Domain 1 - Victorian Government Investment and Action

Domain 1 - Victorian Government Investment and Action

The Victorian Government is working to drive improved outcomes for children and families.

Maternal and Child Health

Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health program

Throughout 2024, the Department of Health continued to fund the Aboriginal Maternal and Child Health (MCH) program, supporting 15 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) operating across 17 sites. This includes funding for Aboriginal MCH service delivery, additional funding to boost flexible support to meet the growing Aboriginal population, and funding to enable staff to undertake lactation training and provide lactation support.

To ensure the delivery of ongoing Cultural Safety professional development, the Department of Health has continued to provide access to free cultural safety training for the MCH workforce.

INFANT program

The INFANT (Infant Feeding, Active play and Nutrition) program is an initiative of the Victorian Government’s Healthy kids, healthy futures five year plan for children’s health and wellbeing. INFANT is an evidence-based program that supports new parents to establish healthy eating and active play for their baby’s first year of life. The initiative is delivered by maternal and child health nurses, and community health and early years professionals who have undertaken INFANT training.

The Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University was funded to partner with VACCHO to deliver training for the INFANT program, with VACCHO playing a lead role in the program’s implementation and evaluation. A total of 1,492 health professionals completed INFANT facilitator training since 2020. This includes:

• 164 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health professionals.
• 857 Maternal and Child Health Nurses, 85 Dietitians and 551 ‘other’ professionals such as Local Government staff, NGO staff, State Government staff, and MCH nursing students.
• 48 out of 79 local government areas have embedded INFANT in their existing service delivery.

Deakin University research shows the INFANT program is providing positive health, social and economic outcomes for all participants. For its Aboriginal clients, program data will be reviewed to ensure targeted messaging for Aboriginal people is culturally appropriate. VACCHO will seek further funding to update training materials and resources for this purpose.

Perinatal mental health screening

In 2024, the Department of Health commissioned a co-design process with Aboriginal families and sector representatives to improve inclusiveness and cultural responsiveness of screening approaches, including development of new perinatal mental health screening guidelines. Participants contributed their experiences and advice to inform the development of the new guidelines from 2025.

Birth Registration

Strong Identity, Strong Spirit (SISS) program

The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) Strong Identity, Strong Spirit (SISS) program is an Aboriginal-led initiative to deliver BDM services.

The program recognises that Aboriginal people may experience unique barriers to accessing BDM services, including historical distrust of birth registrations, and fear of penalties for late birth registrations.

Under SISS, the BDM Marguk-bulok koolin-ik team travels throughout Victoria to provide in-person, culturally safe support in partnership with Aboriginal Community organisations.

BDM supports parents to register the birth of their child at any age. It also provides clear and accessible information and processes and around birth registration, including for kinship carers to receive children’s birth certificates

A person may apply to the Registrar of BDM for a financial hardship and fee waiver to waive the fee for certain certificates or registrations. The Financial hardship and fee waiver policy outlines the circumstances under which the Registrar may consider a fee waiver, the process of applying for a fee waiver and the criteria used to establish eligibility.

The Registrar recognises the over-representation of Aboriginal peoples in prison and on application, may waive fees for their legal birth certificate.

Victorian Aboriginal Commemorative Certificates fee waiver during NAIDOC Week

On an annual basis BDM waives the fees for Victorian Aboriginal commemorative certificates around NAIDOC week. The initiative has been popular since it began in 2019. Importantly, it promotes the importance of birth registration. The Victorian Aboriginal commemorative birth certificate brings together three of Victorias well-known Aboriginal artists. Each artists depicts an element of birth in a way that recognises and celebrates Aboriginal heritage in Victoria.

Family Violence

Dhelk Dja - Safe Our Way: Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families (‘Dhelk Dja’)

Dhelk Dja is the key Aboriginal-led Victorian Agreement that commits the signatories – Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal services and government – to work together and be accountable for ensuring that Aboriginal people, families and communities are stronger, safer, thriving and living free from family violence. Dhelk Dja is built upon the foundation of Aboriginal self-determination.

In 2024, implementation of the second Three-Year Action Plan under the Dhelk Dja Agreement (the Plan) continued. The Plan was publicly released in April 2024 by the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence.

The Plan is ambitious and includes 116 actions to be delivered by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Department of Education, Department of Justice and Community Safety and Victoria Police across the five strategic priority areas of the Dhelk Dja Agreement. The Plan also aligns strongly to Victoria’s commitment to deliver on Target 13 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

Each department is responsible for actions under the Plan and is required to submit a report to the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum, held three times a year, in order for progress against them to be tracked.

Of the 116 activities under the Plan, 110 are due to be delivered in years one and two. As of December 2024:

• 17 are in development (15%)
• 50 are on track (45%)
• 27 are completed/ongoing (25%)
• 16 are delayed/not started (15%)

Six additional activities are due to commence and be completed in year three (2025).

The following activities were completed in 2024:

• Establishment of a dedicated data position in Family Safety Victoria to support the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum in accessing and interpreting family violence data with regional profiles
• Identification of gaps and data linkages in current data collection processes and systems to build an evidence base and hold service providers to account
• The Standard Indigenous Question was mandated within The Orange Door network to ensure the option for a culturally safe response with flexibility to change how they identify
• Mandated the capture and recording of the Standard Indigenous Question for family violence victims including children and young people and those who use violence
• Establishment of a target reduction of unknown status across the family violence service system.

Aboriginal Community Initiatives Fund 2023-24

Victoria is privileged to have a long history of committed Aboriginal communities and services championing Aboriginal-led approaches to ending family violence. This history includes the Victorian Indigenous Family Violence Task Force, appointed in October 2001 to raise Community awareness and engage Aboriginal Victorians in the development of statewide and local responses to family violence. The Task Force handed down its final report in December 2003.

As part of its response to the report, the Victorian Government committed to a long-term partnership with Aboriginal communities. Many of the initiatives and recommendations in the report are still operational today, including the Victorian Aboriginal Community Initiatives Fund (CIF).

In May 2024, funding of $2.2 million was provided for the 2023-24 CIF. The funding was allocated equally across the 11 Dhelk Dja Action Group regions resulting in 44 culturally appropriate, place-based community-led projects dedicated to preventing and responding to family violence in Victorian Aboriginal communities. These projects are being delivered by 30 Aboriginal organisations and Community groups across Victoria. Examples of funded projects include:

• a prevention program that engages young people at risk of family violence and focuses on cultural connection
• women’s groups supporting Aboriginal women in refuges or in prison through yarning circles
• an awareness-raising project to address violence against Aboriginal LGBTIQA+ individuals in Community
• a program designed to help heal, empower, and culturally connect elders affected by family violence
• therapeutic retreat for fathers and carers of young Aboriginal children affected by family violence.

The Dhelk Dja Action Groups determine the composition of Aboriginal-led regional assessment panels. These panels decide which initiatives will be recommended for funding in their region. Projects must follow the CIF Funding Guidelines and align to the regional priorities identified by Action Groups to prevent, reduce and respond to family violence.

The CIF has been operating for over 20 years having funded more than 377 projects in the last 10 years.

Aboriginal Access Points

Staffed by an Aboriginal workforce, Aboriginal Access Points support Aboriginal women, children, men and families to navigate the family violence service system.

Implementation of the Aboriginal Access Points is a key deliverable of the Dhelk Dja 3-Year Action Plan 2019-2022. Two Aboriginal Access Points have been servicing the Barwon and Bayside Peninsula areas for over 12 months. Delivered by ACCOs, the Aboriginal Access Points are designed to be culturally safe and culturally responsive, underpinned by self-determination and providing an Aboriginal-led service choice for Victorian Aboriginal communities.

Aboriginal Sexual Assault Services

In May 2024, the Women’s Safety Package provided additional investment to Aboriginal sexual assault services to ensure that Aboriginal people who are victim survivors of sexual assault, including Aboriginal children and young people, can access culturally safe and appropriate holistic services delivered by Aboriginal-led services.

As part of their commitment to self-determination, the Department of Family, Fairness and Housing is working with the Aboriginal Sexual Assault Working Group to determine how the investment will be implemented. The working group is Aboriginal-led and membership consists of the four ACCOs delivering the sexual assault services to Community.

The services align to the Nargneit Birrang which is the Aboriginal-led and co-designed statewide family violence holistic healing framework for Aboriginal communities across Victoria. Nargneit Birrang describes what Aboriginal holistic healing is, why healing is needed and how healing works to heal family violence and associated trauma including sexual assault for Aboriginal people.

Aboriginal family violence and sexual assault services funding

The Victorian Government has significantly increased funding to ACCOs for family violence and sexual assault service delivery from approximately $5.2 million in 2017-18 to approximately $66.6 million in 2023-24. This funding represents approximately 12 per cent of total family violence service funding provided across Victoria in 2023-24. DFFH is committed to ensuring that funding and service agreements support self-determination by ensuring alignment to the Dhelk Dja 10-Year Agreement’s vision and strategic priorities. Family Safety Victoria has set a target that at least 10 per cent of all new funding is provided to ACCOs.

The 2023-24 Victorian State Budget committed $31 million to maintain Aboriginal-led family and sexual violence service delivery and includes:

• $25.5 million over four years and $6.8 million ongoing for Aboriginal-led family violence case management and counselling
• $5.6 million over four years and $1.6 million ongoing for Aboriginal-led sexual assault support services.

A component of this budget outcome includes $6.1 million per annum in ongoing funding to Aboriginal frontline family violence services. DFFH is working with two Aboriginal-led groups, the Dhelk Dja Koori Caucus and the ACCO Family Violence Sector Forum, to agree on an approach to allocate the funding in a self-determined way including:

• co-designing an equity funding allocation method based on Aboriginal data and evidence
• providing service development funding to be used flexibly depending on the needs of the ACCO to meet local workforce and capacity building needs
• ensuring a flexible approach to service delivery so ACCOs can determine the service offering mix that best supports their Community
• additional culturally appropriate therapeutic interventions and support.

Children, Youth and Family Services

Refresh of Wungurilwil Gapgapduir and Aboriginal Children’s Forum

The Aboriginal Children’s Forum (ACF) gives practical effect to the implementation and monitoring of Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement to promote the safety, health and resilience of First Peoples children and young people.

Over 2024, the Aboriginal Children’s Forum (ACF) undertook a refresh to provide the ACCO Caucus with greater power to oversee the ACF. This included stronger Aboriginal-led governance, setting the ACF agenda, and leading a refresh of the next four-year Wungurilwil Gapgapduir Strategic Action Plan.

The ACF identified and agreed to four priorities for the refreshed Strategic Action Plan:

1. Equitable local access to Aboriginal models of prevention and early intervention services
2. Self-determining and ACCO-led responses to child safety
3. Building knowledge and the evaluation of Aboriginal child and family ways
4. Aboriginal decisions over investment into Aboriginal children and families.

At the 30^th Aboriginal Children’s Forum in December 2024, members reflected that commitment to action by Wungurilwil Gapgapduir signatories had never been stronger and will continue to drive shared collaboration and reform across the sector.

The Strategic Action Plan is anticipated to be publicly released in 2025.

Aboriginal Workforce Fund - Final Tranche

Through the 2023-24 State Budget, the Victorian Government committed to an investment of $140 million over four years to transform the Children and Families service system to reduce Aboriginal overrepresentation in child protection and family services.

$4.958 million of the Stronger Families Fund was allocated to the 2023-24 Aboriginal Workforce Fund (AWF) and to 40 ACCO’s under the direction of the AWF Steering Committee.

Proposals for this round demonstrate a range of needs and priorities across ACCOs, with a primary focus on upskilling the Aboriginal workforce (57%) and strengthening organisational capability (18%). Activities such as professional development (24%) and policy, systems, and governance updates (18%) are also prominent, indicating a focus on both individual skill development and broader organisational improvements.

Less frequently proposed activities include fixed-term contracts, recruitment, youth programs, higher education, and cultural safety training (all <10%). These funding priorities reflect a commitment to long-term sustainability and improved service delivery to the Aboriginal sector.

Mid-term reporting highlighted difficulties for ACCOs in attracting local Aboriginal candidates, retaining young employees, and managing workforce gaps due to limited funding and staff shortages.

ACCOs have advocated for a needs-based, self-determination-driven model to better support their workforce and operational sustainability.

Mid-term reporting was due 31 January 2025 with final acquittals due at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care (ACAC) and the Community Protecting Boorais pilot expansion

Through the 2023-24 State Budget, the Victorian Government has committed an investment of more than $140 million over four years to help transform the children and families service system. The ACAC program, which includes the Community Protection Boorais Program, was expanded. The ACAC gives authorised ACCOs legal responsibility for Aboriginal Children or young people who have been placed on a Children’s Court protection order. Under this program, an authorised ACCO will actively work with the child’s family, Community and the relevant professionals to develop a case plan. The case plans address protective concerns and achieve long-term objectives in a way that is culturally appropriate and in the best interests of the child.

There are currently four ACCOs authorised to operate under the ACAC program. During 2024, the ACAC program:

• announced two new ACCOs who would commence pre-authorisation (Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-operative in August 2024 and Goolum Goolum in 2025-26)
• allocated an additional four teams across the state
• saw the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative become the third ACCO to be authorised to deliver ACAC in the Central Highlands Area
• saw the Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative and Njernda Aboriginal Cooperative engage in early service provision to support their pre-authorisation delivery of ACAC.

Community Protecting Boorais pilot

The 2023-24 State Budget allocated an investment of more than $140 million over four years to help transform the children and families service system, with the aim of reducing First Peoples overrepresentation in child protection and family services. This included funding of $13.7 million over four years to enable the Community Protecting Boorais pilot to support up to 348 children by 2026-27.

Authorised by the passing of the Statement of Recognition Act in June 2023, the Community Protecting Boorais pilot (the pilot) enables ACCOs to undertake investigations of child protection reports directly, rather than through the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. This means that when a report is made to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing with concerns for the safety of an Aboriginal child and an assessment is made that an investigation is required, an authorised ACCO can take responsibility for the child’s investigation, and any required case management.

The pilot commenced in October 2023 with two ACCOs currently authorised and funded to establish a team each to undertake this work – the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) and the Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co‑operative (BDAC).

Since the pilot commenced in October 2023, 148 First Peoples children have been supported by the Community Protecting Boorais program to 30 June 2024:

• BDAC has worked with 84 children across 42 families.
• VACCA has worked with 91 children across 35 families.

The pilot is a strong example of successful investment in best practice, Aboriginal-led and self-determined approaches, with positive initial results observed.

Feedback from ACCOs and co-located DFFH Child Protection Specialists indicate that the culturally attuned strengths-based approach provided through the pilot has been more successful than the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing in effectively and quickly engaging Aboriginal families to address child safety concerns and has reduced the need for legal intervention.

Additionally, where Children’s Court applications are required, they are typically resolved sooner and appear to be less adversarial, with an increased likelihood of court outcomes being reached by agreement.

An example of how BDAC and VACCA are committed to transforming the business of protecting Aboriginal children is using Cultural language terms that reflect (and prioritise) their own unique practice approaches. This includes changing the language of “investigating” concerns to “understanding the story” of the child and family.

Housing and Homelessness

Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort: Every Aboriginal Person Has a Home

Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort: Every Aboriginal Person Has a Home, the Victorian Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Framework (VAHHF) provides a 20-year plan to guide policy reform in responding to specific housing needs for Aboriginal Victorians. The VAHHF is the blueprint for government and the sector to work together and provides the vehicle for government to deliver on Aboriginal self-determination by transitioning power and responsibility over to Community to determine the approach required to address their Community’s needs.

As Aboriginal people represent 20 per cent of the homelessness population in Victoria, strategies to deliver on goals in Mana-na worn-tyeen maar-takoort are critical to reduce the numbers of Aboriginal people without a home.

In April 2022, Homes Victoria committed $1.16 million for three years to support the VAHHF implementation. The delivery of the VAHHF is monitored through the VAHHF Annual Report Card. The Annual Report Card provides a status update of the VAHHF yearly work plan and a report against 20 outcome measures that align with specific strategic directions outlined in the VAHHF.

The VAHHF Implementation Working Group (IWG) is a key governance group of the VAHHF. The membership consists of Aboriginal Housing Victoria and key government representatives and is co-chaired by CEO of Aboriginal Housing Victoria and the CEO of Homes Victoria. This group provides strategic direction and have oversight functionalities for the implementation of the VAHHF including the development of an annual work plan.

VAHHF 5-year Implementation Plan

Aboriginal Housing Victoria, through the Victorian Aboriginal Housing and the Homelessness Forum, drafted the 20-year Vision for the Aboriginal Community housing sector. The purpose of the 20-year vision is to articulate the role of the sector in implementing the VAHHF and guide the transformation of the Aboriginal housing sector over two decades. The Aboriginal Community housing sector’s vision outlines the role and aspiration for a unified and vibrant Victorian Aboriginal community housing sector delivering quality services and housing equity within a generation.

This approach will be guided by the VAHHF 5-year implementation plan which is currently being developed by the sector. The VAHHF 5-year implementation plan will aim to include growth and capacity building of the Aboriginal Community housing sector and the identification of housing specific priorities across government portfolios impacting Aboriginal communities. This approach will be directed through the recommendations of the 2022 Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Summit.

Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Data

Homes Victoria have committed to a data sharing approach since May 2023 with the Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum. Victoria’s social housing waitlist data (Victorian Housing Register) and social housing allocations data is provided to the Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum on a quarterly basis as part of this commitment.

Aboriginal homelessness system reform – Blueprint for an Aboriginal specific homelessness system in Victoria

In late 2022, following endorsement from the Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum, Homes Victoria provided $478k to Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV) to deliver the system stewardship of the Aboriginal-specific homelessness system. AHV continue to lead the co-design activities such as developing the role and function of the Aboriginal steward, and the establishment and co-design of the service model of two Aboriginal specific homelessness entry points.

The Big Housing Build

Under the Big Housing Build (BHB), 10 per cent of all the net new growth of homes built will be for Aboriginal Victorians. This growth in housing for Aboriginal Victorians will be delivered by a combination of Aboriginal housing organisations and mainstream housing providers.

The BHB has a delivery target of 820 net new social housing dwellings for Aboriginal Victorians. This includes 420 net new social housing dwellings from the Social Housing Growth Fund (SHGF). The remaining 400 homes are those acquired or developed by Homes Victoria and will be placed with Aboriginal housing providers for management. 

To assist Aboriginal housing providers in the development of their application for grants under the SHFG HfAVR, a targeted resource was created to lead the engagement with Aboriginal housing organisations who wish to participate. This includes project feasibility and funding submissions for new social housing projects during the pre-lodgement phase.

Social Housing Regulation Review

Prioritising and supporting self-determination for Aboriginal Victorians to deliver Aboriginal housing outcomes is one of the three key streams of reform for implementation announced late in 2024. These reform streams are in response to the Victorian Government initiated Social Housing Regulation Review.

This reform stream will promote Aboriginal self-determination and cultural safety by embedding the goals of the Mana-na worn-tyeen maar-takoort: Every Aboriginal Person Has a Home – The Victorian Housing and Homelessness Framework.

Social Housing Accelerator Program

In 2023-24, the Victorian Government invested $496.5 million through the Social Housing Accelerator Program in collaboration with the Commonwealth Government, to provide a boost to social housing in Victoria. This includes providing 10 per cent of 78 committed new and refurbished dwellings in Metropolitan Melbourne to registered Aboriginal housing providers.

Regional Housing Fund

The $1 billion Victorian Government Regional Housing Fund will deliver more than 1300 new homes across regional Victoria. The new homes will include a mix of social and affordable housing. A minimum 10 per cent allocation of the funding commitment will be targeted towards First Peoples housing.

Building Works package

As part of the Victorian Government $2.7 billion Building Works package announced in May 2020, $528 million has been invested in 2023-24 to support delivery of maintenance, upgrades and new housing including:

• $5.8 million for Aboriginal Housing Victoria properties as part of the Community Housing Stream
• $35 million for upgrades and maintenance of properties for the Aboriginal communities
• $3.3 million for the development of a new facility to support Aboriginal men exiting corrections facilities
• $4.29 million to develop and deliver 12 new homes which include 2 x 2-bedroom townhouses in Hampton and 10 (2 x 1 bedroom and 8 x 2 bedroom) low-rise apartment in Dandenong.

Developing Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Five-year Regional Growth Plans

Funding of $540,000 provided by the Department of Premier and Cabinet in 2024-25 is going towards the development of Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Five-year Regional Growth Plans, with a minimum of five regional plans to be delivered by 1 May 2026.

The regional plans will aim to capture key activities to implement the VAHHF, including new social and affordable housing supply, homelessness reforms to improve support for Aboriginal Victorians, improved accommodation and long-term housing outcomes, capacity building activities to support workforce development, and the scaling up of Aboriginal housing and homelessness providers.

Community Housing Sector Development Fund - Building the Capacity of the Aboriginal Housing Sector

The Community Housing Sector Development Fund was established in 2020 with $6 million funding and is part of the total BHB funding envelope.

At least 10 per cent was committed to capacity building for the Aboriginal housing sector. To date, $2,861,172 or 47 per cent of funding has been allocated to projects focussed on building the capacity of the Aboriginal Housing Sector.

Supporting Aboriginal Registration project

The Community Sector Development Fund provided funding in 2023-24 to support and increase the number of Aboriginal housing providers. The project aims to support ACCOs and Traditional Owner Corporations (TOCs) to obtain Community housing registration process. This support will be complemented by a grants program to support ACCOs and TOCs.

Local Government Partnerships project

The Community Sector Development Fund provided funding in 2023-24 to employ staff and develop a workplan to increase the understanding of the housing needs of Aboriginal people in selected local government areas. The project will look to apply strategies to promote First Peoples housing outcomes, support First Peoples projects, codify commitments, and foster connection between councils, ACCOs and TOCs.

Breaking down barriers for ACCOs to the Big Housing Build

The Community Sector Development Fund provided funding in 2023-24 for the Breaking Down Barriers to the BHB project. This funding provides grants to ACCOs to support their participation in BHB founding rounds and to increase the number of ACCOs and TOCs seeking to deliver social housing. The grant funding can contribute to building internal business capacity towards developing proposals for the development of land, including feasibility studies and other required technical assessments.

Victorian Public Tenancy Association Aboriginal Advocacy program

In 2023-24, $350,000 has been provided by Homes Victoria to extend the implementation of the Victorian Public Tenants Association (VPTA) Aboriginal Advocacy Program.

One new Aboriginal advocacy role was created at the VPTA to provide advice, assistance, and referrals for Aboriginal people, including those who are homeless, or otherwise in significant housing distress. The positions are responsible for advocating for the provision of a viable public housing system for those who need it. The advocates will provide Aboriginal tenants with a voice by enabling the VPTA to provide support and feedback to VAHHF Aboriginal Governance Groups.

Aboriginal Public Housing Tenancy Management Transfer Pilot

$400,000 has been provided to implement the Aboriginal Public Housing Tenancy Management Transfer Pilot to test an approach to tenancy management that promotes Aboriginal self-determination and cultural safety.

Aboriginal Private Rental Assistance Program

Homes Victoria is working with ACCOs to open doors to private rental housing for Aboriginal Victorians through the Aboriginal Private Rental Assistance Program (Program). Funding of $5.1 million was provided in 2023-24 to continue the Program.

The Program is a preventative intervention that provides private rental brokerage and holistic support to households experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It is intended to prevent or end the homelessness and housing crisis by rapidly rehousing people and supporting households to sustain affordable and appropriate housing in the private rental market.

Since the Program commenced at the end of 2020, over 1,300 households have accessed the Program. The Program initially served five regions determined by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. The Program is now funded in Western Melbourne, Mallee, North Eastern Melbourne, Loddon, Bayside Peninsula, Inner Gippsland, Brimbank Melton, Goulburn, Outer Gippsland and Barwon.

Aboriginal Private Rental Access Project

The Aboriginal Private Rental Access Project (Project) arose from a recommendation in the Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort: Every Aboriginal Person Has a Home and was undertaken by the Commissioner for Residential Tenancies in collaboration with Aboriginal Housing Victoria and others. The aim of the project was to identify and address access barriers to the private rental market for Aboriginal people.

The Project produced two reports that were officially launched by the Minister for Consumer Affairs in October 2022 and included fourteen recommendations. The reports were developed in consultation with Aboriginal housing and homelessness organisations and analysed systemic issues and access barriers experienced by Aboriginal people accessing the private rental market. The report included recommendations for reform. Implementation of the recommendations progressed during 2024 and will continue through 2025.

Aboriginal Corrections Housing Pathways Initiative

The Aboriginal Corrections Housing Pathways Initiative (ACHPI) pilot prevents homelessness for people exiting custodial settings, through initial assessment and planning and case management support to help keep or find suitable housing. The ACHPI program is currently being delivered by Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited (VACSAL) and Mallee District Aboriginal Services (MDAS). The ACHPI program provides an avenue for culturally safe support to Aboriginal people aged 18 years and over, in addition to the mainstream Corrections Housing Pathways Initiative.