Far North Queenslanders rental crisis

By Isabella Guzman Gonzalez

ACCORDING to a new Australian Government Productivity Commission report, nearly half of lower-income Queenslanders are experiencing severe rental stress.

The report found 43.4 per cent of Queenslanders receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance payments in 2022 were spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent alone.

In 2020, before the state housing crisis, that proportion was just 28.2 per cent.

According to the Community Housing Industry Association, Cairns shows high levels of unaffordable housing, ranking fifth in the state with 8.90 per cent of households struggling, that is, at least 8,800 households.

Vinnies Queensland CEO Kevin Mercer said the report painted a concerning picture of the Queensland housing market, as a lack of affordable housing and rising rental costs continue to put severe pressure on families throughout the state.

“It’s far too common for us to receive requests for help from people who have paid their rent and utility bills, leaving nothing left over for food,” Mr Mercer said.

“We recently helped a single mother provide back-to-school supplies for her kids.

“She told us the cost of rent and living was now so high, she was considering voluntarily going homeless, sleeping in her car so that she could afford to provide an education for her kids.”

Mr Mercer said more measures were necessary to help relieve the financial stress.

“The report reflects what we all know, that we have a significant housing crisis concern at the moment,” he said.

“In the long term, the obvious answer is that we need to build more homes, and the Government is working on getting the stock numbers up, but the scale needs to be higher, and they need to move those projects quicker.

“In the short term, we need to ensure people can get by, and things like the Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA) is a really important part of that.”

Mr Mercer said the report highlighted how critical Government support was to keep vulnerable people from homelessness.

“The report found that, without the support of the CRA program, the number of lower-income households experiencing rental stress would grow to more than 70 per cent,” he said.

“For many Queenslanders, the CRA may be the only thing keeping them from homelessness.

“It’s time for a serious review of the CRA.

“Whilst the CRA is indexed, it has not kept up with the rapid rent increase, widening the affordability gap for those relying on it.

“A 50 per cent increase to the maximum rate would really help Queenslanders keep up with our modern, hyper-competitive housing market and keep many from the looming threat of homelessness.”

In the 2021-22 financial year, Vinnies Queensland provided more than 100,000 nights of accommodation to people in need.

Still, the increasing housing crisis is making it harder for them to prevent their clients from going into homelessness.

“It’s an ongoing struggle for our members to support people in the community because the options and the solutions just aren’t there,” Mr Mercer said.

“In Cairns, with the tourism market flowing back into the local economy, some options that were there before have disappeared, so temporary accommodation like hostels and caravan parks are now gone.

“It’s a really frustrating time, and we need strong support to get people through this crisis,” he said.