Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) having safe and affordable housing is a basic human right and the absence of which has a huge human, social and economic cost;

(b) housing stress and homelessness are serious issues in Australia—first-home buyers are having difficulty entering the market, rental affordability in cities is at a crisis point, waiting lists for social housing continue to grow, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are disproportionately represented in homelessness and housing stress and there are rising levels of homelessness with 105,000 people designated as homeless on any given night; and

(c) there are often complex social, financial and medical issues that cause housing stress and homelessness that are beyond an individual's direct control; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) appoint a Minister for Housing and Homelessness to provide the necessary focus and leadership required to address the housing issues being experienced in Australia; and

(b) develop and implement a national housing strategy to ensure a sufficient, modern and equitable housing system for all Australians.

I rise today to move this motion before the House to highlight both the nature and the extent of Australia's housing crisis and the complete absence of a national strategy to address it. At a time when more than 105,000 people are homeless, crisis accommodation services are turning away more than half of those seeking new accommodation—mostly due to a lack of accommodation—and public housing stock is declining, it is astounding that the Australian government has no national housing plan.

There is little doubt that Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis. According to the most recent research, 105,000 Australians are designated as homeless on any given night, including some 1,000 men and women in the Newcastle and the Hunter region. Nationally, there are more than 200,000 households on waiting lists for social housing, with nearly half of those in greatest need waiting for two years or more. Almost 60 per cent of people living below the poverty line are in rental housing, with most in private rental housing. Only 15.5 per cent of people living below the poverty line are home owners.

More than 40 per cent of people who receive Commonwealth rental assistance pay more than the commonly-used affordability benchmark of 30 per cent of household income on rent. Of particular concern is the change in homeless demographics, with older people and, in particular, older women becoming the fastest-growing group of homeless Australians. This change in homeless demographics is certainly visible in my own electorate of Newcastle, which hosts an annual Hunter Homeless Connect Day. Attendance at this year's event saw a 10 per cent increase in the number of homeless people attending from the previous year and a substantial increase in the number of homeless women.

Labor took to the election a suite of policies to address housing need in Australia. Regrettably, the Abbott and now Turnbull governments' neglect of housing and homelessness policies speaks volumes about their priorities. Since 2013 the Liberal-National coalition has abolished the National Rental Affordability Scheme, which provided over 20,000 new affordable housing units and was on track to achieve its target of 50,000. It has refused to provide funding certainty for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness and the Reconnect youth homelessness program. It has cut $44 million in capital funding for emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic and family violence. Inexplicably, it has cut funding for Homelessness Australia, National Shelter and the Community Housing Federation of Australia, reducing the effectiveness of their advocacy and policy functions. It has scrapped the First Home Saver Account scheme which was helping people to save for their first home, and closed its mind to evidence by abolishing the National Housing Supply Council and the Prime Minister's Council on Homelessness.

Australia's current housing crisis impacts on the most vulnerable in our community, which is why the lack of focus by this government is especially concerning. In contrast to the lack of focus by the government, I want to praise the work of our not-for-profit sector and their progress towards housing reform in Australia—organisations like Compass Housing Services in my electorate who, in addition to their work here in Australia, have been granted special consultative status as part of the UN's Economic and Social Council. As we speak in this House, they are participating in the UN Habitat III Conference on International Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. Shamefully, there is no minister from this government sitting at that table. Indeed, Australia is now one of only two UN member states that have not prepared a national progress report on our work towards achieving the goals outlined in the UN's Habitat II conference.

In 2016 it is our NGOs, not our government, that are leading the way on housing reform in Australia. As the ACOSS report released today makes clear, the housing problems experienced by low-income householders are a symptom of entrenched inequality within Australia. Unless inequality is addressed, Australia's housing problems will endure. Appointing a dedicated minister for housing and homelessness and developing a national housing strategy would be a very good start—indeed, it would be the very least that this government could do to try and get things back on track. I commend the motion to the House.

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