This figure
represents in excess of 86,000 requests for emergency housing assistance - from
individuals, couples, parents with small children and elderly Australians - which were not met in thatfinancial year.
Yet social
housing stocks does not appear to be keeping pace with population growth or the
needs of people living in insecure accommodation or existing on the street.
Social
housing as a share of all housing has been falling since the start of this
century and, in total state, territory and federal governments spent est. 2.1
per cent of total government expenditure on social housing and homelessness
services in both 2016-17 and 2017-18 according to the Productivity Commission's Reporton Government Services in 2018 & 2019.
Affordable
and available private rental is also in short supply.
Homelessness is not confined to the cities either. Here in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales there are hundreds of people without accommodation.
By the end of 2018 the
Australian population had grown to over 25 million people and an estimated 190,000 were on social housing waiting lists.
The population now stands at an
over 25,384,573, with est. one
birth every 1 minute and 40 seconds, one death every 3 minutes and 19 seconds
and one person arriving to live in Australia every 56 seconds,
At state, territory and federal levels government is well aware of the housing situation, yet Morrison
& Co in particular still describe calls for further spending on government
services such as housing as being calls based on the “politics of envy”.
These days I often read comments on social media asking when it was we stopped being a fair, just and kind country.
Well the truth is that Australia was never the fair, just and kind society we liked to think it was.
Just look at out history when it comes to Aboriginal Australia, children in institutional care, our aged and disability care systems and our treatment of refugees.
What governments since Federation have done is paper over the cracks between what we are and what we believe about ourselves. They did this by funding a wide range of government services to meet basic human needs like safety, shelter, food, education and health care.
Since 2013 the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government has been walking away from adequately providing many of these basic services, by year in and year out failing to increase funding, reducing funding or cutting funding altogether.
BACKGROUND
On 14 March
2018, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released their homelessness
estimates, based on the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.
Under the ABS definition, a person is homeless if they do not
have suitable accommodation alternatives and their current living arrangement:
is in a dwelling that is inadequate, or
·
has
no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable, or
·
does
not allow them to have control of, and access to space for social relations.
The key homelessness estimates from the 2016 Census are that:
·
there
were 116,427 people enumerated in the Census classified as being homeless on
Census night (up from 102,439 in 2011)
·
the
homelessness rate was 50 persons for every 10,000 persons—up five per cent from
the 48 persons in 2011, and up on the 45 persons in 2006
·
the
homelessness rate rose by 27 per cent in New South Wales, while Western
Australia fell 11 per cent and the Northern Territory and Australian Capital
Territory each fell by 17 per cent
·
most
of the increase in homelessness between 2011 and 2016 was reflected in people
living in 'severely' crowded dwellings, up from 41,370 in 2011 to 51,088 in
2016
·
the
number of people in supported accommodation for the homeless in 2016 was
21,235; almost unchanged from 2011
·
there
were 17,503 homeless people in boarding houses in 2016, up from 14,944 in 2011
·
the
number of homeless people in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out in
2016 was 8,200, up from 6,810 in 2011
·
people
who were born overseas and arrived in Australia in the last five years
accounted for 15 per cent (17,749 persons) of all persons who were homeless
·
the
rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who were homeless was
361 persons per 10,000 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population,
a decrease from 487 in 2011
·
the
number of homeless persons aged 55 years and over continued to increase, from
12,461 in 2006, to 14,581 in 2011 and 18,625 in 2016 (a 28 per cent increase
between 2011 and 2016). The rate of older persons experiencing homelessness has
also increased, from 26 persons per 10,000 of the population in 2011 up to 29
persons per 10,000 in 2016 and
·
the
male homelessness rate increased to 58 males per 10,000 males, up from 54 in
2011, while the rate for females remained steady at 42 per 10,000 females.
Severe crowding and social housing
As noted above, a
majority of the increase in homelessness between 2011 and 2016 was a result of
more Australians living in severely crowded dwellings. This was also the case
between the 2006 and 2011 Censuses.
While homelessness
is not just the result of too few houses, severe overcrowding does suggest that
there is a need for more housing that is affordable to low- to middle-income
earners, and social housing in particular. Social housing is housing that is
managed by either state and territory housing authorities or community housing
providers and made available at below market rates to people who are unable to
access suitable accommodation in the private rental market.
Despite Australia’s
social housing stock having grown over the years, this has not been at a rate
sufficient to keep pace with household growth and demand. As at 30 June 2017,
there were 189,404
applicants on the waiting list for social housing across
Australia. A significant proportion of these applicants are likely to be
households in greatest need—that is, households that are homeless, in housing
inappropriate to their needs or that is adversely affecting their health or
placing their life and safety at risk, or, have very high rental housing costs.
Severe overcrowding
is particularly prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,
with 70 per cent of homeless Indigenous Australians in this position. The
latest homelessness estimates indicate that the rate of homeless Indigenous
Australians fell between the 2011 and 2016 Censuses. If this rate is to
continue to fall then this may hinge to some extent on the outcome of negotiations currently
underway between the Australian Government and the states and territories over
Commonwealth funding for housing for Indigenous people following the expiry of
the National Partnership on Remote Housing in June 2018.
Homelessness by geography
In the linked
spreadsheet, the Parliamentary Library has compiled homelessness estimates by
ABS geographical areas and homelessness operational groups. Table 1 details
total homeless persons by Statistical Area 2. Table 2 sets out total homeless
persons by Statistical Area 3 and operational group.
Table 1 also
lists the Commonwealth electorate that is most aligned with each SA2.
Electorate estimates cannot be derived from this table.
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