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The Latest Update from National Shelter

The past few weeks have been frantic as National Shelter returned to travelling and meeting in person. Read on to find out what we got up to this month! 

Adrian Reports on a Week in Canberra

Adrian Pisarski, National Shelter's Executive Officer, reports on his week spent in Canberra below: 

We went to Canberra for three principal reasons:

1. To promote the National Shelter Policy Response to the “Reimagining Indigenous Housing Health and Wealth" report alongside Michelle McKenzie from Shelter WA and Ivan Simon from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association. We met with officials from the National Indigenous Australians Agency and the Department of Social Services, as well as the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians. We also met with Opposition Spokesperson, the Hon Linda Burney, the Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services and for Preventing Family Violence and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, and Senator Patrick Dodson the Co-Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

All of those meetings were constructive discussions promoting the conceptual nature of the document and the practical steps which need to be taken by governments to achieve the vision of a self-sustaining housing future for First Peoples. In particular, we were pitching the need to support the Northern Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Health Alliance (NATSIHA) and to re-establish and rebuild the capacity of the Indigenous Community Housing sector utilising NATSIHA and looking at how the national community housing regulatory system (NRSCH) could facilitate the inclusion of Indigenous Community Housing Organisations (ICHOs) rather than making ICHOs fit into a mainstream system which has the potential to see ICHOs register and take advantage of the various mechanisms to grow their housing as other community housing providers do. 
2. We also helped launch the report "Taming the Elephant in the Economy” at an event at PWC Canberra; it outlines the fundamental importance of housing and housing policy to the successful working of the economy and the dangers of inflationary pressures and high household debts associated with over-priced housing.
Wendy Hayhurst (Community Housing Industry Association) and I met with Treasury officials, the Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers MP, John Alexander MP and others to outline the report’s findings and arrange briefings for officials with the researchers.

The event featured the report authors and responses from leading economists Shane Wright, Nikki Hutley and Saul Eslake. An interview with report author Professor Duncan McLennan is available here and outlines the recommendations and directions required to ensure housing becomes more utilitarian.

Wendy and I also met with the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the nearly completed Homelessness Inquiry, Sharon Claydon MP and Andrew Wallace MP to make a final plea for the report to include recommendations for lifting social housing levels via Commonwealth funding contributions and the need for a national strategy to address the housing system and homelessness.

3. Adrian was also scheduled to meet The Hon Anne Ruston MP, Minister for Social Services to discuss all of these items but unfortunately, the meeting was postponed to a future date. We were happy to have meetings lined up with two Ministers and continue to seek a meeting with the reclusive Minister for Housing Hon Michael Sukkar MP.

As is often the case when prowling the parliament we bumped into some colleagues, specifically Alan Kirkland from CHOICE and Michele O’Neil, the President of the ACTU.

Pictured below: Adrian Pisarski (National Shelter), Michelle McKenzie (Shelter WA), Wendy Hayhurst (CHIA), Michele O'Neil (ACTU) and  Alan Kirkland (Choice).

State Budgets

Last week saw three state budgets handed down in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. While the budget in New South Wales and South Australia were disappointing from a housing perspective, we were pleased to see that the Queensland Government has followed the Victorian Government in announcing major spending initiatives on social and affordable housing, lifting the role of community housing, and in addressing homelessness. Queensland announced a total of $2.9 billion of initiatives including a social housing fund of $1 billion and $1.9 billion in other measures over four years. It means that over the past 12 months we have seen states lifting their contributions by over $10 billion in the next 4-5 years while the Commonwealth is contributing nothing additional. Imagine how much better things could be if the Commonwealth were at least matching what states are now committing to?
Read the Queensland Shelter Budget Analysis

Australia’s High House Prices Damage Economic Productivity + More!

Recent discussions have highlighted how rising house prices are funelling growing numbers of younger Australians into rental housing and lifestyle choices that fall short of their housing aspirations. 

There are now warnings that future falling homeownership rates across most age cohorts could hit the New South Wales Government's budget balance. 

Recent research reflects strong consensus among informed experts that both National and State/Territory governments need to improve their understanding of how the housing system affects the economy. 

An online survey of 87 leading Australian economists and housing market experts showed that almost two-thirds of participant economists (64%), and 94% of non-economists believe that governments are failing to sufficiently regardhow the housing system impacts on national economic performance.
 
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