The independent review panel has been asked to assess the settings and implementation of regulation of Victoria's social and affordable housing (Appendix A).

In preparing this interim report, the panel has taken an expansive approach to this task, broadly defining regulation in its various forms including legislation, contract, policies and procedures, industry codes, regulatory tools, dispute resolution mechanisms and other influences on sector behaviour and outcomes.

The review takes place following several decades of steady development of a non-profit community housing sector alongside the State's public housing system. It now stands at the doorstep of the Victorian government's $5.3 billion Big Housing Build - Victoria's largest investment in social and affordable housing. It also takes place in parallel with the development of the government’s ten-year social and affordable housing strategy, and other policy activity that will shape the sector over the coming years and decades. It is important that regulation is aligned with these new and evolving policy settings.