Community Housing Industry Association Media Release
An additional 2,090 homes housing more than 4,000 young people experiencing homelessness could be built by drawing on $1 billion already set aside by the Commonwealth, according to new modelling that will be presented to federal politicians in Canberra today.
The money was allocated last year to the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) during negotiations between the Greens and the Government over legislation to establish the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Modelling conducted by Professor Laurence Troy, of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute is based on constructing two bedroom dwellings based on building costs in Melbourne’s inner east and the NSW mid north coast. It assumes a 60/40 split between metro and regional areas with the units occupied by tenants paying rent set to a maximum of 25% of their income plus any Commonwealth Rent Assistance they may be eligible for. The analysis highlights the investment can also include developments of congregate and core and cluster housing.
An analysis released last week of the most recent Specialist Homelessness Services data, revealed 37,872 children and young people approached homelessness services alone for assistance in 2022/23, including 9,232 children aged 15-17. Even after assistance from homelessness services, 44% of children and young people 15-24 were still homeless.
“Our system for supporting young people experiencing homelessness is fundamentally broken,” said Wendy Hayhurst, CEO of the Community Housing Industry Association. “But with $1 billion ready to be deployed we can almost immediately start turning sods and building the homes young people need. Community Housing providers are ready to help, we just need the political and financial commitment.
Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia said the youth homelessness crisis would not be resolved without expanding dedicated housing. “Children should not be sleeping rough in Australia, but that is the reality. The funds that are already set aside will not fix the youth homelessness crisis but they will make a solid start on delivering the homes needed. We need to get moving on this immediately.”
Shorna Moore, from youth homelessness provider, Melbourne City Mission said “Every day we see teenagers and children escaping violence, homophobia or neglect. But we can’t get them safe homes because there simply isn’t enough housing or support to help everyone who walks through the door.”
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As much as most people would be happy to see no-one homeless at all, the corporate conglomerate – a loose cabal-like association of bankers, real estate industry titans and other vested interests inc politicians – have no interest in moderating the situation.
$1B for 2000+ 2 bedroom units is $500k per unit. Wouldn’t be better if each State held the land in perpetuity and built 4 times as many units for the same price in the same timeframe and then recoup costs via an income stream? That is, rather than selling off State lands, why not value-add with income-producint assets?
That the homeless youth resolve by leaving the scene, issues the govts have not made headway on, means hose youth are brave, resourceful and self-determining to the extent they are able.
Given the burgeoning shortfall of skilled labour and the tertiary STEM brain-drain, we have schemes for free TAFE, and on / near campus accommodation, it makes complete sense to further remove socio-cultural prejudice by integrating housing for ‘homeless’ into those schemes, whereby the ‘homeless’ are reformed into a diverse environment of learning and opportunity utilizing the natural gifts they already have.
Much better than maintaining a distinction of ‘homelessness’ and the psychological ghettoization by the branding of ‘on welfare’.
It’s way beyond time retrograde notions of ‘elite’, ‘deserving’, ‘blessed’ etc, and schemes to maintain such distinctions were entirely removed from political discourse and law. These are simply anti-community, antediluvian notions and tools of the warfare of divide and conquer.