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QCOSS REPORT PAINTS AN ALARMING PICTURE OF STATE HOUSING CRISIS
A new report from our partners at the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) has laid bare the extent of the housing crisis in Queensland, reporting homelessness numbers in our state have increased at a rate almost triple the national average.
The Report, “A blueprint to tackle Queensland’s housing crisis”, commissioned national housing expert Professor Hal Pawson and his colleagues at the University of NSW to conduct a deep investigation of the state of Queensland’s housing crisis and ways we can help resolve it.
Vinnies Queensland CEO Kevin Mercer attended Monday’s launch of the report and hoped the findings would encourage further action for the 300,000-some Queenslanders with unmet housing needs.
“I stand here representing our thousands of Members across Queensland who volunteer their services every day to help vulnerable people in their community,” Mr Mercer said.
“These are really challenging times for our communities and we welcome the findings of this report that underpin the real size and scale of this problem.”
The Report has already become a hot discussion topic for Queensland, with two consecutive front page stories in The Courier Mail and coverage across major media networks.
Mr Mercer said he hoped the report findings would lead to further discussions with our state leaders in escalating our response.
“We recognise the Commonwealth and State Government have made a good start in addressing this issue but we are at a crisis point,” he said.
“We require a scale of investment and response that we have not seen before to address the problems we are facing today.”
The Report recommends a number of actions, including reforming rent assistance, expanding social and affordable housing supply, expanding the Queensland Housing Investment Fund, more transparent social housing reporting and boosting community housing sector capacity.
The Report suggests that to meet the current and future need of social and affordable housing, around 11,000 dwellings will need to be developed each year.
For more information about the Report, including a link to the full report, visit the QCOSS website.
Findings from the Report:
- Around 150,000 households across Queensland have unmet housing needs
- Homelessness in Queensland has risen 22 per cent since 2017, compared to 8 per cent across Australia
- Queenslanders aged over 55 were the fastest rising group of people experiencing homelessness, followed by people impacted by mental health concerns
- Since 2020, Brisbane unit rent costs have risen by 23 per cent and house rent costs by 33 per cent
- Regional markets have seen even higher rent increases, including a median increase of 80 per cent in Gladstone, 51 per cent in Noosa and 33 per cent on the Gold Coast in the last five years.
- To meet current and future need, we will need an annual program of 11,000 affordable and social homes
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