Acknowledgements omitted
I am so pleased to be here because I so admire the work you do. Helping Western Australians find the stability of a place to call home. Helping them to build new foundations – both physical and metaphorical.
Like all of you at Foundation Housing, I believe that safe, secure housing is vital to the wellbeing of every Australian. This report we launch today is called Reimagining the Role of Lodging in Ending Homelessness. It is an example of your deep commitment and compassion for those in need of housing. And also the professionalism, innovative thinking and academic rigour you bring to your work.
This evaluation by UWA’s Centre for Social Impact represents a real step forward in thoughtful, evidence-based responses to the challenges of housing. When completing my Masters degree at UWA a few years ago, I studied a social impact unit provided by the Centre. So, I know firsthand the quality and academic rigour of Professor Paul Flatau and the team.
Today, as we launch this new report, I want to talk about our Government’s housing policy and what we’re doing to help. But before that, I want to reflect a little bit on what it means to have a home.
Home as a foundation
Pretty remarkably, we have a Prime Minister who grew up in social housing, the son of a single mum.
That was my dad’s story, too. Ron Gorman was the son of a single mum. And public housing gave him and his mum opportunity. Opportunity for her to work as a public servant. Opportunity for him to go to school and then university.
For my dad, having a home was the foundation for learning, working, finding confidence, taking on the wider world, and building a family of his own. Having a home meant – quite literally – having a place in the world.
Because a home is far more than a roof over your head. It is about stability and safety. Privacy and dignity and freedom. Connection and community.
As the Housing First model acknowledges, it is the foundation of so much else. Things that are measurable – like health and education and finances. And things that are not – like aspiration and belonging and love.
That is why anyone without a home, or at risk of losing one, deserves our best efforts to help them find and keep one. And it is why the statistics on homelessness that I am about to quote are so hard to hear.
Homelessness: The facts
I know they are familiar to you, but I think they bear repeating. At last count, close to 122,500 people were experiencing homelessness in Australia.
In the 2021 Census, Western Australia had the lowest rate of any state, but the highest proportion of people living in tents or sleeping rough. Across the nation, more than half of people experiencing homelessness were men, but the number of women had jumped by 10 per cent in five years.
In fact, the biggest increases were among women and children, and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. On Census night, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were 20 per cent of the unhoused population. Here is another way to think about that: out of every 500 Australians, just 19 are Indigenous. But out of every 500 homeless people, 100 are Indigenous.
Those are the figures we have on homelessness. But there is another entire cohort sitting just one rung above actual homelessness – and they are at persistent risk of falling into homelessness. The pressures at this end of the housing system have never been greater. It is distressing to think about, but we are not just thinking about it. And we are not just wringing our hands.
The Albanese Government has an ambitious housing agenda. Boosting housing supply is a government priority.
That means more social housing is a priority.
More affordable housing is a priority.
More homes to rent is a priority.
More homes to buy is a priority.
And the Albanese Government is making sure it is a priority of other governments.
Last year, we passed landmark legislation to deliver the single biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade. This is life-changing. For generations of Australians.
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will be life-changing. It will help make good on the Government’s commitment of 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes in the Fund’s first five years. This includes 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence, and older women at risk of homelessness – as well as funding for crisis and transitional accommodation. It will fund repairs and improvements to houses in remote Indigenous communities, and build housing for veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
As well as the Housing Australia Future Fund, our ambitious agenda also includes measures that just two years ago did not exist at all. Our Government has set a new national target to build 1.2 million well-located homes. Under the Morrison Government, that target did not exist.
The Albanese Government is delivering a $3 billion New Homes Bonus, and a $500 million Housing Support Program. When Peter Dutton sat at the Cabinet table, this support was not available.
Under Minister Collins, our Government has invested in a $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator to deliver thousands of new social homes across Australia. In contrast to the previous Coalition Government, who were nowhere to be seen on social housing.
Our Federal Labor Government is bringing together the states and territories to fund new homes across Australia. We will work together to deliver the National Housing Accord. The Accord includes federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024. This will be matched by another 10,000 by the states and territories.
The Albanese Government is also working with state and territory governments to improve the planning and zoning system. And National Cabinet is working together to also provide more protections for renters. Because our Government understands that we need to work together to improve housing for every Australian – whether they want to rent or buy. This is in contrast to the previous Government, which did not get everyone to the table to tackle this challenge.
Our Government is investing an additional $1 billion in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support more housing. Under the Morrison Government, that investment did not exist.
Our Government increased the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 15 per cent. This is the largest increase in more than 30 years. And could have been done during the nine years of the previous government – but wasn’t.
Our Government has outlined a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan with the States and Territories. Contrary to the Morrison-Dutton Government, which for all the reasons I just covered, clearly had no plan for Australian housing.
But it is not all about the government of the day. Our housing system would not function without providers like you. People who are in the community every day offering the most practical support. And, as I said, contributing ideas and research to the broader conversation about how we end homelessness.
This report on lodging is a significant intervention, based on data, on experience, and on meaningful links with other organisations. Once seen as insecure and even sordid, what this report finds is that lodging houses have been reinvented. As safe, stable, affordable and desirable – they represent a small but growing share of the housing mix. They are a contemporary, cost-effective and resident-centred solution that offers people help on the path to a home, and help holding onto one. Because what you so fundamentally recognise is that giving someone a place to live is vital – but it is only the beginning.
What Foundation Housing does so beautifully is not only place people, but embrace them with support and services. Everything from regular medical care, to drug and alcohol rehabilitation, to counselling, to social activities, outings and community building. Everything to promote personal and collective flourishing. And it comes from a place of deep and generous understanding.
Understanding that a set of keys does not by itself change someone’s life.
I was really moved by Jade’s story. It is not in this report, but in your last annual report. Jade had escaped from a violent relationship only to find herself homeless and addicted. Foundation Housing stepped in with a home – but living there was strange at first.
She said – and this is what struck me:
“I slept outside on my balcony for a while until I felt comfortable moving inside.”
That was eight years ago.
Jade’s journey since then has been transformative.
She has become sober, earned qualifications, connected together with her children and grandchildren, and found herself working in this sector. And now, Jade helps other women like her.
It is an extraordinary story, one that Foundation Housing made possible. Jade says:
“If I had gone through my journey anywhere else, I don’t think I’d be here today.”
Conclusion
That is true of so many people – people you have helped turn their lives around. I know they are grateful – and so am I. Profoundly grateful for the work you do every day.
As someone who calls this state and this city home, I want to thank you for moving us all closer to an Australia where everyone has a home. In that spirit, it is a great pleasure to launch this report.