Steve D•••

About

On the record

Addressing the housing crisis across Victoria, especially regional and rural Victoria, has become a passion. Working with Roger Hastrich (very experiencd consultant in health, aged care, Aboriginal health, housing and human services) through our consultancy, Regional Housing Victoria, has demonstrated the complexities and idiosyncrasies of our housing eco-system and the impacts on rural communities. Having been been at the forefront of urban planning and housing development in Victoria for many years has given me a perspective on practical and effective options to respond to the housing crisis. I've held senior executive positions in state and local government - including Executive positions at the Victorian Planning Authority, Homes Victoria and several Victorian councils. We are finding that some communities are struggling to deal with the functional poverty attributable to high cost / low quality housing in a dysfunctional private rental market. Other communities are booming, but held back by the inability to attract new skills and people because of the lack of worker housing - particularly rental housing that says "Welcome to our town". So, our consultancy delivers one-off projects in both social and worker housing but also focuses on linking people and ideas from across the state because the problems are similar everywhere but there are loads of great people working out local solutions that are worth sharing. If you would like to chat about a project idea call me on 0417 382 740 or email steve@rhvic.com.au. Steve Steve is a former Board Member of Housing First, Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and Registered Planner.