AUSTRALIA’S most progressive state, Victoria, is leaving more people at risk of homelessness with the lowest social housing stock across the nation.
According to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, social housing accounts for just 2.9% of Victoria’s residential properties, which is the lowest of any state or territory in the country.
Back in 2014, social housing supply in Victoria, which includes both public and community housing, was at 3.5% of all households and has been on the decline ever since.
“We simply can’t have a situation where more people and families are being pushed into homelessness while the rate of public and community housing in Victoria remains dismally low,” said Deborah Di Natale, CEO at the Council to Homeless Persons.
“These figures clearly show that good investments like the Big Housing Build must be a first step, not the final word.”
“No one is underestimating the scale of this challenge. But committing to build at least 6000 public and community housing properties a year is the best way out of this crisis.”
While Victoria has the lowest share of social housing, the Northern Territory topped the list at 14.6% of all residential households.
The ACT followed at 6.3%, South Australia at 6.1%, Tasmania also at 6.1%, New South Wales at 4.7%, Western Australia at 3.9% and Queensland at 3.5%.
While in Australia as a whole, social housing accounts for just 4.1% of all residential households.
Di Natale added that there are currently 58,000 households in urgent need of housing in Victoria, including 31,000 on the priority list.
“With homelessness up 24 per cent across the state, we desperately need to arrest the crisis with ambitious social housing commitments,” added Di Natale.
“Victoria is ranked last on social housing across Australia. That desperately needs to change.”
