THE Albanese government’s commitments in the budget “do not come close” to being able to deliver the number of social homes urgently needed across the country and lack the scale required to prevent homelessness in the first place, according to major community housing and community services provider, Mission Australia.
Ben Carblis, Mission Australia executive, said that while the funding just announced by the government to address homelessness and increase affordable housing is “important”, this week’s budget “leans towards relatively small-scale contributions and contains very little new investment to tackle Australia’s homelessness and housing emergency”.
The budget included a $9.3 billion five-year national agreement on social housing and homelessness for states and territories to combat homelessness, provide crisis support and build and repair social housing. This includes a doubling of Commonwealth homelessness funding to $400 million every year, matched by states and territories.
Another $1 billion is being directed towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and youth under the National Housing Infrastructure Facility. This includes increasing the proportion of grants for this investment from $175 million to $700 million to be able to support crisis and transitional housing.
The government is also increasing the cap on the government’s guarantee of Housing Australia’s liabilities by $2.5 billion to $10 billion with an associated increase in the line of credit that supports the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator of $3 billion to $4 billion.
“While any additional funding is welcome, the government’s efforts lack the necessary scale to prevent homelessness in the first place, and to provide long-term relief to those without safe, secure and affordable homes,” Carblis said.
“This is like bailing out a sinking boat with a bucket instead of repairing the leak.
“It’s time the government shifted from crisis solutions to prevention by investing in enough long-term social and affordable homes to meet the shortfall and by funding more homelessness prevention measures to stop the flood of homelessness in Australia.”
Accord to Mission Australia, every hour, 3,000 people in Australia are seeking help from homelessness services like those it provides.
“Australia’s housing system is broken and is the worst our frontline workers have seen.
One million social and affordable homes needed
“Almost one million new social and affordable homes will be needed over the next two decades to meet growing demand, yet existing government commitments across Australia and this year’s Federal Budget investment do not come close,” Carblis said.
The federal government is about to embark on the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which will look to deliver 20,000 new social homes and 10,000 new affordable homes over five years from 1st July, running concurrently with the National Housing Accord Facility that will look to deliver 10,000 affordable homes. The up-and-running Social Housing Accelerator is seeking to deliver 4,000 new social homes.
Mission Australia called for investment in a new $500 million Homelessness Prevention Transformation Fund in the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness starting in July this year, so frontline staff can focus on helping people avoid homelessness and respond earlier with the right assistance and wrap-around supports.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize was also critical of the budget.
“There is no new funding for social housing. What the government has announced is a business-as-usual spend that is nowhere near enough to shift the dial on the housing crisis.
“The government’s ‘new’ funding for social housing is a repackaging of existing initiatives, offering loans instead of providing real funding, and the continuation of a funding agreement with the states and territories – something the Commonwealth routinely renews for other essential services like education and health.
“If the government was serious about tackling this crisis, it would build more social housing to end the massive shortfall. These are the rentals people can actually afford. A target for the private sector will only deliver more of the same – homes that are way too expensive for average people.”
Azize said housing will be “front of mind” for many voters when they cast their ballots in a year’s time, referring to the next federal election.
“The appetite for real change among Australians is here – three in five voters want reform to investor tax handouts and seven in 10 want more social housing.”
The chief executive of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, Melina Morrison, said the $6.2 billion of new investment in affordable housing would provide some relief but more could be done to ensure Australians had access to secure accommodation.
“The economic and social impacts of this housing crisis are manifest and demand innovative solutions if we are to ensure fair access to safe and secure housing for all Australians,” she said, putting forward the case for co-operative housing – which provides affordable tenure through a shared ownership structure – to provide “a fourth pillar” in Australia’s housing system.
Commonwealth Rent Assistance should be targeted
A second-consecutive increase to Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA) – the first in over 30 years – will see $1.9 billion over five years put towards increasing the maximum rate of CRA by a further 10%, after last year’s 15%.
Nearly one million households – around one quarter of all renters – receive the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
Eliza Owen, CoreLogic head of Australian research, said the budget “misses an opportunity” to optimise CRA payments by ensuring they are well-targeted.
CRA payments vary depending on circumstance, but the maximum rate of around $125 per week means the biggest increase under the budget will be $12.50 per week.
“CRA increases offered by the government are very modest in dollar terms compared to actual rent increases in the private rental market,” Owen said.
“A broad-based boost to CRA for those already receiving it is a pretty efficient way to ensure those in more vulnerable positions in the private rental sector can remain a little more competitive in the private rental market. But optimising the payment means more funding could be allocated to those who really need it,” she said.
Property Council of Australia chief executive Mike Zorbas said that given the cost-of-living challenges being faced by Australians, the second consecutive increase in CRE was welcome, but eligibility thresholds should be adjusted to include those living in retirement villages.
Carblis said that while cost-of-living measures announced in the budget, including energy bill relief and a 10% increase CRE, are a “welcome acknowledgement that people are facing tough times, they won’t fix poverty or poverty-induced homelessness”.
He said Mission Australia is “dismayed” by the federal government’s “continued refusal to increase income support payments like JobSeeker and to seriously review and reform rental assistance.”
“Those who rely on the government’s inadequate income support payments are living below the poverty line, when really, income support should be a safety net that stops people living in poverty. The government is essentially condemning people and families to an ongoing struggle to make ends meet and keep a roof over their head.
Mission Australia called on the federal government to “substantially increase” Commonwealth Rent Assistance and lift income support payments to at least $80 a day.
