Suzanna Sheed
  • Home
  • About
    • About Suzanna
    • Shepparton District
    • How Suzanna can help
  • Priorities
    • Agriculture
    • Education
    • Health
    • Infrastructure
    • Our Achievements
  • News
    • Media Releases
    • Blog
    • Parliament
    • Photos
  • Resources
    • Newsletters
    • Out & About with Suzanna
    • COVID-19
  • Contact
    • Request a
      Congratulatory
      Message
    • Subscribe to our
      newsletter
  • Menu Menu

Rooming House Operators Bill 2015

July 18, 2018/in Parliament

Second reading

I rise today to speak in support of the Rooming House Operators Bill 2015.

I suppose it is part of the richness and diversity of life that we all come here and share our experiences, and no doubt many of us had the opportunity during our early years to share houses, whether at university or during our early employment days.

Long before the days when we took on mortgages and home ownership we shared flats, we shared houses and some of the people we lived with were even strangers.

We would complain about the house rules and who had not done their share of the dishes, who had not put the garbage out and trivial things like that.

It was a part of our lives, and it was really pretty simple.

I am confident that the rooming house legislation we are dealing with today targets the experiences of people in much more difficult circumstances. They are not the university days experiences; they are not even probably the backpacker experiences of people who come through my electorate over the summer. While some of their living conditions are fairly basic, they enjoy a fairly carefree lifestyle and they contribute greatly to our local community. We see them in our local supermarkets, they attend a lot of functions, they pick the fruit and they are very valued by our orchardists. They are a different group again, I think, to what we are looking at here.

These dwellings are generally a permanent residence. A person who lives in a rooming house does so only from economic necessity, although I doubt they would use those words themselves. Seventy-five per cent of them, I understand, are older men. Often they have complex issues that include mental health problems, alcoholism and poor health. There were a range of media releases that I looked at in preparing this speech. There have been some really terrible stories of the circumstances that people in these rooming houses have lived in, and there has been a lot of exposure of those really awful conditions.

It is a sad reality that the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not even regard these people as having homes. It does not record people who live in rooming houses as having homes. In fact it regards them as the homeless boarding house population. Let us think about that for a minute. These are people who would not have roofs over their heads unless there was a standard of accommodation such as rooming houses created for them. I think we all agree that everyone should have the dignity of having a roof over their head.

In some ways these homes, these rooming houses, are a part of the accommodation world which we need to see in our community, but it is just so important that there is a level of regulation around them. Living life on the fringes of society, as many of these people do, means they do not have many choices. They are not carefree students as young people who are just passing through often are. They often live quite haphazard existences. We only need to walk down the street to see some of the men who do not even have homes. If you walk down Bourke Street, you often see several homeless men camped with their doonas, blankets and life belongings with them. I think we all want to see people have the opportunity to have roofs over their heads.

They are a group of people who may even consider themselves to be lucky that they have a bed in a rooming house. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports an increase in young people, international students and single mothers now living in rooming houses, and that is another group that we do not always imagine being in that situation. In Victoria 44.5 per cent of low-income households spend more than 30 per cent of their gross income on rent, and in Melbourne that figure is almost 52 per cent.

All these things point to one thing: the rooming house operators have the ball in their court. They have a ready supply of replacements if someone chooses or is forced to leave their premises. Their clients are unlikely to seek legal or any other kind of advice if they have been ripped off or treated unfairly by a rooming house operator.

I regard the Rooming House Operators Bill 2015 as a step in the right direction to regulate the industry. I note that it has been quite a long time in coming and that a task force was charged with looking into this issue and at housing standards generally by the Brumby Labor government back in 2009. There were 32 recommendations, and key among them was the licensing of rooming house operators. There are now significant penalties for non-compliance.

The bill is quite detailed and long in establishing an oversight body and in providing for registration, inspections, penalties and a range of procedures that will ensure that a new standard is introduced into these homes. By registering their premises with local government and complying with the suite of rules in this legislation it is to be hoped that rooming house operators will provide residents with the fair go that they have often been denied and that their futures will be much more secure. I commend the bill to the house.

Click here to view this record on Hansard.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/default-post-image.jpg 240 330 Suzanna Sheed https://suzannasheed.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Sheed-Logo-V2.png Suzanna Sheed2018-07-18 02:16:442020-02-07 02:48:03Rooming House Operators Bill 2015
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Pages

  • About Suzanna
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • COVID-19
  • Get Involved
  • Home
  • How Suzanna can help
  • Media Releases
  • News
  • Newsletters
  • Our Achievements
  • Our Vision
  • Out & About with Suzanna
  • Parliament
  • Photos
  • Request A Congratulatory Message
  • Shepparton District
  • Subscribe to our newsletter

Categories

  • Blog
  • Latest News
  • Media Releases
  • Newsletters
  • Parliament
  • Uncategorized

Archive

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015

Get in touch with Suzanna

Share this page and show your support.

Subscribe

5 Vaughan Street, Shepparton
T 03 5831 6944
E suzanna.sheed@parliament.vic.gov.au

Keep up-to-date.
Follow us on social media.

Get in touch with Suzanna

Share this page and show your support.

5 Vaughan Street, Shepparton
T 03 5831 6944   F 03 5831 6836
E suzanna.sheed@parliament.vic.gov.au

Keep up-to-date.
Follow us on social media.

Goulburn-Murray Water Connections ProjectWater policy – Matter of public importance
Scroll to top
Subscribe to our newsletter