# Minister for Housing (Victoria)

In the Victorian political system, the State Minister for Housing and Building is a State Government cabinet position responsible for Housing. The Minister for Housing and Building is responsible for the Office of Housing (formerly the Victorian Housing Commission); and is one of six state ministers responsible for the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH).
The Housing Commission of Victoria was established in 1938. Its stated purpose of improving existing housing and to provide adequate housing for people of limited means (public housing). The Commission ceased to exist in 1984, as it became the Office of Housing. Housing Commission remains the common colloquial term for public housing estates and developments in Victoria, particularly the inner city tower estates built in the late 1950s and 1960s by Liberal State Governments.
The Housing Commission towers were planned as a major capital work solution to urban ghettoisation. These 20-storey towers loom over many of the inner suburbs in Melbourne and are usually built in 2–6 tower configurations. Many blocks of occupied terrace and worker cottage style housing were cleared and towers of 10 apartments a floor built, surrounded by gardens and car parks. The future high property value of the former types of housing and the gentrification of inner urban areas was not foreseen. Opponents of these projects claimed that the towers were merely turning the slums upright. One of the more vocal anti-tower campaigners in the 1960s, Barry Pullen, later became a Minister for Housing in the Cain Labor Government. Crime and substance abuse problems on the estates have indeed fluctuated to high levels over the years, as different governments apply policies to renew the residential environments.
The Victorian Minister for Housing was at the centre of the Victorian land scandals of 1973–82.
The Victorian Minister for Housing and Building is also responsible for homelessness and the Residential Tenancies Act (the laws governing domestic renting in Victoria). Today the Office of Housing is Victoria's largest landlord, and is responsible for around 73,000 properties (23,000+ in regional Victorian towns and rural communities, 7,000+ inner city high-rise flats, 40,000+ houses, units and flats across suburban Melbourne, 1,700+ rooming house rooms and 1,800 moveable units).

## Victorian State Ministers for Housing and Building

| Order | Minister | Party affiliation | Ministerial title | Term start | Term end | Time in office |
| 1 | Sir William Haworth | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 2 October 1945 | 21 November 1945 | 50 days |
| 2 | Bill Barry | Labor | Minister of Housing | 21 November 1945 | 20 November 1947 | 1 year, 364 days |
| 3 | Sir Arthur Warner | Liberal Country | Minister in Charge of Housing | 20 November 1947 | 27 June 1950 | 2 years, 219 days |
| 4 | Ivan Swinburne | Country | Minister in Charge of Housing | 27 June 1950 | 28 October 1952 | 2 years, 123 days |
| 5 | William Dawnay-Mould | Liberal Country | Minister in Charge of Housing | 28 October 1952 | 31 October 1952 | 3 days |
| (4) | Ivan Swinburne | Country | Minister in Charge of Housing | 1 October 1952 | 17 December 1952 | 77 days |
| 6 | Tom Hayes | Labor | Minister in Charge of Housing | 17 December 1952 | 31 March 1955 | 2 years, 104 days |
| 7 | John Sheehan | Labor | Minister in Charge of Housing | 31 March 1955 | 7 June 1955 | 68 days |
| 8 | Sir Thomas Maltby | Liberal Country | Minister of Housing | 7 June 1955 | 8 June 1955 | 1 day |
| 9 | Sir Horace Petty | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 8 June 1955 | 26 July 1961 | 6 years, 48 days |
| 10 | Lindsay Thompson | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 26 July 1961 | 9 May 1967 | 5 years, 287 days |
| 11 | Edward Meagher | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 9 May 1967 | 23 August 1972 | 5 years, 106 days |
| 12 | Vance Dickie | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 23 August 1972 | 31 March 1976 | 3 years, 282 days |
| 13 | Geoff Hayes | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 31 March 1976 | 16 May 1979 | 3 years, 46 days |
| 14 | Brian Dixon | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 16 May 1979 | 3 February 1981 | 1 year, 263 days |
| 15 | Jeff Kennett | Liberal | Minister of Housing | 3 February 1981 | 8 April 1982 | 1 year, 64 days |
| 16 | Ian Cathie | Labor | Minister of Housing | 8 April 1982 | 2 May 1985 | 3 years, 24 days |
| 17 | Frank Wilkes | Labor | Minister for Housing | 2 May 1985 | 14 December 1987 | 2 years, 226 days |
| 18 | Bunna Walsh | Labor | Minister for Housing and Construction | 14 December 1987 | 13 October 1988 | 304 days |
| 19 | Barry Pullen | Labor | Minister for Housing and Construction | 13 October 1988 | 10 August 1990 | 1 year, 301 days |
| 20 | Tony Sheehan | Labor | Minister for Housing and Construction | 10 August 1990 | 18 January 1991 | 161 days |
| 21 | Andrew McCutcheon | Labor | Minister for Planning and Housing | 18 January 1991 | 6 October 1992 | 1 year, 262 days |
| 22 | Rob Knowles | Liberal | Minister for Housing | 6 October 1992 | 3 April 1996 | 3 years, 180 days |
| 23 | Ann Henderson | Liberal | Minister for Housing | 3 April 1996 | 20 October 1999 | 3 years, 200 days |
| 24 | Bronwyn Pike | Labor | Minister for Housing | 20 October 1999 | 5 December 2002 | 3 years, 46 days |
| 25 | Candy Broad | Labor | Minister for Housing | 5 December 2002 | 1 December 2006 | 3 years, 361 days |
| 26 | Richard Wynne | Labor | Minister for Housing | 1 December 2006 | 2 December 2010 | 4 years, 0 days |
| 27 | Wendy Lovell | Liberal | Minister for Housing | 2 December 2010 | 4 December 2014 | 4 years, 2 days |
| 28 | Martin Foley | Labor | Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing | 4 December 2014 | 29 November 2018 | 3 years, 360 days |
| (26) | Richard Wynne | Labor | Minister for Housing | 29 November 2018 | 27 June 2022 | 3 years, 210 days |
| 29 | Danny Pearson | Labor | Minister for Housing | 27 June 2022 | 5 December 2022 | 161 days |
| 30 | Colin Brooks | Labor | Minister for Housing | 5 December 2022 | 2 October 2023 | 301 days |
| 31 | Harriet Shing | Labor | Minister for Housing | 2 October 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 78 days |
| 31 | Harriet Shing | Labor | Minister for Housing and Building | 2 October 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 78 days |