VCAT & Vic Ombudsman COVER UP the Dept of Housing's Maladministration &Corruption -NO Govt Integrity

[mariem888]

Dear All, 

My family and I are shocked by the level of Corruption & Misconduct within Victorian Government Departments (Dept of Housing , Victorian Ombudsman and VCAT). My family and I are very good Public Tenants (my Son has a disability Autism) but since our very valid complaints against Two Dept of Housing Problem Managers, we are experiencing discrimination, Maladministration and reduction in essential services by the Dept of Housing. The manner in which the Victorian Ombudsman and VCAT Mishandle our complaints is nothing short of Appalling Misconduct and Corruption. We are uncovering a deepset Lack of Integrity, Lack of Accountability and Lack of Transparency within each of these Government Departments, Laws need to be changed to Protect Public Housing Tenants but Also the General Public.

It is the job of Victorian Ombudsman to make the Dept of Housing staff accountable for their actions, but they have done nothing to resolve our complaints

• Dept of Housing are Discriminating against us and have stopped sending Automatic Rental Statements. Their policy states that Tenants are to receive statements every three months.
• Dept of Housing Refuse to send us an Account Reconciliation despite our numerous requests,which is also against their Tenancy Management Manual.
• Dept of Housing Breach the Residential Tenancies Act by Not maintaining our premises in good repair, No programmed works in Fifteen Years and also (leaving a 24 year old window lock faulty and unsafe (we had to replace it, and VCAT ordered Dept of Housing Reimburse us and 5 years later Dept have Not reimbursed us, leaving an old gas stove faulty (unsafe) and not servicing in 5 years, not repairing Storm damages in Years, ETC.
• Rude and Confrontational Dept of Housing Staff
• There are more complaints but they will exceed this page.

Until The Victorian Ombudsman Act 1973 is corrected, Vic Ombudsman staff will not bother to do their jobs properly. A report (full of errors) came back from a "Junior officer" at the Ombudsman office who stated she will not investigate our complaints. She got all the facts wrong. We escalated this to her manager who replied "Sorry but we have limited resources" The Law states that the Victorian Ombudsman decides whether to make enquiries or investigate complaints (two different things), when we ask for the details of the responses by the Dept of Housing to the Vic Ombudsman, the Vic Ombudsman refuse to provide this information as they state that the Victorian Ombudsman are not subject to Freedom of Information. So where is Transparency to allow us to correct Department of Housing Inaccuracies and Misleading Statements???

As for VCAT, from our experience they take the Cake for Misconduct and Corruption. In our last Tenants Application to VCAT against the Department of Housing, Senior Member completely Left Out of the Final Written Reasons all the repairs that the Dept of Housing were Requested to do by Consumer Affairs, also VCAT Senior Member convenientely left out most of our vital evidence, he also made numerous Errors for eg "Big hole in the roof finally filled after days instead of Three and a Half Years".

Our Family again have taken the Dept of Housing to VCAT but we are currently experiencing, Biased Members which we requested be Disqualified, also No fair hearing, No impartiality and gross Misconduct. VCAT have Prevented Three persons we Summoned into VCAT which is vital evidence to our case (One being the Junior Vic Ombudsman Officer who made nothing but errors in her report).   All the Best to you All.     mariem888

[michellebartley]

I lived in Public (or should I say Community) Housing which is managed by a charity church organisation for 8 years (its still public) and because of being vunerable at the time, I moved in (place had been trashed) putridly dirty (urine stains on carpet) etc.. But still they let me move in (very wrong move) no cleaning done at all by housing department.So I had some issues with some pets I kept and refused to leave. Went to court, they won. It was a nightmare. But! I had an idea and rang the ABC TV and they said they would do a story about it. The story was on the 7pm news about the pets(this was before getting the boot out of there.)Cheap and nasty housing department houses full of nasty neighbours and insipid housing department staff.

[lloydslights]

Marie:

I happen to have read what was attached in your post #29 before the "standby notice" took over.

...not very nice; and a reportable offence on this board.  Shame, shame, shame.

DEB

[lyndal1838]

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@mariem888 wrote:

Message for lyndal1838

**News Flash**This is the 21st Century... most people are aware that the quality of most products

are not manufactured like they used to be. 

Wow, so what you are suggesting is that Public Housing Tenants Never have their carpet

changed in 46 Years years, Never change their Gas stove in 46 Years and No painting in 46 Years,

No Bathroom or Kitchen upgrade in 46 Years, so basically Nothing replaced or repaired in

46 Years.

Nowhere did I say that Public Housing tenants should not have repairs and upgrades done.  What I did say was that you are complaining about 15 year old carpets and stove whereas many people live with carpets and stoves that are double or triple that age.  I have certainly replaced my refrigerator and washing machine because they wore out.....I did not expect them to be replaced by the public purse.

Most of my furniture is the original furniture that I bought when I moved in....I have only replaced what has worn out and added extra pieces as the children grew up....desks and bookcases for example.

Where is the common sense?,  

The common sense is in the fact that I look after things and don't expect others to replace appliances that are perfectly servicable.

Your standards are hardly adequate for people like my Son who has a Disability Autism and serious Health condition.

Lets make amendments to the RTA Laws and the Building Housing Standards Codes to suit Your standards. I think

Not.

You are hardly in a position to be judgmental, and you contradict yourself when stating everyone has a right to an opinion.

So my standards are not to your standard?   I am not expecting the public purse to fund my lifestyle.

You could do a lot worse than live in a house maintained to the standard of mine....it was recently valued at over $1,200,000 even without a new stove, carpets and a coat of paint.

And why doesn't everyone have a right to an opinion?

Don't forget the Taxes I paid for Sixteen Years when I worked hard, at times juggling two jobs before I had my Two

children.

You paid taxes for 16 years and now expect the taxpayer to fund you for the rest of your life?

How about this.....I have paid taxes since 1964...over 50 years with only a break of 8 years while my children were young.

I am now 70 and still paying taxes as I work part time in our business.  My OH is 73 and still working and paying taxes.

It would be very nice to put up our feet and let somebody else maintain our home and pay our bills but it is just not our style.

mariem888

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[mariem888]

Deb, (lloydslights)

I have No idea what you are talking about, there was No Message or attachment in Post 29 before the stand-by message.

You will need to elaborate exactly what you are refering to please.

mariem888

[lyndal1838]

Lloydslights is not likely to elaborate if the post was reportable.....no-one wants a slap for posting something that they know is going to incur the wrath of the Moderators.

[mariem888]

johcaschro,

Just wanted to say a quick Thank you for your kind comment, we have read some of your posts and they make a lot of sense, Witty and Insightful.

It's people like yourself that help shape great societies.

All the Best to you

mariem888

[mariem888]

esayaf,

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments, we live in a democratic society where

the voice of every person should count.

All the Best to you

marie

[tasfleur]

mariem888, I'm very sorry that you are experiencing such difficulty and frustration with your housing problems.

It could be that the housing department/s in some ways have their hands tied both financially and politically by the very Governments that employ them;  that is to say, understaffed and demoralised leaving them in a position of powerlessness to assist those they are employed to help.

At the same time, it leaves you in a bind as well and it's not that I'm defending the system at all, but when Governments withdraw funding and staff, those people (the staff) are left to take the miserable brunt of it, as no doubt you are too.

Hopefully, things will get better, patience doesn't always help I know, but that might just be your only avenue for now.

[mariem888]

tasfleur,

Thank you for your message, but to Clarify what we conveyed in our earlier posts.

This is Discrimination and Misconduct by the Dept.of Housing, Two problem Managers since our complaints about both of them to the Victorian Ombudsman years ago and also eversince We took them to Vcat for valid reasons.

These Two problem Managers at The Dept of Housing Refuse to follow their own Tenancy Management Manual policies and do Not follow the Residential Tenancies Act.

The Dept of Housing stated that they will No longer send us Rental Statements automatically (which contradicts their Tenancy Management Manual policy) which states they should be sending statements every three months automatically.

The Dept.of Housing are Refusing to send us a Rental Account Reconciliation which has Never been sent, their TMM policy states the Dept. can provide this at the request of the Tenants. 

Our Simple requests for Storm damage repairs are ignored, which would Not cost the Dept.of Housing a Cent as Storm damages are Insured.

The Dept.of Housing refusing to Stamp the important documents that we Hand in person like a Breach of Duty Notice to Landlord and etc. that Doesn't Cost a Cent they dont want us Tenants to have any proof of anything that we hand in.

The RTA states the Dept.of Housing should as (landlord) keep the premises in good repair which they don't. The Dept.of Housing staff are equipped with all the above Policies to enable them to do the jobs they were hired to do, BUT it is a simple case of these Two problem Managers using their position and powers to influence their staff and Contractors to do the Wrong things, like The Dept.of Housing Cancelling Eight Pre-Upgrade Property Programmed works inspections using Different reasons, etc. We just want all our Essential services Re-instated.

Marie

[tasfleur]

Thanks for the clarification Mariem888, I did read and comprehend your earlier posts.

I don't have an answer for what is going on because I'm not there to observe who is pushing which "buttons" on either side, but clearly, there appears to be a personality clash somewhere which has led to a stalemate (for the want of a better word).

A few posters have suggested you might want to consider moving out of the system into private accommodation.  It may very well be the only solution for you, and you could end up considerably happier perhaps.

Whatever you decide to do, hope it all works out for you soon.