Coroner calls for rooming house reform
The Victorian Coroner, Peter White, has recommended sweeping changes to rooming house licensing and regulation after an inquest into the deaths of Leigh Sinclair, 25, and Christopher Giorgi, 24, in a Brunswick rooming house fire in 2006.
The Call this a home? Campaign welcomes the Coroner’s findings. We urge the State Government to protect vulnerable residents in sub-standard rooming houses by adopting Mr White’s recommendations.
The Government must implement significant change to ensure no more avoidable deaths occur in unsafe private rooming houses. The State Government is currently considering the recommendations of its Rooming Houses Taskforce and is expected to make an announcement in the next month or so.
Call this a home? encourages campaign supporters to continue advocating for change through letters and calls to your local MPs, local media and online.
Please take a moment to write a brief letter to one of the newspapers below to reinforce the call for protections for vulnerable Victorians.
Read The Age’s opinion piece on this subject from Tuesday
Letter to the editor contacts
The Age - letters@theage.com.au
The Herald Sun - hsletters@heraldsun.com.au
The Australian - letters@theaustralian.com.au
The Melbourne Times - letters.tmt@fairfax.com.auMore information on the coroner's findings
Read the Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic media release
Read the VCOSS media release
Read the Coroner’s findingsVisit our websites for more campaign resources
www.callthisahome.net
www.facebook.com/callthisahome
www.gopetition.com/petitions/make-victorian-rooming-houses-safe/sign.html
Read the latest media coverage on rooming housesTo make an anonymous complaint about a rooming house call Consumer Affairs Victoria (freecall) on 1300 365 814.
Call this a home? Campaign for safe rooming houses in Victoria
