Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week is Homelessness Week. In Australia there are over 122,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. One in seven Australians experiencing homelessness are children under 12, and 23 per cent of people experiencing homelessness are between the ages of 12 and 24. I am proud of the Albanese Labor government's ten-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan. The Housing Australia Future Fund will be used to build 20,000 social housing units, 4,000 of which will be allocated to women and children fleeing domestic and family violence situations. Ten thousand affordable homes will be provided for our frontline workers, including police, nurses, ambos and other emergency workers, who spend their days keeping us safe. I am also pleased that older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness will also be supported through this fund. Unlike the Greens, who are blocking this important reform, the Labor Party and other Senate crossbenchers strongly support this investment. It is directed towards the increase of housing provisions and will significantly ease the challenges faced by citizens across the country. As this year's Homelessness Week theme emphasises, it is time to end homelessness.