Anglicare Victoria has welcomed the 2017 Victorian State Budget, and applauded the significant allocations to support the State’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
Published May 4th, 2017. Anglicare Victoria
“I am pleased to see that this year’s State budget has given proper considerations for vulnerable children and families. It is especially heartening to see this government’s commitment to ending family violence and improving the experience for children in out-of-home-care,” said Anglicare Victoria Chief Executive, Paul McDonald.
Mr McDonald praised provisions including:
- $448.1 million to establish 17 Support and Safety Hubs for victims of family violence,which will link victim survivors and their children to the support and services they need, as well as providing greater opportunities for collaboration across the community sector
- $133.2 million for housing for victims, including completion of the building of family violence refuges for victims
- $59.6 million which will go towards an extra 1,982 out-of-home care placements and 100 more targeted care packages to reduce the number of kids living in residential care and protect our most vulnerable children
- $133.2 million for long-term housing, rental assistance and additional public housing
“The funding for family violence victims is a crucial step in the right direction to ensuring parents and children leaving family violence have access to dedicated, safe and affordable housing,” said Mr McDonald.
“These measures will make a big difference to victims and save lives.”
Anglicare Victoria recently released their annual Rental Affordability Snapshot, which demonstrates the significant strain put on households on low incomes to find suitable and affordable accommodation.
The inclusion of optional long term leases for tenants providing greater long term security will provide some security to those most in need in our communities.
“It is good to see an extra 2,200 new social housing places over the next five years, as well as providing tenants a new optional standard long-term lease. These are effective solutions to the problems we’ve been seeing lately in Victoria, particularly in regards to renters on low incomes struggling to secure affordable rental accommodation.”
Further enquiries contact: Media and Communications, Tel: 0419 035 117, email: media@anglicarevic.org.au
