Crown land push for
Rise in homeless sparks national call
MORE than 1600 Tasmanians were classified as homeless in 2016 — two years before Hobart’s rental crisis peaked and drove working families to the city’s showground to set up camp.
The latest Census data shows 212 of those classified as homeless at the time were children aged under 12.
The ABS data shows that more than 160 of that homeless population could not be accommodated with emergency services and were sleeping in “impoverished dwellings”, tents or sleeping rough.
Nationally, there was a 13.7 per cent jump in homelessness in the five years between Censuses. That exceeded our population growth of 8 per cent.
One in five people who are homeless are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mission Australia has recommended a national plan be drawn up to address the issue by 2030 and that it tackle the drivers of homelessness including family violence, poverty and the lack of affordable housing.
The plan also needed to see people rapidly rehoused and supported, Mission Australia said.
The Australian Council of Social Services said rental affordability was at crisis point.
“Inadequate incomes and unaffordable housing are forcing people into homelessness, as shown by today’s figures. Children with their parents, young people, workers, and older people are living in cars, in boarding houses and on other people’s couches,” ACOSS said. A TAX on empty houses, higher density living and the better use of vacant crown land are all up for consideration at today’s housing summit in Hobart.
Premier Will Hodgman will chair the event, which has been sparked by soaring home prices and record low rental vacancy rates leading to an increasing number of people being unable to find affordable accommodation.
Mr Hodgman will use the three-hour summit to reveal the results of an audit which has identified enough land to build another 2000 homes.
“Importantly, much of the land identified is already close to existing infrastructure like schools, roads and health services,’’ he said.
“There is no doubt that many of the housing issues that we are facing are a result of a strong, growing economy.
“Not only will opening up more land tackle the immediate housing issues, it will also provide a massive stimulus to the economy and create more jobs.”
About 35 industry and stakeholder organisations have been invited to the threehour meeting, which is not open to the public or the media.
Tenants Union of Tasmania spokesman Ben Bartl said his organisation would be calling for more public housing, greater regulation of short-term accommodation providers such as Airbnb, a review of the Residential Tenancy Act and a tax on empty homes.
“We’ve calculated that there’s at least 2000 properties in Hobart that are empty, so we say that the tax collected on those empty homes could be put into affordable housing initiatives,” he said.
Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Kym Goodes said her organisation was keen to avoid rushed solutions.
“We want to ensure there’s a high level of specialised knowledge to inform what happens next — to ensure that any short-term solutions have good evidence around them,’’ Ms Goodes said.
“We have to better define