Housing and homelessness

The Salvation Army provided a submission to the Everybody’s Home People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis.

Our submission responds to the People’s Commission terms of reference:

• Giving voice to the lived experiences of people struggling to access affordable and suitable;
• Highlighting the difficult situation our services witness to be the flow-on impacts of the housing crisis;
• Demonstrating the impact of current policy settings on housing affordability and accessibility; and
• Providing tangible actions that Australian governments can take to improve housing affordability and accessibility most effectively.

Our submission makes 18 recommendations to all Australian governments seeking to address the housing crisis and end homelessness by:

• Addressing the structural drivers of homelessness and poverty, including:
  • Significantly increasing the supply of social and affordable housing; and
  • Ensuring the adequacy of income support payments and supplements, including the JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance and Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
• Focusing on addressing the specific needs of priority cohorts, including:
  • Children and young people;
  • People experiencing family and domestic violence, gender inequity; and
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

We believe the greatest impact on the housing crisis will be achieved if these recommendations are implemented.