Housing regulation in Victoria – objectives and administration

This information sheet is one of an Introducing regulation series which provide brief introductory information on housing regulation, the Registrar of Housing Agencies and the registered housing sector.

What is housing regulation?

Housing regulation in Victoria applies to not-for-profit rental housing agencies (commonly known as community housing organisations) who manage low cost housing properties in which Victorians unable to afford to rent in the private rental market may behoused.

Community housing organisations may manage properties owned by the government, themselves or third parties.

Housing regulation does not apply to rental housing managed by private landlords or to public housing managed by the Department of Health and Human Services.

When was it introduced?

Regulation was introduced in January 2005 when Part VIII was added to the Housing Act1983 (the Act).

The amendments to the Act underpinnedthe Government’s aim to increase the supply of affordable rental housing for disadvantaged Victorians.

What does it aim to achieve?

There are four overarching regulatory objectives:

  • to ensure that all housing agencies are viable, well-governed and properly managed;
  • to protect and ensure accountable use of government assets managed by the affordable housing sector.
  • build confidence in the public and private sector to invest in and grow affordable housing; and
  • to ensure quality and continuous improvement in service delivery and outcomes for tenants.

How is the regulation administered?

The Act established the statutory role of the Registrar of Housing Agencies (the Registrar) which reports directly to the relevant Minister responsible for housing regulation in the State Government.

To support this role, an administrative office, the Housing Registrar, was established with a senior executive officer within the Victorian public sector leading this unit. The unit is currently located within the Department of Treasury and Finance.

The mission of the Housing Registrar is:

“to protect social housing assets and ensure quality services to tenants by regulating well-governed, well-managed, financially viable rental housing agencies”.

There are fiveprinciples that guide the practice of the Housing Registrar:

  • Transparency – clear expectations of decisions and actions taken.
  • Accountability – all decisions are justified by data and evidence.
  • Proportionality – monitoring is appropriate to the risks facing an individual agency.
  • Consistency – judgements and actions are applied in a predicable way.
  • Targeting – focused engagement on specific areas of concern with individual agencies.

How does the Victorian system relate to the National Regulatory System for Community Housing?

The National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH) was established in 2014. Currently all States and Territories except Victoria and Western Australia are part of the national system. However, in2014, Victoria modified its performance standards for registered agencies to mirror that of the national system.

Agencies that manage housing in Victoria must create a separate entity to obtain registration under the national system and vice versa. Each entity then needs to meet the standards and any other compliance measures applying under the respective systems.