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31st August 2020
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Upturn Launch Event

The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP has invited contributions from a stellar lineup of contributors to provide chapters to a book she has edited, looking at significant policy areas and how we might do better after COVID-19. Our Executive Officer Adrian Pisarski has contributed a chapter on housing, and the book is being launched at a live event on Nov 5, 2020 12:00 PM AEST. The panel for the event includes Tanya Plibersek, Tim Soutphommasane and Adrian Pisarski with Verity Firth. You can register for the event below. 
Register

Steve Bevington Nominated for Australian of the Year

National Shelter was pleased to see Community Housing Ltd (CHL) founder Steve Bevington nominated as a Victorian nominee for Australian of the Year. Anyone who isn’t familiar with Steve’s story can see his nomination and achievements here. We are proud that one of our national members can come from sleeping rough to be considered worthy of this nomination.

National Shelter caught up with Steve by phone and he said “it’s great that the situation of housing need has come to the forefront through both my nomination and another candidate in Victoria, and I’m particularly pleased the community housing sector is now getting the recognition it deserves. Of course, I accept the nomination on behalf of the CHL team, and the broader sector any number of whom are equally worthy.” We think Steve is slightly humble as he has a unique background, style and approach which have helped CHL become a leader in the sector.

House of Representatives (HoR) Inquiry into Homelessness

The HoR Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs (SPLA) tabled in Parliament its interim report on 7 October 2020, called Shelter in the storm – COVID-19 and Homelessness.

National Shelter and its members and allies are strongly represented in the interim report which so far details the evidence presented to it without containing any findings. It’s worth reading for the breadth and depth of evidence provided to the Committee.
Read the Interim Report

Ministerial Meetings

National Shelter continues to meet regularly with advisors for Ministers of Social Services, Housing (Treasury) and Community Housing and Homelessness along with the Community Housing Industry Association, Homelessness Australia and PowerHousing. We have consistently raised issues about the impending crisis facing renters, the need for investment in social housing, the need for increasing the availability of housing to re-house people in temporary accommodation as well as the longer term issues around the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, Equal Renumeration Order, Budget cycles and how governments can provide “gap filler” incentives for social and affordable housing to attract private finance and investment. Whilst the 2020 Budget didn’t contain measures to address these (beyond the welcome boost to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation guarantee), we continue to have positive dialogue with advisors and remain hopeful that our efforts and the considerable efforts of others, will result in increased investment in social and affordable housing. 

National Affordable Housing Alliance (NAHA)

The NAHA has appointed Mr Rod Fehring former chairperson of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and CEO of Frasers Property to be its chairperson. Next stop for the NAHA is meeting with the COVID Commission Chairperson Mr Nev Power. National Shelter has known Rod for many years and highlights his no-nonsense style, his advocacy, and commitment to housing people with disabilities, and his broad understanding of the issues based on his tenure as AHURI chairperson. 
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Australia Together

National Shelter, as a member of Australia Together, was offered the chance to discuss its agenda with the Labor caucus last week. We highlighted the housing issues confronting Australia while others talked to the importance of early childhood, employment and the need to tailor approaches for different communities. The Australia Together agenda is captured in the diagram below.

Please click/zoom in to view the diagram in more detail. 

Homelessness Monitor

Congratulations to Launch Housing, UNSW City Futures, and the University of Queensland on the release of the latest Homelessness Monitor. 

The latest Australian Homelessness Monitor shows the national homelessness rate is set to surge as short-term coronavirus and housing protections phase down. The 2020 Australian Homelessness Monitor offers an independent analysis of homelessness in Australia. It investigates the changing scale and nature of the problem and assesses recent policy and practice developments seen in response.
Homelessness Monitor

New AHURI Research

New research from AHURI, based on a survey of 15,000  people, analyses the impacts of COVID-19 on the increasingly important cohort of Australia’s renters. The report warns that “tenants in Australia are lined up on the brink of a financial precipice”, and should contain an apology to the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Author of Love in the Time of Cholera. 
Read Renting in the Time of COVID-19
The Inquiry into integrated housing support for vulnerable families has also been released. While acknowledging the important and effective role played by crisis services and emergency responders, of key interest is the finding that “Specialist Homelessness Services (SHSs) and other human services are not able to compensate for the absence of affordable, suitable housing across the housing system”.
Read the Inquiry
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