Housing Crisis Roundtable
In August 2022, 100 experts and practitioners who work in and around the housing sector, gathered in Adelaide to develop short and long term workable solutions to South Australia’s housing crisis.
Believe Housing Australia’s Youth Housing Solutions Roundtable brought together many of the best minds and experts to collaboratively develop strategies and solutions to deliver more housing in South Australia.
Michelle Gegenhuber, Believe Housing Australia Executive General Manager, said our housing system has never before come under greater pressure or scrutiny.
“There is mounting community pressure to fix the housing market and support for positive change,” she said.
“We know we need a whole of community, government and sector approach to end this worsening crisis. Bringing key representatives together from all levels of government, NFPs and the private sector is an important part of the solution.”
“We believe that working together to amplify our voices and the community’s support for systemic change will have an impact.”
The roundtable followed the release of a research report, Beyond the Housing Crisis – A Home for All, jointly launched by Believe Housing Australia and UniSA earlier in 2022. The report highlighted a property market gone rampant and a housing crisis that sees more than 6,000 people experiencing homelessness each night in SA, and thousands more on the State’s social housing waiting list.
“A number of factors have contributed to the soaring levels of homelessness and housing demand we are seeing across the state,” Ms Gegenhuber said.
“Low rent affordability and availability, low incomes, a skyrocketing property market and the effects of COVID-19 have all played their part in creating a perfect storm of high need and low supply.”
“With secure employment increasingly hard to find, vulnerable groups like older people, low-income earners, First Nations peoples, youth, and people with illness or disability, are finding themselves forced into homelessness.”
“We need a coordinated, focused response across government and multiple sectors.”
“Everyone is already working as hard as they can, but the impacts will always fall short while we work within a failing system.”
“We know that when people are securely housed, savings through increased social participation and reduced service use far outweigh the cost of investment.”
Believe Housing Australia’s solution-focused roundtable series will continue to run during 2022/23. Other key cohorts to be addressed in the series will be over 55s, people with disability and mental health issues, and First Nations people.
Here are some photos taken at the Youth Housing Solutions Roundtable:
