Gearing up for the Housing Crisis – RAHU Commends ANU Report on Housing During COVID-19 Pandemic
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 28 August 2020
The conclusions of the ANU’s Menzies Centre that housing measures enacted during COVID-19 do nothing to address long-term housing precarity come as no surprise to RAHU.
Since the start of the pandemic, RAHU has seen countless instances of renters flung into poverty by the “insufficient” measures the report highlights.
This isn’t just numbers in a report – these are society’s frontline casual workers: real human beings.
Additionally, the “modest” investment in public housing the report highlights is at best a euphemism. People in public housing remain largely ignored despite suffering severe economic impacts throughout COVID-19. Labor’s weak proposal for social housing investment, that is, a combination of public and privately-run community housing, ignores advice from peak bodies.
RAHU welcomes this report, and we second the call to “challenge the status quo” rather than “maintain business as usual”. A massive overhaul of public funding is urgently needed to address housing affordability and the longstanding power imbalance in the rental market.
RAHU will continue to push for our rights as renters to safe and affordable housing for all.
Quotes attributable to: Eirene Tsolidis Noyce – Renter, Secretary – RAHU
The government needs to provide longer term solutions to address the monumental public housing shortage, or we are on a fast track to an unprecedented homelessness crisis.
Precarity and unemployment is at an all time high. Without providing a massive funding scheme for affordable housing, the government is gearing up for a housing collapse.
This report further highlights the longstanding power imbalance between renters and landlords, and the growing disparity caused by the unchecked property market. This is why we continue to organise to flip the scales for affordable housing for all.
Media contact: Paddy: 0407 712 579 or email [email protected]