National Shelter Policy Positions
There is a housing affordability crisis in Australia, yet there is no Commonwealth Government strategy to address the growing numbers of people experiencing housing stress and homelessness. Homeownership is on the decline, fewer households are achieving mortgage-free homes before retirement, the private rental market cannot provide affordable homes for people living on low incomes, and our social housing system is not meeting the needs of our citizens. Inadequate social security payment levels, unemployment, and a poorly targeted and insufficient Commonwealth
2021-22 Budget Analysis
The 21/22 Budget was presented as “the COVID Budget” with some extraordinary measures pitched as addressing growth, jobs, infrastructure and women. It continues or extends a range of measures from previous budgets (tax cuts, programs like Home Deposit Schemes) and does provide some additional funding into housing, which, from our perspective, will tend to pump inflationary pressure without addressing our underlying supply issues.
Aboriginal Housing and Health Report
Shelter WA received a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health to undertake a review of Indigenous housing policy and programs, reviewing the intersection of housing and health policy, and to provide information on the policy changes required to deliver better housing and health outcomes. Shelter WA and National Shelter appointed PwC’s Indigenous Consulting Pty Limited.
A governance group was created in partnership with National Shelter and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association to oversee this project.
Young Renters Hardest Hit: Moving On Report
The first findings of the national Moving On survey are out! The report shines a light on the experiences of private rental tenants, landlords and property managers across Australia to create a picture of how tenancies end in the private rental market and what changes are needed to make renting fairer. There is no available data set to inform the private rental market about the improvements that are needed.
Key Findings
- The pandemic affected tenants and landlords
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Pre-Budget Submission 2021-22
National Shelter has released its Budget Submission for 2021/22; in it we welcome the Federal Government’s consolidation of housing responsibilities into a single Housing Minister - The Hon Michael Sukkar MP, and we look forward to an opportunity to meet the Minister to outline our submission in the near future and discuss the need for federal investment. The principal asks remain:
- Federal support for the SHARP proposal and the Housing Booster (affordable housing supply subsidy) project
- The need for tax
National Shelter Response to the Treasurer’s Call for Pre-Budget Submissions 2020-21
National Shelter urges the government and all parties to commit to a national plan and strategy to address affordable housing in Australia and enable governments, the private and community sectors to work together to solve the current affordable housing crisis. The shortage of housing for low and moderateincome households acts as a brake on productivity and inhibits the economic and social participation of households without access to appropriate, well located, affordable, secure and accessible housing.
Read the full response here.