Renters on low incomes, including Newstart, are being forced further and further from Melbourne’s city centre to afford accommodation, affecting their ability to find jobs and access services including education, the latest release of the Rental Affordability Index (RAI) has found.

While overall rental affordability has been relatively stable in Melbourne for four years, it is now worse than six years ago. The average income household in Greater Melbourne faces housing costs at around 23 per cent of their total income.

The

Rental affordability has continued to nosedive in Hobart, keeping its record as the least affordable city in Australia for renters, the latest release of the Rental Affordability Index (RAI) has found.

For the first time, the rental affordability score for Hobart has dropped below the critical threshold of 100. At 93, its RAI indicates that even an average income household in Hobart would be placed in rental stress if paying the current median rent.

Hobart is the least affordable capital city in

While the cost of renting in many parts of Brisbane may have eased in the past 12 months, according to the latest release of the Rental Affordability Index (RAI), not everyone in Brisbane has cause to celebrate. Most postcodes in inner to middle Brisbane remain moderately unaffordable to unaffordable.

The latest release of the RAI found the average household seeking to rent in Greater Brisbane would spend 24 per cent of their total income on renting. This is below the level