Last week our CEO Trudi Ray joined over 20 other CEOs from the Community Housing sector across Australia to speak with political representatives in Canberra about the important role housing affordability will play in this year’s election.
Armed with data collected by redbridge (who polled 1,500 people across 24 of the most contestable electorates) they delivered a compelling case with those surveyed:
- 73% said it will be very or somewhat important to their election vote choice
- 13% ranking it as the single most important issue facing the nation
- One in three people lack confidence they can afford their housing costs over the next 12 months
- 72% support developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan
- 76% agree Australia needs more social housing
Trudi and the leaders were equipped with solutions to show the 60 political leaders they met with that to actively work towards solving these challenges and priorities of Australians, they need to commit to:
- Quadruple the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) ensuring that 1 in 10 new homes built are affordable and social housing to secure Australia’s housing future.
- Work collaboratively with Community Housing organisations and lean on our expertise to efficiently and effectively deliver housing outcomes.
- Make sure that regional areas  aren’t forgotten when funding is allocated.
- Support and invest in wrap around services and placemaking support.
Working in our sector we found the survey data unsurprising. The conversations held across the week were productive and political leaders were engaged in the discussions and demonstrated interest in working with us, other CEO’s and industry leaders to solve this crisis. We, alongside the rest of Australia will now wait to see if election promises will reflect the housing concerns of voters seriously and convert these to measurable election outcomes.
