Ms Sheed’s electorate is considered the worst regional electorate in the state for homelessness, with about 370 people identifying themselves as homeless.
She said she would employ someone to work for a six-month period starting in September.
‘‘A person will be employed to start a discussion to work out what is going on, what it looks like, who are the different groups and how we address it without forever saying we might need more government money; can we look at it as a community,’’ Ms Sheed said.
‘‘One of the things I’ve noticed is how many different not-for-profit organisations in our area —often partially government funded or partially privately funded — are working in the same space.
‘‘I remember going to a meeting on housing and homelessness and there would’ve been between 10 to 15 different organisations who all work in that space.
‘‘I would like to look to the extent we can see how much those groups are working together and what emerges as the main issue. We can do that by talking.’’
Ms Sheed said she hoped by employing someone to work on homelessness and housing in Shepparton it could help create a ‘‘clear picture’’ she could present to the government.
‘‘There’s a lot out there that’s happening, but I don’t have a clear picture and I’m not sure anybody else does either of what that picture looks like,’’ she said.
‘‘It would be great for us to come up with our own policy that I can go to government with and say ‘we thought up a plan, looked at the situation and we’ve now put together what we think will work in Shepparton’.
‘‘I don’t know what the answer will be yet, but homelessness is a high priority for me."
Although acknowledging it was too early to determine the clear picture, Ms Sheed said there was more room to be done around housing.
‘‘My belief is everybody should have a home, not just emergency housing or a place to sleep for a night,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s a reality around that some people will need a lot of ongoing help and support to manage a home.
‘‘Whether it’s because of mental health or other issues that has lead them to the point of where they are.
‘‘There are case workers out there and the department have people trying to keep families in homes.
‘‘I know Beyond Housing works hard with one of their programs to create relationships between the landlord and tenant.
‘‘They’ll (Beyond Housing) work with the tenant for them to understand how to be a good tenant and working with land-lords to maybe give a bit (of lee-way) sometimes; not be too hard on tenants"
Ms Sheed said she expected the Royal Commission into mental health would also have a significant impact on homelessness.
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