Source : Perth Now news
A full-time job is no longer a guarantee of a roof over your head – with the number of workers now homeless soaring 42 per cent in one Australian state.
Record inflation and crippling rents have fuelled a dramatic rise in homelessness among Victoria’s workers over the past four years, a new report has found.
Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) reported more than 4400 full time workers received homelessness assistance in the last year and had spread to Melbourne’s outer suburbs that were typically more affordable.
CHP’s latest Employed and At Risk report stated 13 per cent of people that accessed homelessness services in Victoria were employed.
Their research backed up analysis by Everybody’s Home, which found workers on an income of $74,100 could not afford a private rental anywhere in Victoria.
People on $130,000 spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent in Melbourne, showing signs of financial stress.
Women were grossly over represented in the report and made up more than 73 per cent of workers who received support in the past year.
“They earn less money than their male counterparts and are also the most exposed to family violence,” Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale said.
“With rents on the march, what little financial buffer many have left is being stripped away.”
Ms Di Natale said they learnt about the battle to make ends meet almost every day.
“Whether it’s filling your car or the inflated price of essentials in your trolley, people are swimming against a furious tide, with more and more working people slipping into crisis,” she said.
“It really highlights the state of the crisis we’re in, because employment used to be a real protective mechanism for people.
“Now we’ve completely lost that and Victorians who are in employment are seeking support from homelessness services.
“It’s a real indicator of how much people are really on the brink of homelessness.”
CHP has called on the Victorian Government to expand its Private Rental Assistance Program to help people deal with rental arrears before they lose their homes.
They also want a commitment that 80,000 public and community housing homes will be built in the next decade for Victorians failed by the private rental market.
Ms Di Natale said homelessness prevention was far better than waiting until somebody has lost their home.
She said a small amount of help with rent could keep a working person or family safely house and prevent months or years of homelessness.
“Public and community housing is essential infrastructure. It is every Victorian’s insurance policy to ensure they have somewhere safe and dignified to live if the unimaginable happens,” she said.
“That is more important than ever when the private rental market is leaving so many average Victorians locked out of housing.
“Having a job should mean having a realistic chance of keeping a home. For thousands of Victorians, that basic bargain is breaking down and the time to step in and stop it deteriorating any further is now.”
