Victorian Government sued by 10,000 public housing residents

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It comes after the Victorian Government announced it would demolish and rebuild Melbourne’s 44 public housing high-rise buildings by 2051.
The public housing towers in Melbourne's inner city suburbs.

A lawsuit involving thousands of public housing residents accuses the Victorian Government of breaching their human rights this week.

Last year, the Victorian Government announced it would demolish and rebuild Melbourne’s 44 public housing high-rise buildings by 2051.

Residents say they weren’t consulted about the plans and learned about them from a press conference.

They’re arguing the lack of “notice or consultation” violates their human rights.

The towers

There are 44 public housing high-rise apartment buildings in Melbourne’s inner city.

They were built in the 1960s and 70s to accommodate low-income families amid major population growth in the city.

Today, around 10,000 people live in the towers.

Demolition

In September 2023, the Victorian Government announced new housing plans.

Part of the plan included demolishing and redeveloping the Melbourne towers to meet “modern” building standards by 2051.

At the time, Premier Dan Andrews said the buildings were at “the end of their useful lives, and no longer fit for modern living.”

Towers in Flemington, North Melbourne, and Carlton are first up for demolition.

Class action

30-year-old Barry Berih filed a class action lawsuit against the demolition in Victoria’s Supreme Court earlier this year. A class action is a type of lawsuit where many people are represented by one entity.

Berih, who has cerebral palsy, has lived in one of the North Melbourne towers for almost 25 years with his family.

He said he first learned that his home would be demolished while watching a TV news conference. In the following days, Government representatives began door-knocking to inform residents and offer moving assistance.

Berih argues the Government “failed to properly consider” his and other residents’ human rights when it announced the policy without consulting them first.

He’s said if he were consulted, he would be able to explain how demolishing the building would uproot his life. Berih’s flat has been modified to accommodate his disability, he relies on local health services, his mosque is nearby, and he’s surrounded by his cultural community.

Under Victorian law, residents have the right to not have their home ”unlawfully… interfered with”. Berih argues the decision to demolish the building breaches this law.

Parties

All 10,000 tower residents are represented by Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL).

Managing lawyer Louisa Bassini has previously said the case will consider the rights of residents who have “been treated as an afterthought in the Government’s plans.”

One of the lawsuit’s defendants is Homes Victoria, the Government agency that manages the towers.

A spokesperson for Homes Victoria said it won’t comment on the case while it’s before the court.

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