential for achieving long term sustainable communities. There are varied views about what should happen to high-rise public housing. Government and the community sector are continually developing initiatives to tackle specific issues. However, while these are important for ameliorating very evident and significant problems, in many ways they represent different ways of patching holes in a ship that has no real direction or destination. The need to develop a clear strategic vision and role for the future of the high-rise towers is urgent. In developing this vision, Ecumenical Housing considers it essential that the wide diversity of views and insights into the issues currently confronting this form of housing are taken into account, as well as the diverse views about the possibilities for regeneration and future management of the towers.