St Vincent de Paul Society NSW highlights housing in election statement

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is placing housing at the forefront of its election statement ahead of the NSW State Election next March.

The Society today launched its 2023 election statement Housing Justice: A Home For Everyone, which calls on all parties to commit to policy action to ensure people can live securely in housing, support is available in times of hardship and underlying issues that contribute to housing stress are remedied.

“It is unacceptable given all that we have lived though since the last state election to see a growing number of people facing housing stress and the prospect of homelessness,” said Jack de Groot, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO.

“We regularly hear about the economic cost of housing but what gets lost in these discussions is the human cost of not having a place to call home.

“We need to move beyond viewing housing as a commodity to be acquired by a select few. Housing is a right and everyone deserves to live with the dignity that having a home provides,”Mr de Groot said.

“More than half of the people who sought assistance from our members in the past year were experiencing housing stress,” said Paul Burton, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW President.

“We are seeing this grim reality every day and without courageous leadership it will only get worse,” Mr Burton said.

“Our members do fantastic work in communities across the state supporting people experiencing housing stress, but when we are faced with normalised instances of families living in cars, tents or worse, it is clear we need more meaningful government policy, backed by adequate resourcing, in response.

“A safe, secure, appropriate and affordable place to live is the foundation everyone deserves to lead a happy and thriving life,” Mr Burton said.

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW calls on the next NSW Government to:

Ensure our housing system delivers on the right to home

• Work towards 5000 new social housing homes per year

• Mandate affordable housing targets

• Regulate for healthier homes

• Regulate for accessible homes

• Hold a housing summit

Protect renters through fairer tenancy laws

• Ensure fair limits on rent increases

• Replace ‘no grounds’ evictions provisions

• Prohibit blanket no pets clauses

Fund specialist services for people who are homelessness

St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s 2023 election statement Housing Justice: A Home For Everyone is available in full at: www.vinnies.org.au/NSWElection2023

Media contact: Lachlan Jones | 0417 446 430