Joint Submission to the Productivity Commission’s Review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement
Joint Submission of Equality Rights Alliance and Women’s Property Initiatives to the Productivity Commission’s Review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement.
Housing is arguably the most fundamental cross-cutting issue confronting Australian governments and yet the NHHA is failing to make headway in reducing levels of housing stress and homelessness.
Decades of research demonstrate the benefits of safe, secure, accessible and affordable housing as essential to employment, educational outcomes, secure retirement, maintaining good health, keeping a family together and providing structure and routine to support public participation and leadership.
ERA’s mandate includes strengthening women’s economic security and wellbeing. Safe and affordable housing is the foundation of economic security for women. Many of ERA’s members are experts in housing, including Women’s Property Initiatives (WPI). They provide case study after case study that confirms that women experience compounding disadvantages that make them vulnerable to homelessesness.
A future NHHA’s funding allocation should align with need as better measured, and engage diverse policies including tax and women’s economic security to address the drivers of homelessness and housing precarity. For a future NHHA to work, there must be proactive leadership at both levels of government in a genuine partnership, underpinned by a shared vision.