Murrindindi Shire’s lack of emergency housing

FAMILY Violence is a widespread issue that impacts individuals, families, and the community. Just because you don’t see it firsthand doesn’t mean it’s not happening under your nose in the community. You don’t really know what a person is going through unless you are told.

According to the Crime Statistics Agency, from 2023 to 2024 in the Murrindindi Shire, there were 187 cases of family violence recorded by Victoria Police, with 73 family violence cases involving children. Family violence happens mainly behind closed doors, with 12 of the cases occurring outside of the home and 175 in the home during 2023-4.

So where do you go in the Murrindindi Shire if you have to flee from a family violence situation?

Recently Alexandra Newspapers sat down with Geoff Proctor, Alexandra’s Rotary Club president, to find out about the issue of lack of emergency housing in the shire and his vision of repurposing the old Alexandra Hospital into emergency housing.

“People don’t know how many people, and predominantly women, who are living out of cars. We’ve got an issue, but nobody sees it you know, we’ve arranged now with the Alexandra Community Hub that we have access to some money to help people out in an emergency where they didn’t have the funds…

“With domestic violence, one of the issues that came up at a meeting we had at the Hub was if police need to put somebody in another accommodation, there is nothing. The only way they can do it now is if the person has got access to some money, they can put them into a motel. That’s overnight or a couple of nights, but if not, then they have to them in a cell. They have nowhere else to put them.

“So how do we deal with it?… The issue is that you’ve got a building that sits there (the old Alexandra Hospital) that does nothing. People tell me, ‘Oh, it’s got asbestos you can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ I said, ‘It’s got an en-suite, yeah? All you need to do is put a lock on the door. You don’t have to do anything. Don’t have to touch it. They need a bed, and they need access to a toilet and a shower. You put a lock on the door.”

Nearly two years ago Alexandra Newspapers reported on a meeting held at the Alexandra Community Hub with the providers of homeless support in Murrindindi Shire. The meeting focused on homelessness due to many factors such as the rental crisis, the impact of the building industry collapse, the topic of emergency accommodation.

Sergeant Andrew Walker from the Alexandra Police said there is a need to have short term accommodation available in the shire, such as for when people have missed a bus or in situations of domestic violence.

“They work to find accommodation at locations such as caravan parks or at local hotels, however this can be challenging if it is required late at night. In cases of family violence, the police have at times needed to transport people very long distances, such as to Wangaratta, and police may spend their whole shift on this task. Unfortunately, no funds are available to book a taxi for the people. He said that this can occur around once per month….