Today’s housing crisis is the worst in living memory. Across the country more than 750,000 people are living under housing stress. Only massive funding to build new Public Housing will solve this social and economic disaster. However, our government is demolishing and privatising public housing.

In Victoria, former Premier Daniel Andrews announced plans to demolish 44 public housing towers. In NSW, public housing estates at Waterloo South, South Eveleigh and 82 Wentworth Road, Glebe are under threat. The Arncliffe public housing estate has been demolished, while Telopea’s ‘Three Sisters’ towers sit empty.

Destroying homes during a housing crisis is a travesty. It increases housing stress and breaks up communities. If housing is sub-standard, it should be repaired and upgraded. Moreover, public housing and “community housing” are very different things. Public housing is managed by government departments while community housing providers (CHP’s) are managed by private organisations. CHPs manage social housing which is more expensive and less secure. Handing public housing over to private entities is a crime against the people, particularly those in poor and marginalised communities.  

Historically unions have stopped anti-social developments and played a critical role in pushing governments to commit to public works, through enacting community-led green bans. A green ban is a prohibition of work by union members on demolishing important social, environmental and heritage sites.

Our Aims

• Preservation of Public Housing: Ensure that existing public housing structures are preserved and maintained, protecting the rights and homes of current residents.
• Public Housing as Solution: Promote the development of additional public housing to solve the housing crisis across the country. 
• Community Empowerment: Enact an inclusive and democratic process of community meetings (ie Citizens’ Assemblies) where the input of the community genuinely informs any refit, refurbishment and redevelopment plans.