Australia's housing system in 'meltdown' as affordability collapses in every corner

Australia’s housing system is not just broken but in meltdown, and all levels of government must take urgent action to fix the crisis, a peak social justice organisation says.

Releasing its 20-year roadmap for affordable housing on Thursday, Anglicare Australia makes several recommendations, including tax and policy reform and an expansion of social housing.

No corner of Australia has been spared from increasing rental prices and Anglicare says affordability in regional towns has collapsed.

On the Sunshine Coast, median weekly rents for a three-bedroom home had risen to $560 in Caloundra, $620 in Maroochydore and $650 in Noosa in the January to March quarter, and vacancies were at an all-time low.

For Australians in the lowest socio-economic brackets, rentals are completely out of budget, Anglicare analysis shows.

A person on JobSeeker, the disability support pension, or youth allowance cannot afford rental prices, and an age pensioner can afford less than one per cent of houses available to rent.

A couple working full-time at minimum wage can afford just 15 per cent of rentals, down from 31 per cent 10 years ago, even with rent assistance and tax benefits, the data shows.

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“Australia’s housing crisis has reached fever pitch … the new government is inheriting a true emergency,” executive director Kasy Chambers said in a statement.

“This roadmap offers a long-term plan for all levels of government to make housing more affordable.

“Our hope is that they will work together, and with us, to end this crisis for good.”

Nationally consistent protections for renters, increases to Commonwealth rent assistance and gradually reducing capital gains tax discounts are part of Anglicare’s solution to the housing crisis.

The roadmap also recommends introducing a requirement for all new developments to include affordable housing.