Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in response to the statement on Homelessness Week. Housing, and homelessness, is an area of increasing concern for all electorates, and each experiences the issue differently. It's not just a question of rough sleeping, and it's not always so evident to people in the community. It is couch surfing; it is relying on friends and family, having temporary solutions; it's house-sitting. They all show that there is insecurity of housing, and that can often snowball into so many other issues. The most distressing is when we look at which the demographics are within our community most at risk of facing homelessness. In that respect, women over 55 are the most at-risk group facing homelessness. That's just incredibly concerning when we think that this is a generation of women that has given so much to our society. Obviously, rapidly rising interest rates and housing affordability are issues on everyone's mind, and they always have a knock-on effect. It isn't just the affordability or where the mortgage is, it's what happens when it comes to rental availability and other issues. And, of course, we're also seeing a huge increase in insurance premiums. All of these things create added pressure on a system that's already failing.

The independent review into the government's National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation found that the government needed to invest some $290 billion over the next two decades to address the shortfall in housing. The current government has, to date, committed $10 billion to its Housing Future Fund, which of course will be a smaller amount on a yearly basis from an investment point of view. There has been much debate about this but, to date, the government has failed to put other plans on the table or what else it's going to do—it's really hanging everything on that. Of course this isn't a situation just for this government; the previous government failed to address this. The housing crisis and homelessness is a compounding problem that all sides of politics have contributed to by failing to address long-term policy in relation to it.

Another group which is often overlooked in these discussions—and we have been focusing on women over 55 being so at risk—is young people, many who cannot stay in their homes for safety or other reasons. There are very few solutions for this. Recently, I attended a youth homelessness convention and I heard the stark evidence about major shortfalls in solutions for young people. The most distressing aspect was that if young people face homelessness in their youth then the percentage who are likely to face it again in life is very high. This shows that we have a whole cohort of young people whose future and prospects are incredibly impacted by the homelessness that they experience when they're young and, often, they experience this because of safety and other aspects.

In Warringah, data indicates that there are about 120 people who are homeless. Again, I'm concerned that the data doesn't truly capture the number, when one thinks of couch surfing, house sitting and other temporary solutions that people find. I know that some 84 of those are under the age of 19 and they're at the same risk as that young cohort I mentioned earlier. Thirty-three per cent of the Warringah electorate currently experiences rental stress—that figure is from Homelessness New South Wales—and we know that we have less than one per cent rental availability in the electorate. So the problem is under pressure from all angles.

We need all levels of government to coordinate and work collaboratively on this. Historically, there has been a high degree of responsibility-shifting between state and federal governments on homelessness and housing affordability. The recent Homelessness New South Wales paper, Pathways to ending homelessness, recommends simple changes, including: improving access to temporary accommodation by increasing minimum days from two to seven; removing the 28-day annual cap on temporary accommodation; increasing wraparound support and safety within temporary accommodation through consultation with providers, and embedding a culture of safety; and providing pathways out of homelessness for temporary accommodation. I visited Mission Australia a little while ago, and a solution that was also put up was assistance with putting up bonds to get into rental accommodation. Often, when people try to get out of homelessness, or when they've been in a shelter situation, they may be able to meet the rent but aren't in a position to put up the bond required to get into a lease and be accepted in the first place. Again, we need more solutions on the table.

All these changes can be made to improve access to temporary or rental accommodation, which is a key part of addressing homelessness. Next, we need evidence based solutions that include economic modelling and which utilise international examples and best practice. We need more social housing and, to achieve this, we need mandatory inclusion zoning. One recommendation is that some 20 per cent of all new housing should be social and affordable housing. Social Ventures Australia and the Grattan Institute are advocating that Commonwealth rent assistance be doubled. These are things that are directly within the purview of the current government to address.

We need incentives for long-term rentals to improve security for those unable to afford to buy a home. For example, European nations have far greater security for long-term rentals. There is an acknowledged culture that not everyone will buy a home, but, when you are renting, you can still have that as a long-term home. We also need to reduce barriers to the rental market, and that means greater access to rental bond loans, as mentioned by Mission Australia. We must also crack down on short-term leasing, such as Airbnb, and address the role that short-term rentals play in housing insecurity. Again, that is something that has increased dramatically over recent years, and there needs to be a proportional way of addressing this—as with vacancies. If too many homes are purchased by foreign investors or people living overseas but remain empty—I know that is a situation, often, in many of our major cities—that should be addressed. Other jurisdictions are looking at vacancy levies and things like that so that there is a disincentive to purchase real estate and leave it empty. Currently in Warringah there are some 14,320 unoccupied dwellings, so that is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.

We can't talk about homelessness without acknowledging the local support of so many incredible organisations and volunteers. The support networks on the northern beaches are overwhelmed by the influx of people needing housing assistance. As a result, they're finding it hard to rehouse people in the beaches area, and they're relocating some people to areas where they lose connection with family and community and lose their support systems, which compounds the trauma of becoming homeless.

I want to thank community groups in my electorate for all their work and support for those experiencing homelessness, housing stress and cost-of-living stress. In particular, I want to thank Community Northern Beaches, for whom I've written to the Treasurer asking for additional funding because we need to ensure we have these organisations that are able to support our community and those most in need; Community Care Northern Beaches; Northern Beaches Women's Shelter; Bridge Housing, who have done an incredible project in the electorate; Burdekin group; Street Side Medics, who are out there helping to keep healthy those who are in homeless situations; One Meal, who are assisting so many households with meeting their food needs—so many families are doing tough when it comes to food, and we know the data says that too many parents go without because of that stress—Shelter NSW; Mission Australia; Salvation Army; Mosman House; Women's Community Shelters; and Link housing. Of course, there are many others who support those in need of food, shelter and help with coping with the cost-of-living crisis.

I'd also like to acknowledge Sarah Nelson, a constituent of mine who has extensive lived experience of homelessness and childhood abuse. I'd like to thank Sarah for her tireless advocacy and efforts in working across all parties and groups to achieve better outcomes for children at risk of homelessness by sharing her story, proposing solutions and building the business case for action. Her passion and determination to fix this issue is inspiring, and I really appreciate her constant contact with my office to put up solutions.

A stable house is a source of security and a foundation for building a better future for all aspects of a person's life. For society to function and for everyone in it to contribute productively, we need people to have security of housing. It's essential that we do more to provide affordable housing and social housing to those who need it most. Failing to provide this will cost government and society a whole lot more in the long run, so it is the right thing to do. I urge the government to get more proactive.

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