First, a recap of the issue at hand\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe Australian housing affordability crisis is a topic that understandably receives significant airtime. Since the 1980s, housing prices have risen exponentially: in 1980, the median Melbourne house price was $40,800, compared to a staggering $901,000 in 2022.1,2<\/sup> Unsurprisingly, this has outstripped wage increases in the same period, making it harder for Aussies to buy (or even rent) a home.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile expensive housing affects everyone to some degree, the people experiencing the most acute hardship are low-income households, who struggle to find suitable housing in the competitive private rental market. Many renters find their housing to be insecure, unaffordable and of poor quality \u2013 with a 2017 study finding that 43% of renters were finding it hard to get by on their current income.3<\/sup> During the recent pandemic, 17% reported that their rent became unaffordable and 5% received an eviction notice.4<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe bottom line is that, even in our privileged country, more Australians are precariously close to being homeless. And thanks to decades of underinvestment, there is nowhere near enough social housing to accommodate those who qualify: in Victoria, the waiting list increased by 49% from 2017-2021.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s also important to note that this crisis isn\u2019t just detrimental to lower income families. When lower income households are shut out from our neighbourhoods, we lose contributions that are valuable for everyone. We lose key workers in places they\u2019re needed; we lose social and cultural diversity, and we lose cohesion across communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we don\u2019t look after the most vulnerable members of society, it\u2019s society as a whole that suffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n