David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak for a fellow Canberran, Diana, who joins us here today and is absolutely desperate. Diana's son Brandon has multiple disabilities. Diana could not be more proud of her son, but sometimes when he's angry or upset he is very hard to care for. He has been approved for residential care, but there aren't many services that can look after him safely. In the past, he's been hurt while in a residential placement and he has hurt others. Brandon lives with his mum at the moment. She has a support worker during the day, but at night she's on her own because the house is too small. The situation isn't sustainable. Brandon needs a house close to his mum with enough space for her and a support worker to sleep over. Our office has been speaking with Housing ACT, and Brandon has been approved for priority placement, but nobody knows how long he'll wait, because they don't have enough houses.

Brandon's story is repeated across the ACT and across the country. The shortage of specialist disability accommodation is part of the bigger crisis around social and affordable housing. It's why the Senate needed to pass the HAFF—so that more people like Brandon can have social and affordable houses built for them. I hope that some of the $50 million announced for the ACT last weekend can go towards addressing this immediate need, giving the people in our community who need it most a safe, affordable and appropriate place to live, because that is their right. Housing is a human right. In this place, we need to do more to uphold it and we need to work to ensure that every Australian can afford to have a safe home in their community.