Is this the end of Charitable Supported Housing programs in Victoria?

By November this year, fixed term residential rental agreements in Victoria will in practice be prohibited. Recent amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA) repeal the section 91ZZD ground for issuing a notice to vacate at the end of a fixed term. This change will significantly impact Charitable Supported Housing programs which are predicated on short-to-medium term fixed rental arrangements. These programs are likely to become less effective in their ability to provide housing to vulnerable Victorians, and may even become unviable in future. A solution is urgently needed from the Victorian Government to resolve this issue.

What is ‘Charitable Supported Housing’?

In this article, we refer to ‘Charitable Supported Housing’ – this covers a range of programs operated by charities which provide accommodation to a specific cohort of individuals for a limited period of time (typically between 6 weeks and 24 months). Charitable Supported Housing is almost always provided to program participants at a significant rental discount.

Examples of Charitable Supported Housing include:

1. Independent housing for minors in state guardianship;
2. Transitional housing for people leaving prison;
3. Housing provided as part of drug or alcohol rehabilitation programs;
4. Medium-term housing for victims of domestic violence;
5. Short-term and medium-term housing funded by the NDIS; and
6. Transitional housing for people at risk of homelessness.

What has happened?

On 18 March 2025, the Consumer and Planning Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Act 2025 (HSR Act) was passed into law. Among other things, the HSR Act repeals sections 91ZZD and 91ZZDA of the RTA – these sections previously allowed landlords to issue a renter with a notice to vacate at the end of the initial fixed term of their residential rental agreement.

In its public comments on the HSR Act, the Victorian Government explained that it is repealing sections 91ZZD and 91ZZDA in order to ‘crack down on an emerging trend which has seen some landlords evict tenants at the end of their first fixed-term lease in order raise the rent substantially when re-listing the rental property’. We understand the Government’s stated intention is to ensure long-term housing which is affordable for most Victorians – the HSR Act is clearly targeted at resolving an issue identified in the private rental market.

How does this affect Charitable Supported Housing?

The RTA does not distinguish between long-term private rentals and Charitable Supported Housing. As a result of the HSR Act amendments, it is no longer practical to operate a charitable housing program which delivers anything other than long-term housing (except in very rare circumstances where the RTA does not apply).

The tension between the RTA and Charitable Supported Housing is as follows:

1. Charitable Supported Housing is provided to individuals who are either:

1. receiving an intervention for a specific issue while living in that accommodation (e.g. drug rehab or mental health care); or
2. being housed for a limited period while long-term housing is identified (e.g. individuals leaving prison or transitional housing programs).

Once the intervention has been delivered or the entitlement period has expired, renters are expected to move out so that future participants in the program can use the property. It is crucial to the viability of Charitable Supported Housing programs that properties routinely become available for use by new participants. This necessarily requires existing participants to move out once their program involvement ends.

2. Sometimes, a participant may not want to move out at the end of the program. This is completely understandable – it may be the first stable accommodation they have had, or they may not want to leave a property where they receive subsidised rents. However, Charitable Supported Housing programs cannot function where renters are allowed to remain at program property indefinitely. Eventually, no new properties will be available for allocation to incoming participants who need the benefits of the service. 

3. Prior to the HSR Act, charitable housing providers managed their tenancies by issuing a notice to vacate at the end of the initial fixed term. This notice provided the incumbent renter with certainty regarding the date they need to vacate the property and provided the charitable housing provider with certainty that the property would be available for the next participant on their waiting list.

4. The HSR Act has repealed the only remaining provisions of the RTA which allowed for issuing a notice to vacate in these circumstances. Charitable housing providers now have zero ability to legally manage the duration of their short-to-medium term rental agreements. It is not an exaggeration to say that all RTA tenancies are now effectively long-term housing and, as a result, it is impractical to run a Charitable Supported Housing program.

5. There are also risks for charitable housing providers:

1. Charitable housing providers may exist to provide only short-term housing, or to provide housing only to people who meet certain criteria. The loss of control over their tenancy duration means those charitable housing providers may be acting outside of their stated purposes. This has reputational implications and – in the most extreme case – may impact an organisation’s ongoing registration with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) if it does not act in accordance with its purposes.
2. Charitable Supported Housing programs are typically funded by State or Federal government agencies. The terms of funding may require that:
   1. funding only be used to provide housing to individuals who meet eligibility criteria; or
   2. the charitable housing provider meets quotas for the number of participants in the Charitable Supported Housing Program.

Without the legal ability to turnover rented properties to new participants, charitable housing providers may breach their funding obligations and have no pathway to remedying the breach.

6. Over time, it is likely that more and more properties originally used for Charitable Supported Housing will become occupied by long-term renters who no longer meet program criteria. Although those renters will benefit from long-term housing, many others will be denied the ability to participate in Charitable Supported Housing programs as a result.

7. If the current situation persists, the resulting attrition in housing stock available for Charitable Supported Housing may make those programs unviable or significantly limit their effectiveness.

What steps need to be taken to preserve supported housing programs?

In our view, this problem needs a two-stage legislative fix from the Victorian Government:

1. Temporary fix – gazette transitional housing requirements

1. The RTA already contains provisions for issuing a notice to vacate in relation to a transitional housing agreement (i.e. a rental agreement for less than 12 months provided to persons at risk of homelessness).
2. Section 91ZZF provides that Homes Victoria or its delegate may give a notice to vacate to a transitional housing renter where:
   1. Homes Victoria has published a set of requirements for transitional housing renters to seek alternative accommodation; and
   2. the renter has unreasonably refused to seek alternative accommodation, or unreasonably refused an offer of alternative accommodation.
3. Frustratingly, section 91ZZF is functionally useless. Homes Victoria has never published requirements for renters to seek alternative accommodation, and therefore it is impossible to issue a valid notice to vacate on these grounds.
4. Even if such requirements were published, this clause only applies:
   1. to Homes Victoria or its delegate (which requires an instrument of delegation); and
   2. in transitional housing circumstances.
5. The charitable housing sector would undoubtedly welcome the publication of transitional housing requirements. However, it must be acknowledged that this doesn’t provide a solution to the majority Supported Housing Programs, either because the charitable housing provider is not a delegate of Homes Victoria or because the program does not target individuals at risk of homelessness.

2. Long-term fix – consult with the charitable housing sector and amend the RTA

In practice, the RTA needs a number of amendments so that Charitable Supported Housing programs can function as intended. This could include:

1. A definition for charitable housing providers which is broader than a ‘registered agency’ as defined by the Housing Act. Many charitable housing providers are not registered agencies because they only provide short-to-medium-term housing and are funded accordingly.
2. Providing exemptions from the RTA (or specific sections of the RTA) for housing provided by a charitable housing provider for a fixed period less than 12 months for exclusively charitable purposes. This could align with tests for ‘charitable use’ already employed by the State Revenue Office under other legislation.  
3. Establishing new grounds to issue a notice to vacate in circumstances where a renter was originally provided housing a part of a Charitable Supported Housing program, and that renter is now no longer eligible to participate in that program. ‘Eligibility requirements’ have previously existed in the RTA, but have only applied to public housing tenancies.

We acknowledge that the RTA is still a vital protection for vulnerable renters in charitable housing. Any changes made to the RTA should be for the purpose of ensuring that Charitable Supported Housing programs are able to continue to operate as intended.

Conclusion

The charitable housing providers we work with are incredibly committed to sustaining tenancies for as long as possible, ideally until the renter finds suitable alternative accommodation. It is a sad fact that Charitable Supported Housing programs and properties are needed. But they were never intended to provide a renter with their ‘forever home’. The ability to issue a notice to vacate to a renter in those programs helps to ensure that housing can be used to support future program participants. Eviction is always a last resort.

Victoria is in the midst of a housing crisis, and steps must be taken to address it. However, there must also be reasonable consideration by the Victorian Government of charitable housing models other than long-term housing, particularly when Charitable Supported Housing plays a key role in preventing homelessness and providing vital supports to vulnerable people.

How we can help

If you are concerned that your organisation is providing accommodation that may be affected by the recent RTA amendments, please contact Ed Hamley or Andrew Boer for tailored advice.

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_{Disclaimer: This article provides general information only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. You should seek legal advice regarding the application of the law to your organisation.}