The flooding of the Rivervue Retirement Village in 2022 was caused by flawed flood modelling and government failures, a damning investigation by the Victorian Ombudsman has found.

Ombudsman Marlo Baragwanath’s report, When the water rises , tabled in parliament on Wednesday, follows an investigation by The Age that first exposed how 47 villas in the Avondale Heights retirement village were allowed to be built on a floodplain.

Baragwanath called on the Victorian government to compensate the residents, many of whom lost their sense of security and whose homes may have been cut in value when the Maribyrnong River breached its banks during severe flooding in Melbourne’s west in October 2022.

“The flooding of Rivervue homes stems from failures by the state,” Baragwanath said. “Resident

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