Investigation into the public housing towers and relocation of residents – FAQs

The Ombudsman is an independent organisation that investigates complaints about Victorian government organisations to make sure people are treated fairly. We are not part of the government or Homes Victoria.

We are investigating the experiences of people who live in public housing and have to move homes because the government is demolishing the public housing towers. The investigation will look at:

• what happens when people move from public housing (owned by government) to community housing (managed by not-for-profit groups)
• whether the homes people have moved to are suitable
• what happens when people say no to moving
• what happens to people still living in towers where most others have left
• what Homes Victoria has told people about their move
• any problems older people have moving homes.

We are looking at the experiences of people moving from towers in Carlton, Flemington, North Melbourne, Richmond, South Yarra, Kensington, Prahran, St Kilda and Albert Park.

We will also look at how Homes Victoria has maintained and fixed any problems with the public housing towers after the government decided it would demolish them.

If the Victorian Parliament is concerned about something, it can ask the Ombudsman to investigate. The parliament referred this investigation to the Ombudsman on 17 June 2026.

We started the investigation in June 2026 and expect it will take at least 12 months to finish.

We want to hear from people who have to move homes because the government is demolishing the public housing towers or who are affected in other ways. We will share more information about how you can have your say soon.

At the end of the investigation, we will give our report to the Victorian Parliament. We may recommend improvements or changes based on what we find. We will also share our report on our website.

Separate to this investigation, the Ombudsman can also help resolve people’s complaints about public housing issues. For advice about whether we can help with your issue, please call us on 1800 806 314. To speak with us in your language, please call an interpreter on 131 450. You can also make a complaint using our online complaint form .