The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2019 welfare report to be published on Wednesday, a snapshot of the nation’s wellbeing, paints a generally positive picture of Australia.
People are more satisfied with their lives and more socially connected than most of the developed world, and enjoy record employment levels and educational attainment. However, housing stress remains a challenge for more than a million low-income households.
The waiving of the state’s housing debt could kick start a pipeline of hundreds of affordable homes a year, says a national housing organisation.
The Grattan Institute has savaged a Rudd government scheme to create affordable rental accommodation as an expensive, inefficient and poorly targeted failure.
A quarter of Australians are experiencing loneliness, with young adults more affected than other age groups, according to a snapshot of the nation’s health.
One of the biggest challenges young people of refugee background face in their new country is finding safe, affordable and appropriate housing. Yet this is central to social inclusion and to a young person’s ability to settle successfully in Australia.
Article: The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) has continued its compliance drive over the past 12 months, completing over 1,150 investigations in the 2018-19 financial year, closing 6 court prosecutions with guilty pleas in all cases, issuing more than 50 Penalty Infringement Notices and educating more than 430 people.
Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Smith said the RTA’s authority to investigate and prosecute offences under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (RTRA Act) was essential to making renting work for Queenslanders.
“With more than one third of Queensland households renting, the RTA’s role as an independent regulator is critical to protect everyone involved in the sector,” Ms Smith said.
“Everyone should be aware that breaking Queensland’s tenancy laws can result in convictions and fines.”
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Community housing advocates have welcomed a $45.7 million low-interest construction loan from the Commonwealth housing funder but say the government must do more to fix a persistent funding gap in low-income housing delivery.
Hesta is the first Australian superannuation fund to invest in an apartment project that seeks to improve housing affordability for workers who are essential to the community such as nurses, police and firefighters.
It is no coincidence that the focus on homelessness heightens during August, the coldest time during the wintry months.
This year the theme for Homelessness Week is Housing Ends Homelessness, with the launch to be held on Monday in Hobart, a city experiencing levels of homelessness rates higher than that of the state’s population growth.