Housing affordability dominating community concerns

Today’s report released by The Actuaries Institute on home insurance affordability reinforces ACOSS’ calls for a national review of affordable and accessible home insurance. Such a review must prioritise a focus on specific supports for people experiencing financial disadvantage. The report shows that home insurance is already unaffordable for more than 1 million households and will become prohibitive because of climate change impacts already locked in. ACOSS acting CEO, Edwina MacDonald said, “People on low incomes are impacted first, worst and longest by extreme weather events. Lower-cost housing, including rental properties, are often in areas that are more exposed to extreme weather. This leaves people on low incomes with fewer choices of where to live whilst also being without the financial means, or control if they rent, to mitigate risk.”. Click here to read full ACOSS response.

This past fortnight, ACTCOSS welcomed funding in the recent ACT budget for housing, health and the ACT community sector but said more is needed to support Canberrans struggling as the cost of living skyrockets. ACTCOSS’s Gulanga Program similarly welcomed funding but called for more community-controlled organisations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities, saying much more is needed to improve outcomes for First Nations peoples in the ACT. Read the ACT Budget Bulletin 2022-23.

NTCOSS has objected to the applications made by the Iris Capital Group to increase the number of electronic gaming machines in Alice Springs by an additional 60 machines. With the current number of machines available across Alice Springs, the demonstrated harm caused by gaming machines to individual gamblers and their networks, and the impact on people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and other populations experiencing disadvantage, any addition of machines to the community is unwarranted. Click here to learn more.

Queenslanders need social housing to be built, not just “commenced” by the Queensland government. They need a comprehensive plan for the more than 50,000 Queenslanders waiting for a home. QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh says it is excellent that the Queensland government “commenced” 832 social housing dwellings last financial year, about 100 commencements above its target. “But what people need is houses built, not commenced,” McVeigh said. Read more.

New research released by the Make Renting Fair campaign alliance, of which WACOSS is a member, shows that 74 per cent of surveyed participants – including landlords – support changes to state tenancy laws, to ban evictions without a valid reason.  WACOSS CEO Louise Giolitto said that the responses show that there is support for increased security and stability for tenants in the rental market.

NCOSS has made a submission to the Independent review of Australia’s COVID-19 response established by Paul Ramsay Foundation, Minderoo Foundation and the John and Myriam Wylie Foundation and chaired by Professor Peter Shergold AC. Click here to read more.

SACOSS’ upcoming conference Alternative Futures: Ending Poverty will address the big topic of what we can do to achieve a future without poverty. To be held at the Adelaide Convention centre on 18 November, it will bring together a range of speakers for informative and inspiring panel sessions. Sign up for updates here.

TasCOSS welcomes the Tasmanian government’s $5 million cost of living package, which acknowledges the significant cost of living pressures Tasmanians are currently facing. It is also pleasing to see the stopgap increase to indexation for community service organisations to 3 per cent (compared to the current rate of 2.25  per cent), along with the commitment to a full review of funding allocations. Read TasCOSS’s full response.

VCOSS welcomes its two new members, Neighbourhood Houses Gippsland, and Wonthaggi Neighbourhood Centre. Two organisations working tirelessly to serve and strengthen their local communities.