GRACE MARSHALL, HOST: Earlier this month, you would have seen an announcement from the Federal Government that they will put $145 million into safe and stable housing for young people who are experiencing homelessness, as well as women escaping from domestic violence in Victoria, and on Monday, the Federal Government, announced an additional $300 million in capital grants towards new crisis and transitional housing, as well for women and children escaping domestic violence, and locally, that means Mildura and Swan Hill will receive 18 new crisis and transitional homes. Josh Burns is the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness, he joins me now. Good morning, welcome to the program, Josh.
JOSH BURNS, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SOCIAL HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS: Thank you so much for having me.
MARSHALL: So, there's been this announcement for quite a large number of homes across the State, but Mildura and Swan Hill getting 18 together. How is that divided up?
BURNS: So, we have $700 million across the country that we initially allocated for grants for crisis and transitional housing, but we said it can't just be in the cities. It's got to be right around the country. It's got to be in the regions. It's got to be in the towns where people need them. And we know that there's huge need for not only crisis and transitional housing, but also long-term housing in Mildura and in Swan Hill, and we know that when we look at regional towns, there are unfortunately people who are having this awful, awful choice of do I stay in a violent home or do I try and get help? And so we've partnered with local community housing providers to build some homes that will be there for people in possibly the worst moment of their life, and to help them rebuild their lives, and to help them get some support services to deal with all of the things that they might be going through in that time. So, these homes are really important. They're going to be available for the community. And yeah, I wish we didn't need to make these sorts of investments, but we do, and it's really important they’re in local communities like Mildura and Swan Hill.
MARSHALL: And so that 18 – is that nine in Swan Hill and nine in Mildura? Is that divided evenly?
BURNS: It's actually six in Mildura and 12 in Swan Hill. I've got to be careful about what sort of specifics I give about some of the projects because, often these are safe houses, Grace, and we don't want people to have their location exposed, especially if they're leaving a violent home. But yeah, these programs will be made available, and if people do reach out for help, they'll be able to navigate exact locations and those sorts of things.
MARSHALL: And when is the expected delivery, Josh? Is this something that would be happening in the next 12 months?
BURNS: So, the Mildura project is going to be constructed. So we're building them purpose-built, and these are going to be homes that are under construction. So, it will take a little bit of time, but we are keen to get this available to the community as quickly as possible, and in Swan Hill, they are being built using modular construction. So hopefully, these will be done potentially a little bit sooner, and as soon as they're ready, I know that they'll be used. So, all of the homes have to be completed by mid-2029. But we're hoping to get these done much, much faster.
MARSHALL: Do you have the numbers or figures on how many young people might be unhoused across the region at the moment, or experiencing homelessness?
BURNS: I don't have the numbers because, unfortunately, what we also know is that young people especially – they couch surf, they go to their friends' houses, they are often in a home that may not be safe for them. So actually, the numbers that the State Government would have also don't paint the full picture, especially for young people, and especially for women and children fleeing violence. But we know that the demand is huge, and these homes will make a huge difference. But we also need to keep doing more Grace. And as you mentioned at the top of the interview, we did announce another $300 million at the start of the week, and that will, like the $700 million, be allocated right across the country. Obviously, we haven't made any announcements yet, and we're working through all of the different applications for that.
MARSHALL: So they could potentially see more housing in Mildura and Swan Hill as well.
BURNS: Yeah, I don't want to make any promises because these are not done by political decisions. They're done in partnership with organizations that are running services, that have programs, have proposals, have things that are ready to go and need federal government funding to construct. So we'll work through all of those in appropriate ways, but we want to do them very, very quickly. But yes, absolutely, these are extra. This is an extra $300 million on top of what we've already announced, which includes these two different projects in Mildura and Swan Hill.
MARSHALL: Yeah, really, really important projects to have here on the ground for young people experiencing homelessness, but also for women and children that are fleeing domestic violence. Josh Burns is the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness. Josh, before you go, what does that actually mean? The Special Envoy – is there a way to explain that role? Is it a fancy title for a really important role?
BURNS: Well, I'm appreciative that the Prime Minister put the word "special" in there. It makes me feel good. But the special envoy is a role that is allocated by the Prime Minister. But my responsibility is to work with the Minister for Housing. I work on all of the social housing projects that the Federal Government is doing. So, the Housing Australia Future Fund, these crisis and transitional housing homes, the regulation and liaison with our community housing organisations and working with our State Governments on those policy areas, and then we also work with the incredible people across the homelessness sector. The Federal Government funds the homelessness sector in collaboration with the State and Territory governments via the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement. So, my job is to work on that policy, work with State Governments, try and support the incredible people who are working in our housing and homelessness sector, and most importantly, Grace, to try and get the Federal Government to build more homes, which we didn't do for a long time, but we are now building 55,000 social and affordable homes, including crisis and transitional homes. And so, it's a busy time to be a Special Envoy right now.
MARSHALL: Will you be visiting Mildura or Swan Hill as this program comes to fruition?
BURNS: Absolutely. I do have a young daughter who's almost nine months old, as well as a beautiful eight-year-old daughter. So, they keep me grounded when I'm not in Canberra. But I've been to Mildura many times. I used to come down there and play basketball on the weekend in the VBL. So, it's been a while since I've been down to Mildura, but I'd love to come down hopefully in the in the not-too-distant future, maybe in the early new year, to come and see these projects, speak with the local community, and see what else we can do to support your beautiful part of the world.
MARSHALL: Well, really important work, as I said, and much-needed funding coming in there from the Federal Government. Thank you so much for your time this morning, Josh.
BURNS: Thanks for having me on, Grace.
MARSHALL: That's Josh Burns there. He's the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness. As you heard earlier this month, that’s $145 million dollars into safe and stable housing for young people experiencing homelessness and women escaping domestic violence in Victoria, and on Monday an additional $300 million in capital grants, and that looks like, as Josh said, 12 houses in Swan Hill, 6 in Mildura, finished at the latest by 2029, with 55,000 homes across the whole country. Hopefully we’ll see Josh in Mildura early next year.