Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the National Rental Affordability Scheme Bill 2008 and cognate bill. Throughout Australia there is an extremely poor supply of affordable rental properties. As a result, rental stress is an epidemic affecting Australians right across the nation. There are now 1.1 million Australian households experiencing housing stress and it comes as no surprise that almost 700,000 of the people in these households are renters. These people are often low- or moderate-income earners who are forced to rent in the private market when rent rises are outstripping wages growth and inflation. It will probably come as a surprise to most people in the House that only 30 per cent of the population actually have a mortgage.

These problems are a significant concern to the Rudd government. The crisis is preventing thousands of Australians from renting properties on their way to buying their own homes. The realities of Australia’s rental crisis are incredibly dire. People are cutting back on vital necessities to avoid being forced into living in extremely cramped conditions or, even worse, out on the streets. Sadly, there are far too many cases where the latter eventuates and disadvantaged Australians have little choice but to confront the harsh realities of homelessness.

Even in my electorate of Chisholm, which is often referred to as the leafy, green suburbs of Melbourne—and we are pretty lucky in that it is a pretty leafy, green place—one of the issues that I was quite confronted with when I first became the member for Chisholm, 10 years ago now, was the number of people who came to our office over housing issues, over homelessness. In my electorate people think that this is not an issue and that people are doing quite well and coping. But people want to stay in an area because it is where their connection is to community, church and schooling for their children. Often in situations of marriage breakdowns it becomes a huge issue because two singles cannot afford to come back into the area, so it becomes compounded by this issue. Not a week goes by without somebody literally walking into our office seeking somewhere to live.

One of the worst occasions was on a Friday night. At about 5.30 pm a little man arrived with his worldly belongings in two milk crates and said he had nowhere to go that night. Although he was in full-time employment, he no longer could afford the rent on his property. The only thing we could do was put him on the train and send him into town to Ozanam House, which is a shelter for the homeless and people with alcohol problems. He certainly did not have those but there was nothing else going. He came back in a couple of weeks later and said he had found some crisis accommodation, but it is a fairly stark and confronting issue.

There is no doubt Australians need to have more affordable rental properties built. The Rudd government made a key election commitment to do just that—increase the supply of affordable rental housing for Australians and their families. I stand before the House today to speak about legislation that will serve to tackle this issue head-on and promote a more accessible rental market. The National Rental Affordability Scheme is a key component of the Rudd government’s $2.2 billion affordable housing package, which has just risen to a $3.7 billion package as a result of the extra measures announced for first home owners as part of the government’s Economic Security Strategy. This package will increase the supply of affordable rental houses, help people save for their first home, lower housing infrastructure costs and build new homes for the homeless.

The scheme I speak of today will encourage large-scale investment and innovative delivery of affordable housing. The government will offer an incentive to participants in the scheme so as to increase the supply of affordable rental dwellings and to reduce rental costs for low- and moderate-income households to 20 per cent below market rates. Specifically, what this means is a $623 million investment aimed at creating 50,000 affordable rental properties for low- and moderate-income earners in the first four years of the scheme.

There are two key elements to the National Rental Affordability Scheme that serve to assist renters amid this rental crisis. Under the government’s proposal, institutional investors and not-for-profit organisations will be offered tax incentives or grants. These will be provided on an annual basis for a maximum 10-year period, provided the dwelling is rented to low- and middle-income occupants. The incentive for investors comprises a $6,000 contribution per dwelling from the Australian government as a tax credit or grant and an additional $2,000 contribution from state or territory governments. Tenants will still be eligible for rental assistance, making it even more affordable for individuals and families. Provided the demand for rental property remains strong, as I suspect it will—indeed, I suspect it will grow—a further 50,000 affordable rental dwellings will be built from 2012 onwards.

Many constituents from my electorate of Chisholm, like others around Australia, are enduring the brunt of the national rental crisis. This scheme will be welcomed with open arms by the wonderful community in Chisholm that works tirelessly with the people who are affected by the crisis and are in need of significant assistance. I have been involved with a number of these community organisations in my electorate that serve to raise awareness on the very issues at the core of the National Rental Affordability Scheme: rental assistance, homelessness, and youth and family services. These issues deeply resonate with my electorate. If it were not for the tremendous efforts extended by these community groups, many of my constituents simply would not cope.

Indeed, last Friday some constituents came to visit me in my office. They are no longer living in my electorate but they are connected through schools. I have previously presented Renno with a Caroline Chisholm award for her tireless work in my community. Two weekends ago, for the first time in they cannot remember how long, she and family went on a holiday. Mum, dad and six kids went away on a fishing trip and, on the weekend, the house they were renting burnt down. They have returned home and everything is gone. The house is burnt to the ground. Trying to find a rental property when dad is a DSP recipient, mum is a cleaner at a motel and you have six kids is virtually impossible. Trying to find crisis accommodation was almost as difficult. We are still working with them now to find somewhere for them to live. People in the community are amazing. Someone from the footy club was going overseas and said they could move in for the two weeks they would be overseas. But that is coming to an end on Friday, so it looks like they will have to split up and live with various family members for the time being. We are still working on it at the moment. These people have been renting for the last 23 years. They have a phenomenal renting record but there is simply nowhere that is affordable at all. There is almost nothing going that can accommodate a family of this size. We are feeling their pain.

I would like to highlight some of these community groups and draw the House’s attention to the fantastic work they are doing in my electorate—and I spoke to most of them last Friday when I had to deal with this crisis in my electorate office to assist this family. We note the great work they do. Their work does not go unnoticed, although most of the time the people in SAAP, supported housing, feel that it does go unnoticed. We appreciate it. It goes a long way to improving the livelihoods of many of the community’s most disadvantaged individuals and families.

Connections UnitingCare is a community service agency that provides more than 40 programs offering support services to children, families and young people. To undertake this vital work, Connections UnitingCare receives funding from the Commonwealth, state and local governments. But it also generates much of its own funds through corporate and philanthropic support and community services. The agency delivers some key programs that tackle the issue of homelessness. The Rudd government is introducing a nationwide program to alleviate the problem of homelessness through the bill we are debating today. Starting Out is a program that has been run by Connections UnitingCare since 1992. It offers community based support for families with a parent aged 25 years or younger. Many of the families that access this program are facing some degree of homelessness or instability in their housing due to the rental crisis. The Starting Out program provides designated housing support to assist families to address their immediate housing needs, which means they can focus on other issues that have a long-term impact on health and social outcomes for parents and children and ultimately the wider community.

Connections UnitingCare runs an additional program, funded through Starting Out, which is aimed at supporting homelessness in the community. Supporting Homeless Individuals and Families in Transition, or SHIFT, provides support to homeless families and single adults aged 23 to 25 with complex needs. It aims to break the often inherent cycle of homelessness. SHIFT operates on limited resources but endeavours to provide the intensive and sometimes extensive support that is required by individuals and families who have little option but to live on the streets. The work being carried out by Connections UnitingCare in tackling homelessness is extremely noble and has a genuine impact on the lives of many disadvantaged people in our community. I would like to voice my support for this wonderful organisation and thank them for the vital work they are doing in my electorate.

I am proud to represent one of the most multicultural electorates in Australia. Many new migrants are welcomed into Chisholm every year, and they bring with them diverse cultures, ethnicity and experiences. Despite this, migrant refugee families face considerable disadvantage in their attempts to secure long-term affordable housing in the private rental market. Fortunately, my electorate is superbly served by community organisations that devote resources to assist newly arrived migrants and refugees to find rental accommodation. The Migrant Information Centre Eastern Melbourne and the New Hope Migrant and Refugee Centre offer intensive assistance to newly arrived families looking to secure affordable and appropriate accommodation in a highly constrained rental market. Given that many of the families now moving into the area are Sudanese and have extensive families, this is often a very great task. Many migrants and refugees are inhibited by the fact that they lack proficiency in English, have no rental history and receive Centrelink incomes. The role of these community organisations is therefore vital in supporting new arrivals. I am extremely grateful for the work they undertake in Chisholm in connection with the many great church organisations who are also supporting a lot of these families. Without them, I do not think these families would actually survive.

The Migrant Information Centre and the NHMRC released a project evaluation report in September 2007 titled Migrant and refugee rental housing assistance project. This report made a number of recommendations, the first of which stated:

For many newly arrived migrants and refugees, like many Australians on low incomes, renting privately is often the only housing option available. It is important that both State and Federal Governments focus attention on strategies that increase the stock of affordable housing in private, public and social housing sectors.

The Rudd government has heard this recommendation and many like it from community organisations right across Australia. That is why we are introducing the National Rental Affordability Scheme as one component of our affordable housing package. The scheme provides a new opportunity for all levels of government to work together with business and not-for-profit organisations to increase the supply of affordable rental houses for Australian families.

The Family Access Network, FAN, is another community organisation providing pivotal services to disadvantaged constituents in my electorate. FAN provides services right across Melbourne’s eastern metropolitan region, the area with the least affordable private rental accommodation and the least public housing in Victoria. FAN offers case managed homelessness support for young people in my electorate aged between 15 and 25 through its Private Rental Brokerage Program. These young homeless people are being forced to compete in a tight rental environment against people who might otherwise, in a more affordable market, purchase a home. The social support offered by organisations such as FAN goes a long way to assisting young people who are struggling to find affordable rental accommodation in the hostility of the current market. Many of the people supported by FAN are young mothers—and I am talking very young mothers—and without FAN’s phenomenal support, we would have not just those young individuals but their children falling through the net.

These people want to stay within the social confines of my electorate because of organisations like FAN, but it is virtually impossible because of the cost of housing in the area. This is compounded by rents being so high. My electorate is also a transport hub, so people come there because it is easy to get to and get out of. Once they get there, they work out that the trains, trams and buses, and Centrelink and DHS, are all there, which makes it easy—why would they go somewhere else when the services are all there? If they move further and further out their problems compound with transport costs and the difficulty of connecting back into the services. A lot of this goes round in circles.

Recently, in conjunction with the member for Deakin, I helped open a Social and Affordable Housing Summit facilitated by one of our municipalities, the City of Whitehorse. The City of Whitehorse does many innovative things and this was one of them. I want to congratulate them for running such a great forum. The summit involved identities from all three levels of government and representatives from peak housing associations, welfare groups and real estate agencies brought together to discuss ideas, concepts and initiatives relevant to the housing industry. Roundtable discussions were held to discuss the issues and provide feedback. I am currently anticipating a report from the findings from the summit’s facilitators. I would like to sincerely thank the Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek, for coming down to Box Hill and addressing the summit—her presence highlighted the government’s commitment to help tackle the issues and listen to community concerns. Initiatives such as this by local government bodies should not be underestimated: they facilitate dialogue between relevant bodies and often lead to agreed priorities and targets. I commend the City of Whitehorse, in particular Paul Kearsley, for showing initiative and hosting the summit, and I look forward to analysing its collated findings.

The day began with a group of very interesting speakers from Housing Sector Development in the Office of Housing talking about how small the supply of social housing is in our network but how many people are looking to come into the area. We had people from various groups. One was Reverend Graham Reynolds from the Anglican Church in Box Hill, who was helping the Sudanese community. He spoke about the issues around the Sudanese community, who are a very Christian group of people. A lot of them are Anglicans and they find one church and they stick to it, so people are coming to the Box Hill Church but they cannot find housing in the Box Hill area. So they are coming on a Sunday by bus with 12 kids from far-flung areas. The work they are doing to try and support these groups in the area is amazing.

We also had talks from the Melbourne Affordable Housing Trust and the Community Housing Ltd Housing Services Manager. These are terrific projects at a local level. We are doing great things. We do not hear about them. Sometimes it might be a 31-bed dwelling; sometimes it might be one house. But there are projects going on out there and we need to know about them and support them. A lot of this is not rocket science and we could really replicate some of the great things that they are doing.

Melbourne Affordable Housing is working in conjunction with the City of Whitehorse on a project looking at housing for the disability sector, which I think will be terrific if we can get it up and running. It is an issue we do not talk a lot about but, again, one of great concern in my electorate because we have so much transport and because there are so many community services there. A lot of disabled individuals come there because it is easy to get around and easy to access everything in one go, but the housing is too expensive to buy. This project, on council owned land and in conjunction with one of the local churches, would be a terrific thing. I am fully supportive of it and will be very excited if we can get it up and going.

I am sincerely grateful to all the service providers in my electorate who are helping to implement measures to assist my constituents through the rental crisis and to highlight the issue to the broader community. There are organisations such as these all over Australia performing vital work in this area in the hope of getting youth off the streets, making rental accommodation affordable for the disadvantaged and shielding families from the enormous impact of this crisis.

At the beginning of the year I held a roundtable discussion with most of the service providers in my electorate. Whilst I do not have a refugee service in my area, a lot of service providers are based in the electorate of Chisholm. St Vincent de Paul is there, Uniting Care is there, Anglicare is there, Community Housing is there, Wesley Mission is there—the list goes on. But it is an issue of stock and supply. It is not just about giving out more money but about actually building the houses. Build them and they will come! So I am very grateful and appreciative of the time and effort the groups put into coming to that roundtable, making submissions and letting me know of their concerns. I thank the Wesley Mission, who invited me out to see some of the support accommodation that they provide to homeless youth. It is outside but fairly close to my electorate. This is a great service that they are providing to young disadvantaged people. There are some phenomenal people working in this area, dealing with some issues that most of us would not want to confront, and I really want to congratulate them on the work they are doing.

There is a pivotal role here for the Australian government to play in easing the stress in the rental market. That is why we are introducing the National Rental Affordability Scheme, in the hope of increasing the supply of affordable rental dwellings, reducing rental costs for low- to moderate-income earners and encouraging large-scale investment in and innovative delivery of affordable housing. This is a scheme that is long overdue. Nearly 700,000 Australians on low and moderate incomes are spending more than 30 per cent of their limited incomes on rent. Implementing measures to address this crisis is a major priority for the Rudd government. The National Rental Affordability Scheme is a comprehensive response to the rental stress facing 1.1 million Australians across our nation. The $623 million scheme sees Labor delivering on a key election promise and providing a helping hand to those in dire need in our community.

As the member for Chisholm I welcome the assistance this scheme will provide to those in my electorate who are enduring the full brunt of the rental crisis. It will ease the burden faced by the community groups in Chisholm, who witness on a daily basis the devastating consequences that a tight rental market can have on individuals and families. This scheme will bring substantial growth to the community housing sector and will see more than 1.5 million households become eligible to rent at 20 per cent below the market rate. It is pivotal that this legislation gains the support of the House, as it directly addresses one of the key concerns facing Australians today through sensible and direct measures. This scheme enjoys my full support as the member for Chisholm and it should be implemented as a matter of priority. We owe it to our fellow Australians, who are battling just to keep a roof over their heads in a market that is inaccessible for far too many people.

See this speech in context