The Disability Royal Commission has recently turned its attention to homelessness. Many people on the disability pension struggle to pay rent and face years’ long waits for social housing.
Shelter NSW CEO John Engeler was happy to participate in this short radio interview with ABC Radio in late August on the topic.
In the interview, John noted his concern for people in precarious housing essentially being left to fend for themselves in a chronically stretched housing market.
I’m worried about older men with mild to moderate intellectual disability… (they) don’t have a lot of family support… left to fend for themselves, not known to the system
John Engeler – CEO, Shelter NSW
People being left to fend for themselves in an out of control housing market was a key by-line of Anglicare’s 2022 Rental Affordability Snapshot report. The report surveyed over 45,000 rental listings across Australia and found that affordability has crashed to record lows. The report found that people on the Disability Support Pension face a market where only 0.1 percent of rentals are affordable.
Shelter NSW has consistently maintained that the failure to provide secure, accessible and affordable housing for people living with disability clearly drives immediate costs into other parts of the broader government and community sectors – from justice, health and corrective services. Investing in social housing would be not just the right and compassionate thing to do but a smart move by Government.