Housing key workers: scoping challenges, aspirations, and policy responses for Australian cities

Abstract

There is no single definition of what constitutes a ‘key worker’. The term usually refers to employees in services that are essential to a city’s functioning but who earn low to moderate incomes. In cities and regions with high housing costs, this makes access to appropriate and affordable housing in reasonable proximity to work difficult for key workers.
This study finds that Sydney and Melbourne’s teachers, nurses, community support workers, ambulance and emergency officers, delivery personnel and cleaners are struggling to find appropriate and affordable housing. Twenty per cent of key workers across Sydney and 17 per cent across Melbourne experience housing stress, with much higher rates in inner subregions.
Further, approximately 31,000 key workers across Sydney and 18,000 in Melbourne are living in overcrowded homes.