Jasmine used a bucket in the backyard for toileting while she waited for her social housing property's bathroom to be repaired.
Her story was shared in a progress report about Victoria's social housing complaint processes, released by outgoing Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. It identified that while The Department and Housing Registrar had made some changes since the initial report was released in 2022, the state government had not.
Jasmine, aged in her 60s, waited 18 months for her complaint to the Department about the bathroom to be acted upon. Tiles were falling off the wall, plus there was mould and a rotting smell. A water leak meant some of the bathroom's flooring and wall tiles needed replacing. Once acted upon, the contractor removed the old toilet and didn't give her a temporary replacement, leaving her to use a bucket in the backyard for several days.
Having filed numerous complaints over the years about the property's state, the "worst bit" for her was being made to feel as if she - and fellow tenants - were "whinging".
She said renters like her - particularly those who are older or speak another language - held back from complaining to local housing offices as they feared they would "get in trouble and have to move out".
Progress report
Deborah's initial report described the complaints system as "complicated, confusing and under-resourced, to the point where some of the most disadvantaged people in our society felt their health and safety were at risk."
In the March 2024 report, she said the Victorian Government had "taken no clear action" into any of the Ombudsman's recommendations addressed to it.
Key issues included:
- Adopting a single, two-tiered social housing complaint model to make making complaints easier,
- Clarifying the Ombudsman's authority to consider community housing complaints, and
- Considering amendments to the Charter of Human Rights Act to "enshrine a right to housing and clarify its application to community housing organisations."
"Until the outstanding recommendations are implemented - aimed at systemic rather than ad hoc improvements - we are unlikely to see significant change in the way social housing complaints are handled," the report said.
However it did find some promise; The Department had reviewed its complaint process, and the Housing registrar had developed a complaint policy model.
The report can be found at ombudsman.vic.gov.au/ and search for "Social housing complaint handling - progress report"
