A window into housing stress
“People just can’t afford to live a normal life anymore.”
Walking by a Warragul café, Anne peers through the front window.
She cannot afford to open the door and sit down for a coffee, let alone a snack or a meal. She will be lucky to eat one meal today.
Anne ponders the divide opening in our community. How can they afford it? Do they know how difficult life is for some people living in Warragul? What is the fear people hold for the future?
But today Anne is taking action, sharing her story so those struggling know they aren’t alone. And to give a personal account of the housing crisis here in West Gippsland.
With rents rising, vacancies tight and renters foregoing basics just to have a roof over their head, Homelessness Australia chief executive officer Kate Colvin says “Australia is in the midst of its worst housing crisis in living memory”.
Latest census supports the lived experience, with 30,660 people homeless in Victoria - 24 per cent higher than five years ago.
Calls for government action continue, and Anne says “people are desperate”.
“It’s just getting really bad,” Anne says.
“I’m just under constant stress and I’m not sleeping well at night.”
“I just meet people in the street, random people. I think people are talking to each other because they are stressed. They’re talking to strangers more than they really were.”
Anne, who is on a disability pension, can no longer afford her rent in Warragul which has risen steeply alongside inflation. With bills and food expenses rising, little money is leftover.
However, despite seeking cheaper housing, the rental market has offered no alternative.
“You’re stuck. It’s either stay where you are or become homeless and live on the street.”
“How are you supposed to stay alive? I can’t choose what I want to eat. Some days, when I don’t have any money, I will have one meal per day.”
Anne believes there is not enough quality rentals in safe areas for single women. Having met others in similar situations, she says many have given up their search.
Seeking control over her own space, Anne could seek a small unit or shared housing, but believes downsizing would send her further into poverty.
“People expect you to be grateful, at least you’ve got a roof over your head. But why should you be pushed further into poverty by selling all your stuff?”
She feels many in the community look down on “poor people” and believe it’s their own fault.
“When you get pushed into poverty by circumstance... it’s very difficult to get out of it once you’re in it, especially for an older person.”
“A lot of people have the mentality that you’ve done something wrong to be in that position, it’s your laziness.”
Anne had her own house before an injury forced her out of the workforce about 10 years ago.
Moving to Gippsland, she just missed out on a few property purchases, so decided to rent.
Despite seeking work for the past five years, she’s secured only a handful of interviews, and her funds have dried up.
“I mean, I don’t want to live on a pension. I’d rather be working.
“This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had to rent because I owned a house or lived with family.”
It isn’t only those on payments doing it tough. Anne recently met a professional who, after paying bills, had only $40 to last a fortnight. He feared being only a couple of pays away from homelessness.
“People just can’t afford to live a normal life anymore,” she says.
“Most people don’t want luxury, they just want to be able to go out and have a coffee with friends, a beer or a meal out.
“It’s just so frustrating. And I’m very angry about it, not just for me, but for everybody in this situation. Because you shouldn’t have to do this.
“I think that there is a group of society who don’t know what is going on, because they haven’t experienced it.
“People separate themselves. If it doesn’t affect me, then why should I care?
“But I want people to care. I don’t think people realise anybody can be put in this situation.”
Currently studying, Anne has a goal to improve her situation, help others and provide hope.
“We’re not asking for much,” she says. “People just want a normal life. “I want to have say over what I do in my life, I think that’s how most people feel.”