THE Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) has released a Homelessness Heat Map which reveals that Shepparton has the highest numbers of homeless in regional Victoria, with the stats revealing Shepparton has 372 homeless, with Geelong coming in second at 295.
The map, based on ABS data and analysed by state electorate, went live on Monday to coincide with the launch of CHP’s Victorian Homelessness Election Platform, a ‘blueprint’ for ending homelessness in Victoria.
In the election platform, CHP says that the 69 percent increase in stamp duty collected over the past five years ($2.8B), could be directed towards solving Victoria’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis.
In the lead-up to the November election, CHP will be calling on the major parties to adopt its recommendations. Among the 17 actions called for in the platform are 3,000 new social housing properties per year for 10 years, with 1,500 being one and two bedroom homes for singles, couples or small families, stop renters being evicted into homelessness by helping to pay back rental arrears and providing more legal advice and support, helping people exiting prison and psychiatric units to get into housing to prevent them exiting straight into homelessness and providing dedicated housing stock for Housing First programs for rough sleepers, like they do in Finland.
Council to Homeless Persons acting CEO, Kate Colvin said, “This data makes it clear that homelessness is not just a city problem. Skyrocketing rents and a lack of social housing is driving homelessness in every electorate in Victoria. But there are solutions to overcome the crisis.
“With the right measures in place, we know we can prevent most homelessness, quickly rehouse people who do lose their homes, and keep people housed long-term.
“We’ve developed a blueprint for solving homelessness and now we’re looking for the political leadership to implement it.”
