Jason Perdriau,
Acting CEO CHIA Vic
It’s been another busy month with the 23/24 State and Federal budgets both handed down in May, work underway to implement the Victorian Community Housing Workforce Strategy and new resources launched to support digital transformation.
While we were pleased to see $134 million for housing and homelessness supports announced in the State Budget recently, including $67 million for the continuation of Housing First responses, there was no new investment announced beyond the Big Housing Build to deliver the ongoing pipeline of social housing Victorian renters need. However, recent mentions from government on plans for a housing affordability package to be announced later in the year give us hope that good news may be coming soon.
Work is also continuing on the implementation of our Community Housing Workforce Strategy to ensure community housing organisations can develop a strong, skilled and supported workforce as our sector grows. Our four priority areas for action aim to improve staff retention, broaden the talent pool, provide better training and professional development and collect data to gain insights on the evolving workforce. You can read a short summary of the strategy here. Stay in touch with us to learn about progress on implementation and get involved.
CHIA Vic is also working hard to build the capacity of members to deliver great services in the most efficient way possible. We recently launched a Digital Transformation Toolkit, that will help members develop an IT strategy, assess cyber security requirements, prepare for software improvements and more. Please check out these fantastic resources to see how they can help your organisation work better and smarter.
As negotiations continue in Federal Parliament in the coming month on legislation to establish a new Housing Australia Future Fund, we will be working with our members and state and federal government on planning for the roll-out of the fund to ensure that, once it’s established, it creates the maximum possible benefits for Victorian renters.
