Social Futures welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment to increasing crisis and transitional housing, boosting health services, and providing cost-of-living relief. However, urgent action and further investment are needed to address the housing crisis and the inadequacy of income support payments for vulnerable Australians.
Social Futures welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment to increasing crisis and transitional housing, boosting health services, and providing cost-of-living relief. However, urgent action and further investment are needed to address the housing crisis and the inadequacy of income support payments for vulnerable Australians.
CEO of Social Futures, Tony Davies, said that while the budget signals progress, it falls short of addressing the scale of the housing and homelessness emergency.
Cost-of-living relief measures such as modest cuts to the bottom tax rate, rent assistance increases, extra funding for public education, increased bulk billing, and cheaper medicines are positive steps, but they do not compensate for the increase in the cost of living, and inadequacy of income support payments.
“JobSeeker and Youth Allowance remain too low to cover the basic cost of living – without a significant increase, more Australians are being pushed into poverty and homelessness.”
“The government’s investment in crisis and transitional housing is a step in the right direction, but we need urgent delivery of social and affordable housing to meet demand,” said Mr Davies.
Social Futures is calling on the Government to double the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to drive delivery of adequate social housing in regional communities.
Productivity Commission (PC) research confirms that only 176,000 homes were built in the 12 months to June 2024, falling significantly short of the 240,000 new homes required to be built each year to meet the national housing target of 1.2 million homes by 2029.
Mr Davies said, “Regional areas are being hit hardest by the housing crisis, yet funding for housing projects in these communities remains inadequate.”
While Social Futures welcomes the $1 billion investment in crisis and transitional housing announced earlier this month for women, children, and young people, it urges the government to accelerate funding for community housing providers to facilitate faster delivery.
“Community housing providers are ready to deliver housing solutions, but funding must flow faster to activate projects in the pipeline.”
Social Futures will continue to advocate for regional communities to ensure they receive the investment and support they need to thrive.
