Tackling homelessness in Australia: Senator Raff CicconeRaff Ciccone

Homelessness

Homelessness is more than the approximately 8000 rough sleepers on the streets of our cities and towns.

On any given night, 1 in every 200 Australians will experience homelessness. They’ll be sleeping in their cars, on the couches of friends, in overcrowded dwellings or in temporary accommodation. There are thousands more Australians in insecure housing, on the precipice of losing their homes.

Unfortunately, the numbers are growing. The 2016 Census reported a 14 per cent increase in homelessness in Australia.

Homelessness is caused by many factors; poverty, unemployment, violence, addiction, social isolation. Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia. But homelessness is underpinned by the fact that there is simply not enough affordable housing available.

Housing stress

Housing stress is where low income groups spend a high proportion of their income on housing costs, reducing their capacity to pay for other essentials like food, utilities and transport.

Recent analysis shows that housing stress is on the rise, and now affects over 1.4 million Australian households.

These Australians are at direct risk of becoming homeless because the cost of housing is too high.

Housing affordability

Australia’s houses and homes have been becoming increasingly less affordable over the past four decades. Housing prices have accelerated well ahead of incomes while the growing gap between supply and demand for rental properties has pushed weekly rents up.

The latest Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot surveyed 70,000 rental listings and found that just 1,040 properties would be affordable for someone on the new JobSeeker rate (double the previous rate to support people out of work during the COVID19 outbreak). For someone on previous JobSeeker rate, just nine rental listings were considered affordable.

Without affordable homes, we cannot address the risk of or find a solution to homelessness in Australia.

There are numerous policy reforms our nation should consider in order to address homelessness and poor housing affordability.

Experts are suggesting ideas like a new, long-term national plan for housing, more investment and more diverse investors (like super funds and private developers in affordable and social, a permanent increase to Centrelink payments and rental assistance, reform of state and federal taxes, changes to planning laws, assistance for community housing providers to better leverage the stock they manage, investment in build-to-rent schemes, and national reform of state-based tenancy laws to give renters better security of tenure in their homes.

The coronavirus outbreak brought the situation of homeless Australians and those at risk of homelessness into stark light. Many homeless Australians are at significant risk due to COVID-19, unable to isolate effectively and facing difficulties accessing tests and appropriate health care. Rough sleepers, and residents of boarding houses and shared accommodation are especially vulnerable.

Exacerbating all of this is the fact that many organisations that provide outreach and assistance to homeless Australians have had to reduce services or close completely in order to meet social distancing requirements.

A number of homeless people have been offered accommodation in hotels. But this is a short -term solution to a situation that requires a long-term permanent response.

The construction industry has recently reported a significant drop in work and a worrying outlook for the future. This could put thousands of Australians who rely on the sector for a job at risk of unemployment.

At the same time, there are thousands of Australians who need secure and affordable housing.

There is a significant opportunity for Federal, State and local governments to work together with the construction industry, community housing organisations, private investors and other stakeholders to drive investment in the renewal of existing social housing stock and to build new homes across Australia.

This would drive stimulus in our economy and help us recover from the financial consequences of the COVID19 outbreak. It would also help more Australians get access to a secure and safe home.

Tackling homelessness in Australia

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Tackling homelessness in Australia

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