Matt lives in a suburb surrounded by wealth – but he is struggling to get by.
The former lawyer rents a studio apartment in the affluent Brisbane suburb of Paddington, known for its quirky boutiques. Here, the median house price sits at just over $3m.
But for Matt, his $300 weekly rent is a stretch with the $966 he gets a fortnight on jobseeker with rent assistance. He eats just one meal a day, he’s behind on rent, and the eviction notice has come. Matt, who worked in the insurance industry before he was made redundant last year, is about to do a forklift course in the hopes that will get him a job.
“I should be able to clear that up,” he said of his eviction notice.
“But yeah, you can’t survive. Unless you have [cash-in-hand or family helping], you’re going to end up homeless.”
A new report on Monday from Everybody’s Home revealed Australians on the lowest incomes have been priced out of renting in almost every corner of the country, despite the government’s recent 10% increase to commonwealth rent assistance.
To survive on welfare Australians must now live in a share house for their whole lives, get into public housing or be forced into homelessness, the report found.
The report shows there is virtually no region of Australia that is affordable for a person living on the age pension, disability support pension, jobseeker or parenting payment.
According to CoreLogic, the median weekly rent value across all Australian dwellings hit a fresh record high of $627 a week last quarter, with rental costs ranging from $770 a week in Sydney to $547 in Hobart.
Based on capital city rents, people on the age pension and disability support pension would be left with $8 a day after paying rent, while a person on the minimum wage would be left with little over $25 a day. A person on jobseeker would be left with $0 and have to find $122 on top of their income.
Maiy Azize, the spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, said: “There’s virtually nowhere in Australia for people on low incomes to afford a rental without falling into crippling housing stress.
“People on jobseeker are being slammed by sky-high rents and payments below the poverty line – in many areas, they’d have to spend all their income plus find more cash just to make the weekly rent.”
On Friday, millions of Australians received a small bump to their payments, as payments were indexed and rent assistance was increased by 10%. Single recipients receiving the maximum rate of rent assistance will get an extra $23 a fortnight if they are renting on their own.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said the increase would offer some cost-of-living relief to those living on the bottom line.
“This government recognises that many Australians continue to be directly affected by cost-of-living pressures,” she said.
“This indexation will deliver timely boosts to people receiving allowance payments and pensions, ensuring that these vulnerable cohorts have more money in their pockets for everyday expenses.”
Speaking to the ABC on Friday, she said the increase had helped to “drive down rents across the board”.
But Kristin O’Connell, a spokesperson for the Antipoverty Centre, said for those people who get the maximum rent assistance, it covers less than 20% of the median rent.
“We talk to people regularly who are receiving rent increases of between $40 and $100 a week,” she said. “And many, many people who are paying well above 60% and right up to 80 to 85% of their Centrelink payment in rent.”
O’Connell said a recent survey of welfare recipients showed more people were living in share houses, with ex-partners or being pushed into homelessness.
“The fastest and most effective thing the government can do to help people struggling with rent and other housing costs is increase all payments to at least the poverty line,” she said.
Despite applying for everything he comes across, Matt has not been able to get a new job.
“I’ve been looking at public service jobs, and I’ve had loads of interviews. I just can’t crack it,” he said. “I’m 50, and I think that is an issue.”
He has been in his rental for three years and has had a rent increase every year. He said the 10% was “just tinkering”.
“It’s not going to make any real, tangible difference,” he said. “I just cannot understand why our federal government is so timid.”
