These long-term projects include schools in Lorimer, Montague and Sandridge, with some developments delayed by 21 years.
Fishermans Bend was supposed to house 80,000 residents. However, the audit found that just 13,194 dwellings have been built, housing about 28,631 residents – or 35 per cent of the target.
Of the 80,000 jobs in the precinct, 305,533 square metres of commercial space has been developed, supporting about 9,788 jobs – or 12 per cent of the target.
“Considering the economic scale of developing Fishermans Bend and the impact it will have on the surrounding communities, it is important that the public can see how the work is progressing,” the audit said.
The City of Melbourne and City of Port Phillip are responsible for helping to deliver some of the projects in Fishermans Bend but the audit found the councils are no longer involved in key committees about the precinct.
The City of Melbourne has baulked at participating without a partnership agreement as it “opens it up to unnecessary risk”.
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“It does not want to be incorrectly perceived as validating work by the taskforce that it does not consider it has been adequately consulted on,” the audit said.
Port Phillip council claimed the state government is failing “to honour the commitments” of the partnership agreement by not consulting with it on key issues and decisions, describing it as “not a true partnership”.
Jeroen Weimar, secretary of the Department of Transport and Planning, said in a letter in response to the audit that much had changed since the framework had been released.
“We have experienced a pandemic, new terms of government, multiple machinery of government changes and the emergence of significant new government policy, including the release of Victoria’s Housing statement in 2023, that bear directly upon the delivery of the framework,” he said.
“Development is comfortably on track to achieve the vision for 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2055. ”
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