The Fight for Housing Justice

This event is being held on the land of the peoples of the Eastern Kulin. Sovereignty of this land was never ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Join us for a special screening of 'Bendigo St: How one street made a demand for dwelling justice'.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion about the Save Barak Beacon campaign and the future of housing justice activism.

The event is free of charge, but registration is essential. Light refreshments will be provided.

The venue is fully accessible, but please let us know if you have any specific access needs by emailing: savebarakbeacon@gmail.com

 https://www.bendigost.com

Speakers:

• Jasmine Barzani: a Kurdish troublemaker from Rojhelat who occupies Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung country. Her involvement in social movements spans almost a decade including collaborating with grassroots groups and campaigns such as Food Not Bombs, Needle n Bitch, HUSK, and Homes not Prisons. Jasmine’s political roots stem from direct action and anarchist praxis which began in 2014 through her participation in anti-deportation pickets at the Broadmeadows immigration prison in Naarm. She strives to support both local and international anti-colonial and Indigenous Sovereignty movements and she's an agitator for PIC abolition and Dwelling Justice. She made the documentary film, Bendigo Street, and she's currently working on her PhD which is an autoethnography of gendered, racial-colonial,  violence and resistance. She is a member of the National Network and International Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, 3CR Radical Radio, and she is an associate member of the Black Peoples Union.
  
  
• Steve Mintern: a landscape architect and managing director of the not-for-profit research and design practice OFFICE. In 2022 OFFICE launched Retain, Repair, Reinvest; a replicable model to assess the refurbishment potential of existing public housing estates. They have recently completed two feasibility studies on estates scheduled to be demolished.

• Kelly Whitworth: a peer homelessness researcher and radio producer. Kelly led the 3-part radio series 'Homeless in Hotels' about homelessness during COVID-19 and recently co-produced 'Housing, Activism and Local Government', a research report about the Bendigo St Occupation and the potential of local government to support activists in the fight for housing justice. Kelly was a key organiser of the Bendigo St campaign during her work with the Homeless Persons Union Victoria.

• Jeannie Erceg:  a tenant of the Barak Beacon housing estate before Homes Victoria forcibly relocated her and her family earlier this year. She is a staunch advocate for tenants and investment in genuine public housing, having fought against the demolition of her home and that of her neighbours since they received the vacate notice in December 2021.