Investing in new social housing for survivors of domestic violence ‘could boost Australian economy’

Abstract

Investment in new social housing for survivors of family and domestic violence in Australia would not only give safety and security to some of those needing it the most, but it also makes economic sense, new analysis has also found.

The pandemic has taken some of the attention away from the issue of domestic and family violence, despite an escalation of abuse during this time and the fact that it is the main reason women and children seek specialist homelessness services.

Ahead of the national women’s safety summit later this month, the Everybody’s Home campaign, which aims to address housing inequity and shortfalls across Australia, has released the results of research commissioned to find out just how much a new social housing build across the nation would cost.

Kate Colvin, the national spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, said the research showed investing in social housing had multiple benefits, including for the economy itself.

“If the commonwealth government invested in 16,800 additional social housing units the $7.6bn cost would be dwarfed by immediate economic benefits of $15.3bn and the creation of 47,000 new jobs,” she said.