Housing Commission of Victoria

The Housing Commission of Victoria (colloquially known as the Housing Commission) was a State Government body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. Responsible to the Victorian Minister for Housing it was established in 1938 and existed until replaced by the Victorian Office of Housing.

The Commission was established under the "Housing Act 1937" in response to slum housing in Melbourne, and worked under the "Slum Reclamation and Housing Act 1938". [cite web
url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130356b.htm
title=Burt, Walter Oswald (Ossie) (1893 - 1969) Biographical Entry
work=Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
publisher=www.adb.online.anu.edu.au
accessdate=2008-07-27] The mission was 'slum abolition' driven by the missionary zeal of Christian social reformers, but later became 'slum clearance' and 'block demolition'. [cite web
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=iqMKVH2A_esC&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=victorian+housing+commission&source=web&ots=Pw4yHK5C8o&sig=-vDeTq19mhHGudtJ21SJhh8Hlr0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result
title=Property, Politics, and Urban Planning: A History of Australian City Planning 1890 - 1990
ISBN=0887383351
author=Leonie Sandercock
year=1990
publisher=Transaction Publishers
accessdate=2008-07-27]

The Commission presided over the construction of the Melbourne Olympic Village in 1956, and made its mark on the Melbourne skyline during the 1960s in the form of high-rise blocks of flats just off Lygon Street in Carlton. [cite web
url=http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/lcj/wayward/ch13.html
title=The Victorian land scandals 1973-82
work=Australian Institute of Criminology
publisher=www.aic.gov.au
accessdate=2008-07-27] Approximately twenty of these precast concrete 20 to 30 storey height buildings were constructed around Melbourne, until the type of development fell into disrepute, mainly for sociological reasons.cite web
url=http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/337.html
title=Industrialised Pre-cast Concrete Housing
work=Technology in Australia 1788-1988
publisher=www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au
accessdate=2008-07-27] By 1970 nearly 4000 privately owned dwellings had been compulsory acquired and replaced by nearly 7000 high rise flats. [cite web
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=erdM7YpQZogC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=victorian+housing+commission&source=web&ots=O2AJjS1_I6&sig=Iyvz0lbr-rayKbeCeKpEplx3ups&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result
title=Gentrification, Displacement, and Neighborhood Revitalization
author=J. John Palen, Bruce London
page=249
year=1984
ISBN=0873957849
publisher=SUNY Press
accessdate=2008-07-27]

Production then moved to low rise walk up and single dwelling units, with about 10,000 homes using locally engineered design and erection methods constructed using the technology. Public housing was also built in regional Victorian cities, such as Wangaratta, Wodonga and Geelong. [cite web
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=RDsBKggTrW8C&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=victorian+housing+commission&source=web&ots=j7oiGydo_j&sig=ilO3k7ev649Lyi_Tb-vaGTKQDGA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result
title=Making a City in the Country: The Albury-Wodonga National Growth Centre
author=Bruce Pennay
year=2006
publisher=UNSW Press
accessdate=2008-07-27]

ee also

* Public housing in Australia

References