The Senate Economics References Committee's second and third hearings into Social Housing, held in Melbourne and Adelaide this week, heard evidence of single mothers, older women and youth facing extensive barriers in accessing the limited available social housing.
Evidence to the committee showed:
- Australia's social housing stock has fallen to around 4%, well below the historic Australian (7%), OECD (7%) and EU (8%) averages, despite population growth and increasing housing needs.
- Social housing is a critical and missing element of solving the housing crisis.
- 'Affordable' housing must be defined at 30% of wages, not set in relation to market value.
- Access to housing is essential infrastructure, like food and water, and should be provided as a human right.
- Social housing is especially essential for young people escaping unsafe family homes.
- Single-parent families report the highest rate of housing stress of any family type at 22%, three times the rate of 6.9% for couples with dependent children.
- An increasing number of families and working Australians are turning to homelessness service providers.
- More young people and children are experiencing homelessness, with over 40,000 young people accessing specialist homelessness services in 2024-25.
- Young people are overrepresented in homelessness but make up just 2.7% of social housing tenants nationally.
- Older women face housing insecurity due to cumulative consequences of unpaid or underpaid caring roles, reduced earnings, lower superannuation and limited asset accumulation.
Victoria
- Victoria currently has the lowest proportion of social housing in the country at 3%.
- 32% of single mother households rent compared with 19% of couple families.
- Single mothers are 2.5 times more likely than couple family households to be in rental stress, paying more than 30% of income on rent.
South Australia
- People living in poverty are being told not to bother putting their names on the public housing waitlist because they've got no chance of being allocated public housing.
- Rent bidding and no-grounds evictions continue despite bans.
- Public housing tenants are being kicked out, and then told they don't qualify for community housing due to insufficient income.
- Single parents are struggling in the rental market, with real estate agents favouring dual-income applicants.
- It costs more to keep someone in homelessness than it does to house them, about 5 times as much in dollar terms according to the City of Adelaide.
As stated by Greens spokesperson for finance, housing and homelessness and Senator for South Australia, Barbara Pocock:
"I've heard powerful testimonies from witnesses: mothers with children with special needs, who have been told they'll die before they ever get access to public housing. It's no wonder people aren't trying to get on the waitlist.
"Elise, who has been on a public housing waitlist for over 22 years, has seen her rent increase by $75 a week and electricity bill soar. Her pension won't meet these payments - how is she supposed to live?
"A mother with two children, who was homeless for six months before she could get public housing. You shouldn't have to be in absolute crisis or homeless in order to get public housing.
"While landlords pass interest rate hikes onto renters, renters have no buffer - they are being slammed in the cost of living crisis.
"Renters are crying out for rent freezes and rent caps. They're seeing their electricity bills, their rents and cost of living skyrocket.
"National homelessness rates across many demographics are soaring. Investment in public housing, backed in with essential support services, is the most effective way for governments to end homelessness.
"Treasury claims Labor's housing programs will 'deliver significant investment in public housing' but they are unable to tell us how many new public housing dwellings have been or will be built under the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF).
"Successive Labor and Coalition governments have severely neglected investment in public and community housing. We need a national target of at least 10% of public and community housing as a share of all housing stock, and we need a long-term commitment to a pipeline of funding if we are going to get there.
"We must rebuild public housing as a public asset. Housing is a human right. We need a public housing developer to build the houses directly.
Public hearing links: Adelaide and Melbourne
