Can We Rebuild Australia’s Failing Social Housing System?
Growing up, I had the luxury and privilege to live in a house which my parents owned. I know however many people who didn’t have that luxury; where even rent was something considered a liberty for the lucky. It wasn’t until my late teens that I came face to face with Australia’s social housing system after moving to Riverwood, a suburb in the South-West of Sydney with a notorious reputation for it’s crime activity but even more well-known for its reputation of the large amounts of social housing that fill up the suburb.
Social housing can be defined as ‘affordable housing provided by the government and community sectors to assist people who are unable to afford or access suitable accommodation in the private market’. The struggles of accessing social housing has been a topic of debate over the years throughout the media and public. Social housing provides people going through hard times a secure and safe place to call home. But what happens to the people who can’t access social housing. The waiting list for housing often long and could take years until a person may be granted access to the recourses and shelter, they through government social housing.
As of October 2020, there was approximately 430,000 people are on the waiting list for public housing and thousands more are on NDIS plans. The shortfall in social housing is estimated to be around 450,000. These statistics are extremely alarming as they highlight some of the issues with not only the social housing system in Australia, but also how the current rental and property market may be one of the many factors that play into why people need government rental assistance or social housing.
Although I’m no expert in social housing, it is easy to see that what the government has and is doing in relation to social housing isn’t a sustainable nor suitable long-term solution and is leaving many vulnerable Australians homeless and in desperate need of support.
Currently in my suburb there has been a proposed development plan dubbed ‘The Riverwood Renewal Project’ that will see the complete re-development of a 30-hectare site in Riverwood North which is mostly owned by NSW Land and Housing Corporation and includes 994 social housing homes. Over the past few years since the project was first announced many residents including those who are not even living in the government owned social housing dwellings, voiced their concern over the development, with many stating they are worried about where current social housing residents will be located and if they will be allowed back to the suburb, and the fact the government wishes to change it to a mix of private and social housing which would lead to an increase in an already saturated and expensive rental market.
Although I agree with these points, I also worry about the fact the government knows that it will be able to make easy money by privatizing some of their land in a suburb that is quickly becoming a sought after location. The government has done this before in locations such as Redfern and Surry Hills. The government needs to prioritize making a budget and plan for social housing and rental assistance instead of giving ‘facelifts’ to low-socio economic suburbs.
It isn’t hard to see that owning a property takes A LOT of money, but renting isn’t any better either. With 2019 and 2020 bringing bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic many Australians have lost jobs, property and valuable income leaving them to struggle and without a proper and strong social housing system many people have and will continue to be left to fend for themselves.
Fixing Australia’s, and in particular New South Wales social housing crisis isn’t going to take moving social housing residents further away from the inter- city, it isn’t going to take rebuilding social housing land into privately owned pretty apartment complexs. The foundations of the social housing system is starting to crumble away, and as more strain is placed onto the system, eventual the foundations will cave in hurting everyone within it. The social housing and rental assistance system needs to be rebuilt, carefully piece by piece so that our fellow Australians everywhere can have access to safety and security, so that they can have access to a home.
