Our members may be aware of the deeper work we are doing to understand and respond to the regional housing crisis in NSW. Late last year, we commissioned a report from the Regional Australia Institute to provide a ‘hit list’ of the top LGAs in regional NSW in housing need.
As part of this, a disturbing trend was unearthed with all but one of our top-ranked LGAs experiencing a real decline in social housing stock between 2011-2020. Take a look for yourself:
This data was not easy to come by – in fact, it was revealed in Supplementary Answers to Questions on Notice in the March 2021 Budget Estimates Hearings.
So, we thought it might be a good idea to bring attention to these figures during Budget Estimates Hearings in the Upper House these past few weeks by sending out an email blast to 20+ regional MPs.
We let these MPs know that we are looking to update our Regional Housing Need Report in light of 2021 Census data and any other information which might fall out of the current Budget Estimates Hearings.