STANDING UP FOR PUBLIC HOUSING

Last year during the pandemic, nine public housing towers in Flemington and North Melbourne were placed into a ‘hard lockdown’. These were the harshest restrictions imposed anywhere in Victoria. 

Throughout this time, my office helped many people to access urgent needs, like food, medication and information about what was happening. 

Ellen and Federal Greens MP Adam Bandt supported the relief efforts of local youth leaders from Australian Muslim Social Services Australia during the public housing ‘hard lockdowns’.

While my Greens colleagues and I have always supported a public health response to COVID-19, we were extremely concerned about the way this hard lockdown was imposed. I led the call for an Ombudsman’s investigation, which made some very significant findings earlier this year, including that residents’ human rights had been breached. 

I continue to advocate for more public housing and better communication with, and treatment of, residents.

If you have any questions about the hard lockdown, public housing, or need assistance with a public housing issue, please contact me on [email protected].

For more information about my work to guarantee safe and secure housing for everyone who needs it, you can find more detail on my housing page here.