Key Points
- A survey of listings found just 507 rental properties that an aged care worker in Australia could afford.
- When rent exceeds 30 per cent of a household budget it can cause financial stress.
- The head of Anglicare says the private rental system is made for wealth generation, not provision of secure housing.
Upon finishing a shift working at an aged care home in Coffs Harbour, Colleen Carena was going back to her van.
The aged care worker was paying $280 a week for a site at a caravan park because she was unable to secure a rental property that she could afford.
The 60-year-old is not alone in being employed but struggling to find a rental property within her budget.
There are few properties available for rent within the budget of essential workers in Australia. Source: SBS News
Affordability in low supply
A survey of advertised rentals across Australia has shown a tiny percentage of rental properties are priced within the budget of essential workers such as nurses and cleaners.
Anglicare Australia in relation to listings and their compatibility with the incomes of workers in 16 essential roles.
Across the country, there were just 507 rental properties that an aged care worker could afford, based on average earnings in that industry.
For others, such as ambulance workers, they were priced out of more than 97 per cent of the private rental market. Among those with the least options for rentals within their budget were hospitality workers - just 424 fit into their affordable range from 45,895 listings.
Just one of the rental properties listed in the Northern Territory when the survey was done would be considered affordable on an average hospitality worker's wage. Source: SBS News
Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said the rental affordability crisis prompted the organisation to look at the experience of those in employment.
“Essential workers are the backbone of our communities, yet they cannot afford to rent. Our snapshot shows that more and more essential workers are being pushed into serious rental stress,” she said.
The snapshot used the internationally accepted measure of rent exceeding 30 per cent of a household budget to be considered as causing financial stress.
“Virtually no part of Australia is affordable for aged care workers, early childhood educators, cleaners, nurses, and many other essential workers we rely on. They cannot afford to live in their own communities,” Chambers said.
Finding an affordable rental property is getting harder in Australia, even for some in full-time employment. Source: Getty / Andrew Merry
Few options for aged care workers
Carena has since received assistance from Mission Australia, which is providing the unit she is living in for the time being.
She said some of the cheaper units she'd seen advertised were about $460 a week.
"There’s no way that I could afford that as I’m a casual worker, I could be working three days. This week, I've had seven days, lucky, but that's not maybe going to be the same next week, so it's quite fluctuating,” Carena said.
She described it as deflating to be working and still not being able to afford a private rental.
Not alone in their struggle to find affordable rentals
Chambers said it had already been established that the private market was "failing people on the lowest incomes". She said Anglicare Australia's snapshot shows it's "failing people on average incomes as well, including those in full-time work".
A previous snapshot identified that couples out of work, single parents relying on Centrelink, and Australians on the disability support pension were all dealing with a rental market where 0.2 per cent of rentals were affordable.
Median advertised rental prices in Australia sat at $520 per week in the June quarter.
Private rental market 'not fit for purpose'
Chambers described the private rental market in Australia as being "screwed up".
She said it was built on the idea of wealth generation rather than focusing on providing people with secure housing.
"As a society, we cannot function without these professions and occupations. So if they can't afford a place in the private rental market, we can absolutely state that it's broken, it's not fit for purpose," she said,
"We've really baked in these policies," she said, including , a policy that Chambers said should be removed over time.
Median advertised rental prices in Australia sat at $520 per week in the June quarter. Source: Getty / Daria Nipot
A call for action on affordable housing
Chambers believes the best way to tackle the rental crisis was to build social and affordable rentals.
“Even though Australia has built a record number of homes over the last ten years, rents keep soaring. The best way to make rentals more affordable is to build social and affordable homes. Building general homes and hoping affordability will trickle down just isn’t working," she said.
“We need to build affordable housing for those who need it, including essential workers. We need better protections for renters, including an end to no-cause evictions and limits on unfair rent increases. And we need tax reform to put people in need of homes, not investors, at the centre of our system."
Chambers urged housing ministers and state and federal leaders to act to make sure everyone has a place to call home.
State leaders will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for a National Cabinet meeting in Brisbane on Wednesday, where for discussion.
Albanese outlined a new National Housing Accord in October 2022 as the government's approach to dealing with the supply and affordability of housing.
While it is expected to deliver from 2024 under a $350 million fund, proponents have said more is required.
