Contributed by Joe Montero

A report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute reveals how the housing crisis is worsening. Housing continues to become even more affordable, and little is being done to resolve this. Research undertaken involved interview with existing tenants and those still waiting, and it was found that the failure to properly address the issue causes immense stress. The report calls for a new approach to address the need for affordable housing.

Waiting lists have grown further from 2022 and the quantity of social housing, this is non private housing based on 25 percent of income, has fallen over the same two years by 6,400 properties. Government promises at the federal and state levels are not being honoured. There is far too much talk and far less action.

The graph below shows the growing waiting list in thousands.

Source: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute 

According to the authors of the report, “it would be a good time start thinking in a formal and structured way, a strategic way, about reviewing the way access to housing assistance is done.”

To achieve this means a shift in thinking. Housing should no longer be viewed as merely a market transaction or a matter of charity. Adequate housing must be regarded foremost as a human right applying to everyone, regardless of their economic status. Only by ensuring that adequate resources are committee can this principle be honoured.

The problem is that this transition in thinking by Australia’s current political leadership has not been made, because there remains a clinging onto the view that human beings are a commodity in the form of a statistic, instead of being members of a society that values fairness and their participation. Adequate housing is necessary for good health and social participation, and success or failure on this score defines the quality of a society.

This is not only about government providing the necessary funding. It extends to commitment to genuine social housing and ending the endless loops and red tape that work against those whose need help. Today’s system is designed to discourage, to artificially underestimate the demand. Years of waiting must end.

A bottom line is to end a market that prioritises profit form property speculation and the bottom lines of developers. Housing should be a public service.