Agency details
Name: South Port Community Housing Group Inc
Registration Category: Housing Provider
Registration Date: 22 December 2008
Agency Contacts
CEO: Janet Goodwin
Chairperson: Maurie Hughes
Website: www.spchg.org.au
Address: 259 Dorcas Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Office phone number: (03) 9696 1128
Agency Mission
To meet the housing needs of people on low incomes and youth who have faced homelessness,
dislocation and social exclusion; and to provide opportunities to feel part of a community.
Key statistics – as at 30 June 2014
Housing properties under management – Total 27
Long Term 27
Transitional 0
Crisis 0
Properties in agency ownership – Total 1
Tenancy units under management – Total 256
Long Term 256
Transitional 0
Crisis 0
Tenancy units in agency ownership – Total 40
Staffing – Total number 10 Total EFT 7.4
Total assets: $12,790,179
Annual turnover: $2,109,541
Operational surplus for previous financial year ended 30 June 2014: $124,704
Registered Agency Profile continued
Scope of operations
Housing – Long term accommodation
Housing support services – Youth homelessness support, homelessness advice and referral The
agency is also accredited against Homelessness Assistance Standards by QICSA.
Other services – Commitment to tenant participation and community development through obtaining
external sources of funding to develop and run innovative programs particularly around food and arts.
Tenant/client profile – singles and people with disabilities
Key partnerships
The works closely with a number of agencies including:

St Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church, South Melbourne

St Kilda Community Housing

Prahran Malvern Community Housing

Inner South Community Health Service

City of Port Phillip

Ozanam House

Hanover Welfare Services

Flagstaff

Salvation Army Crisis Centre and Youth Refuge St Kilda

St Kilda Youth Service
Registered Agency Profile continued
Agency history
South Port Community Housing Group (SPCHG) is an incorporated association, with a committee of
management of local community members, including three SPCHG tenants .
The event that led to the establishment of South Port Community Housing Group had its roots in the fact
that the land at Emerald Hill (now called South Melbourne) was owned by Melbourne Protestant
Orphanage. The site developed with a number of other buildings including houses being constructed. The
orphanage owners decided in the late 1970s to sell up, and the Whitlam Federal Government funded the
Hamer State Government to purchase the whole site.
Responsibility for the housing, including two rooming houses, was then passed to the State Department of
Housing. The two privately owned rooming/apartment houses on the site, privately managed, were handed
over to the newly formed South Port Rooming House Services Inc.
The organisation commenced management of four rooming houses during 1983-4 with numbers increasing
steadily throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. During this era the housing stock effectively offered an option for
people being made homeless by the decline in local affordable accommodation.
In recent years, SPCHG’s housing stock has changed dramatically as a result of an upgrade program
converting rooming houses into self-contained accommodation where all tenants have their own bathroom
and kitchenette in a studio apartment. Now, less than 10% of the units managed are traditional, sharedfacility, rooming house rooms.
In 2011 SPCHG under the Federal Nation Building community housing funding stream, received $11.5
million to construct 40 new one-bedroom apartments in Bank Street, South Melbourne, on land provided by
the Catholic Church thanks to a longstanding good relationship with Father Bob Maguire.
In 2013-2014 SPCHG successfully campaigned to save 31 studio apartments for elderly persons in South
Melbourne, being sold by a charitable trust.
In July 2014 the organisation acquired ownership of the
apartments for $5 million, assisted by a grant of $2.5 million from the State Government.
The organisation works closely with agencies like Inner South Community Health on community programs
and facilitating health support for tenants.
Most referrals now come from agencies like Sacred Heart
Mission, HomeGround Services, Hanover Welfare Services, Ozanam House and Flagstaff.
Legal structure
South Port is incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981.