Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

An increasing number of Australians are spinning their wheels in search of a home. Others have fallen behind and are now in the throes of homelessness or are at risk. I never thought that in 2023 in a wealthy country like Australia we would even be having this debate about one of the most basic necessities in life, which is to have a roof over your head. That roof over your head provides the security which is foundational to prosperity. No-one can prosper without a roof over their head.

This, of course, has not happened overnight; it has evolved over the last 10 years due to sustained policy failure under those opposite.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12 : 35 to 12 : 47

As I was saying before, what we're seeing in 2023 in Australia—a wealthy nation—is nothing short of a travesty. We shouldn't be having a discussion around whether people can or should be able to afford a roof over their heads. It is a human right, to be honest, and really it's the product of sustained policy failure over the last decade by those opposite. We have a country that is now riven by inequality and intergenerational injustice, which has led to an entire cohort of young Australians now being essentially locked out of the housing market. It shouldn't have to be this way.

This inequality, as you know, is always unequal. Housing unaffordability is now leading to homelessness not only in youth but also in women; veterans; older people over the age of 55, particularly women; and Indigenous Australians. This was reflected in the latest homelessness data from the 2021 census. This data was both damning and enlightening. On any given night, there are 122,000 homeless people, which is an increase of 6,000 since the last census in 2016. Women accounted for the overwhelming majority of this; 81 per cent of people experiencing homelessness were women. Young people aged 12 to 24 accounted for one in five of these people, and 14 per cent—that's more than one in 10—were actually children aged less than 12. The highest rate of homelessness was amongst 19- to 24-year-olds. Our youth and the future of our country are now the group experiencing the highest rate of homelessness in Australia. What a blight on our society. Sixteen per cent were over the age of 55. Women, children, youth, older people and First Peoples—that's a very large group in our society.

A problem of this magnitude demands national leadership as well as coordination, and we've certainly rolled up our sleeves on this side of the House. We have delivered, just in the last few days, a $67.5 million boost to homelessness funding for the states and territories, which will flow through over the next year. We're also developing a new national housing and homelessness plan, which is due to begin in 2024-25, and we're establishing a statutory authority called the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council. This interim body has already met and is working towards developing a strategy. Hope alone is not going to fix this. You need a strategy, and this is what we're delivering for Australians.

We are basically reversing a wasted decade by what we hope to be a decade of common purpose. I think that this parliament is the parliament that's going to deliver that because there is unity in what we're doing. I think it is a cruel irony that those opposite are now writing to our current housing minister, pleading with her to improve housing affordability in their own electorates. This begs the question: what on earth did they do for the last 10 years? They feathered their nest with press releases rather than actual plans. We are also investing $91.7 million in the Reconnect program to help combat youth homelessness. This program provides wraparound services to support our youth, including mental health services, counselling, education and skills training to help them stabilise their lives and improve their relationships with the families that they have often left.

The census figures are a call to arms demanding that this parliament push through the legislation for our Housing Australia Future Fund—a $10 billion allocation that will be dedicated to social and affordable housing. It will help the mum I met yesterday at my mobile office who has two autistic children and is a nurse. She's done everything right in life. She's acquired a skill, she pays her taxes, she is a key worker in an admirable profession and yet she cannot afford to enter the housing market. Social and affordable homes, like the ones that we would like to build, will help this mother, along with the veterans who have fallen through the cracks, our First Peoples and that increasing cohort of women and children who are fleeing domestic violence.

On this side of the House, we want to get on with this. We are rolling up our sleeves and doing this because the scale of the problem and its magnitude demands action, and that is what we are fulfilling for the Australian people.

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