Editorial

The number of Victorian households waiting for public housing, about 34,000, is at the lowest level since 2007. This reflects a fairly consistent, declining trend since the Coalition came to government in 2010. Such improvements, generally, are to be welcomed. As the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has said, getting people into secure accommodation, a place they can call ''home'', helps improve their health and education, their links to the broader community and their employment prospects.

The government is building about 160 public housing sites at New Norlane outside Geelong, a program announced in 2011. However, in a damning report in 2012, the Auditor-General found the state's public housing situation was ''critical''. There was no long-term strategic plan for managing the properties and about 14 per cent were virtually obsolete.

In late March, the government released its future program for public housing. Admirably, it highlighted the government's commitment of $1.3 billion over five years to rebuilding some of the existing stock and refurbishing run-down properties, though it should be noted that only $149 million of this was new, the rest having been committed in previous budgets.

Sadly, the program offered nothing further in the way of an actual increase in the housing stock. The word ''build'' or ''building'' appears 23 times in the New Directions for Social Housing report, with plenty of promises to build on the current approach, build strong communities and build a brighter future. Yet there is no suggestion, let alone a promise, that the government plans to expand the existing portfolio.

That means tens of thousands of Victorians will continue to idle on government waiting lists, uncertain if they will ever shift from their current rudimentary living arrangements into something more permanent. And more of the burden for providing accommodation will fall to the already stretched independent welfare organisations and community groups.

The government has been managing the public housing waiting list more efficiently, in part by ensuring properties with multiple bedrooms are fully occupied. And it has directed more people into the private and community sector, in part by helping them obtain loans for rental bonds.

This does not, however, eradicate the problems faced by many vulnerable families, from all cultures and all kinds of circumstances. As The Age reported last week, the number of middle-aged women seeking help to find accommodation is soaring. About 4800 asked for help in 2012-13, up one-third on the previous year.

There is a hidden story, too, in the many thousands of Victorians who do not make it onto the waiting list, or who do not ask for assistance. They battle on, crowding several to a room in bare accommodation, pooling their funds to meet monthly rental payments that rise inexorably every year, and often falling short on money for food and clothing. Welfare agencies and community organisations deal with some, but not all, of the most needy in our community, but donations to the charitable sector in recent years have declined and governments have cut back grants.

The Napthine government's strategy involves selling some properties and using the proceeds to build housing elsewhere. As The Age reported last week, it appears to be preparing to sell a substantial block of land in Richmond that had been earmarked for public housing. We urge the government to expand its commitment to public housing by building more houses and apartments, and not simply push demand onto the private sector. Leadership in government entails more than efficiency and balancing budgets. Good leaders plan for population growth, with all the benefits and pitfalls that may bring, and they recognise the obligation our wealthy community owes to the most vulnerable.