Solutions needed for vulnerable communities - NSW State Budget 2023

After attending the Treasurer’s post budget discussion hosted by the McKell Institute at Accenture this afternoon, I was pleased to hear the Treasurer speak to the philosophy and intent shown in the 2023-24 budget - finding the balance between fiscal responsibility and starting investment in key issues such as education, social housing, cost of living measures and homelessness. 

We are pleased to see:  

• recognition of the need to build more social and affordable homes with wrap around support so everyone in NSW has a safe place to call home 
• Faster Planning Program, Essential Housing Package and the $2.2bn Housing and Infrastructure plan which are steps in the right direction to address the historic neglect of new housing supply over many years 
• $150m for NSW Land and Housing Corporation to to deliver replacement, substitute and new social housing in flood impacted Northern Rivers which addresses our call for more social housing in flood affected areas in our Northern Rivers Resilient Lands Strategy submission
• commitments towards rental reform by introducing a portable rental bonds scheme, legislating reasonable grounds to end a lease, and making it easier for renters to have pets 
• increases to expand energy bill relief for families, seniors and households struggling with cost of living 

We anticipate the impact of the $601 million Commonwealth Social Housing Accelerator and look forward to learning more details about how this will uplift the delivery of social housing in NSW. 

We welcome the focus on social housing and the Government’s journey to longer term solutions, but we know that much more investment is needed now to address the critical social housing shortage. 

With pressures on SHS providers, we welcome the additional funding of $5.9 million and $11 million into the extension of Together Home, but unfortunately this additional funding falls short of what the sector was seeking.  

SHS providers are seeing increasing demand and don’t have the funding required to meet the current and growing demands that exists in the community.  

We encourage the NSW Government to continue discussions about adequate funding for SHS providers and look forward to government’s plans to provide longer funding arrangements for front line providers to give certainty and ability to lift delivery of outcomes to people in need.