Mission Australia has welcomed the NSW government’s focus on increasing housing supply, but calls for a greater investment in desperately needed social and affordable housing and homelessness services.
“While we welcomed the previously announced $30.4 million funding boost for crisis and transitional housing and homelessness services, with more than 68,000 people seeking help from NSW homelessness services in the past year, there is a clear need for broader investment in early intervention and prevention programs that work to stop people from becoming homeless,” Mission Australia State Director NSW & ACT Di Kapera said.
As one of Australia’s largest community housing and service providers, Mission Australia knows that the high cost of housing and cost-of-living pressures are pushing people into homelessness. Nationally, the organisation’s homelessness services experienced a 19% surge in demand over the past year, and there is not enough in this budget to address this issue, according to Kapera.
“Increasing the supply of social and affordable housing is vital to ensuring that people on low incomes have access to safe and secure housing. The lack of investment in new social housing in this budget is concerning, as people across the state struggle to keep up with rapidly rising rents,” she said.
While Kapera commends efforts from the Minns government to increase the number of social and affordable homes, she said that they do not go far enough in addressing the need across NSW. There are over 65,000 people on the social housing waitlist in the state, and they will continue to miss out on secure housing unless the number of social and affordable homes dramatically increases.
Mission Australia is thereby calling on all governments to commit to increasing the number of social and affordable homes to at least 10% of all housing stock to meet the urgent need in the community.
“We had urged the government to invest in programs like the Housing and Support Initiative (HASI) that help people with severe mental illness to stay in their homes and avoid homelessness. While we welcome the $15.4 million for the community mental health workforce, we would like to see sustained investment in these vital programs,” Kapera added.
Mission Australia had also called on the government to invest in 10 youth foyers to provide supported housing to at-risk youth.
“With 50% of people experiencing homelessness in NSW aged under 24, there is a clear need for specialised housing for young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, but the budget contains no funding for youth foyers. The youth foyer model provides vulnerable young people with secure housing and tailored support so they can stay safely housed and pursue education and employment opportunities. Other states are investing in this proven solution to combatting youth homelessness, and we will continue to call on the NSW government to follow their lead and fund new youth foyers,” Kapera concluded.
Read also: ACOSS calls for bold action on the housing crisis
Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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