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Congratulations to Maeve Brown, the recipient of the Cath Leary Social Justice Award for 2024. The award recognises Maeve’s outstanding efforts, leadership and lifelong commitment to upholding human rights and human dignity in her work with people seeking asylum and people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.

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A 10 year study from AIHW data has revealed that the mortality rate for people seeking support from homelessness services in the last 12 months before their death was 1.8 times that of the general population.

Over the 10 year period, 12,525 people died within a year of seeking assistance from a homelessness service and the median age of death was just 49 years.

More than 10% of all deaths were women aged between 25 – 34 years.

Around 1,500 people are dying each year of preventable deaths, and that’s an increase of 60%.

Accidental poisoning and suicide were the most common underlying causes of death among SHS clients, accounting for around one-quarter to one-third of all deaths each year within the study period.

These statistics are shocking and unacceptable. We know that homelessness is detrimental to both physical and mental health and this is confirmed by the recent AIHW study.

Good quality, affordable and safe housing is fundamental for health and wellbeing. Homelessness is a national health emergency and should be treated as such.

Read the report from AIHW here.

On Friday 22 November, SGS Economics and Shelter Australia released the latest Rental Affordability Index. The results show that Australia’s rental crisis is getting worse and driving more households into serious financial hardship. Low income earners continue to face the heaviest burden of the housing crisis.

The housing crisis continues to severely impact both urban and regional areas.  Perth has overtaken Sydney as the least affordable city to rent.

• Perth’s median rent is $629, or 31% of median incomes
• Sydney’s median rent is $720, or 30% of median incomes.

All major cities and regional areas are now classified as “critically unaffordable” for those relying on JobSeeker, part-time parenting payments, or pensions.

There is some good news, with Tasmania and ACT recording slight improvements in affordability, with ACT benefitting from rent increase limits introduced in 2019.

This crisis demands immediate bipartisan action to increase the supply of affordable housing across the nation, to limit rent increases as in ACT and ultimately ensure that everyone living in our country has a safe and affordable home.

Australia is experiencing the double shock of a housing crisis and a cost of living crisis, putting enormous financial pressure on families and individuals including the risk of homelessness.

A report released today by Impact Economics and Homelessness Australia highlights the increasing numbers of families and individuals seeking assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services and the growing number of calls that go unanswered due to the surge in demand.

Additionally, new modelling estimates that in 2022 there were between 2.7million and 3.2million Australians at risk of homelessness, where one negative event could result in them losing their home. This represents an increase of 63% between 2016 to 2022.

Homelessness Australia is calling for greater investment in homelessness services to help prevent and resolve homelessness, an increase in CRA to help make renting more affordable and continued investment in social housing.

>>> Read the media release.

>>> Read the report.

 

Yesterday, the Attorney General The Hon Mark Dreyfus announced the appointment of Australia’s first Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Chris Evans, previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Freedom Network of Walk Free and former Senator for Western Australia between 1993 and 2013, was appointed to the role.

The announcement from the Attorney General’s office noted that:

The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will further strengthen the work undertaken across government, business and civil society to prevent and respond to modern slavery by supporting victims and survivors, raising community awareness and helping business address the risk of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.

The establishment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner delivers on the Albanese Government’s election commitment to establish an independent Commissioner to lead the fight against modern slavery.

The Albanese Government committed $8 million over four years in the 2023-24 Budget to support the Commissioner’s establishment and operation.

The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will play a key role in helping to shape the implementation of future modern slavery reforms, including those arising from the statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).

NSW was the first state to appoint an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Dr James Cockayne has held this role since June 2022.

We congratulate Mr Evans on his appointment and look forward to working with the Commissioner to work toward ending modern slavery in Australia.

Temporary migrant workers are recognised as being at risk of exploitation and modern slavery. Following recommendations from the NSW Anti Slavery Commissioner, the NSW parliament is holding an inquiry into modern slavery risks faced by temporary workers in rural and regional NSW.

The terms of reference state that the Committee is particularly interested in:

• the lived experience of temporary migrant workers working in agriculture, horticulture, meat processing and other sectors reliant on temporary migrant labour
• incidence, causes and extent of forced labour, deceptive recruiting, gender-based violence,
  sexual servitude and labour trafficking
• violations relating to wages, allowances, superannuation, leave entitlements, workers
  compensation, piecework payments, such as underpayment, excessive deductions and debt
  bondage arrangements
• structural factors that make temporary migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation
•  worker conditions and labour practices of direct employers and labour hire companies,
  including the adequacy of regulations governing both
•  confiscation of passports and other personal identification
•  adequacy of monitoring, compliance and enforcement of workplace laws, including health
  and safety laws
• support and resources needed by local communities, NSW Government frontline agencies
  and non-government service providers to support at-risk and vulnerable temporary migrant workers, including education, training and cultural capability needs
• the impact of visa settings and conditions of employment on temporary migrant workers in rural and regional New South Wales
• adequacy of interjurisdictional/cross-government cooperation and data sharing in the
  provision of accommodation, medical care and other essential services to temporary migrant workers
• potential protections for temporary migrant workers through State based interventions
• any other related matters.

Submissions to the inquiry are due by 31 January 2025.

More information is available here. 

On Thursday 24 October, the NSW Parliament passed the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (2024).  The bill will end ‘no grounds’ evictions, make it easier for tenants to have pets, cap rent increases at once per annum and improves rental payment rules.

It is likely that the bill will be effective in early 2025.

Many of us have joined advocacy efforts to bring about a fairer deal for renters. We congratulate all who have worked on this change for many years.

Read more about the changes here.

In 2024, Everybody’s Home convened Australia’s first People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis.
The Commission heard from more than 1,500 Australians living on the frontline of the crisis and over 120 organisations who support them.

Twelve hearings were held in person and online, revealing that Australia’s housing crisis has far-reaching consequences. Many people are being forced to spend record amounts to keep a roof over their heads, live with the constant threat of eviction, give up necessities, navigate life on a waiting list for housing, or in the very worst cases, deal with the bleak reality of homelessness.

The Commissioners called for a drastic rethink of how Australia tackles housing.

The Roadmap to Reform will make renting more secure and more affordable. It will reform tax and policy settings and transform social housing from a safety net for people at the margins to a real option for more Australians, giving them access to secure homes that they can afford.

Read more here:  Everybody’s Home

During anti-poverty week, Anglicare released an update to their Rental Affordability Snapshot  based on essential workers in full time work.

The report shows that of 45,115 rental listings,

• 976 rentals (2.2%) were affordable for an ambulance worker
• 696 rentals (1.5%) were affordable for an aged care worker
• 629 rentals (1.4%) were affordable for a nurse
• 398 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for an early childhood educator
• 389 rentals (0.9%) were affordable for a construction worker
• 352 rentals (0.8%) were affordable for a hospitality worker.

Many essential workers are pushed into serious rental stress or travelling long distances to work.

According to Kasy Chambers, Anglicare Australia Executive Director,

“Virtually no part of Australia is affordable for aged care workers, early childhood educators, cleaners, nurses and many other essential workers we rely on. It’s no wonder so many critical industries are facing worker shortages.

“It’s been clear for years now that the private rental market is failing people on low incomes. Now it’s clear that it’s also failing our key workers – including those who work full-time.

“Governments used to provide homes directly to key workers. Now, there isn’t even enough social housing for people at the margins. We need a major investment to turn that around.”

Much more social and affordable housing is urgently needed to reverse these findings. Tax reform, increased housing supply, more housing options, improved infrastructure,  new incentives to invest in more types of long term, affordable housing and more protections for renters all play a part in solving the housing crisis.

Rental-Affordability-Snapshot-Essential-Workers-Report.pdf

 

By Helena Hassani, Modern Slavery Lead, Mercy Foundation.

Modern slavery, particularly forced marriage, remains a significant issue and concern in Australia. Forced marriage happens when someone is getting married without fully and freely consenting to a marriage which could be due to coercion, threat or deception. This is because they are unable to understand the nature and effect of marriage due to age and mental capacity.

Forced marriage has been criminalised in Australia since 2013. However, in recent years, there have been several high-profile cases of forced marriage in Australia that have brought attention to this issue.

Only in 2024, there were two forced marriage convictions in Australia. The first one was Ruqia Haidari’s case who was forced to marry Mohammad Ali Halimi who killed his newly wed wife in Perth, Western Australia.

Roqia’s mother Sakina Jan was the first person who was convicted of forced marriage and was imprisoned for at least 12 months in Victoria.

The second case was a recent case in NSW where two teenage girls were rescued from forced marriage in NSW where they managed to escape their father and sought support from the police. They were supported by a forced marriage organisation and the Australian Federal Police.

The father was convicted and jailed for his crime for at least three years and four months with a non-parole period of one year and 11 months.

There are so many forced marriages unreported due to many reasons especially when the victim survivors are fearful of putting their loved ones in trouble or not knowing that support is available.

These cases demonstrate the need for ongoing effort in prevention of forced marriage in Australia and also to provide support and assistance to those who are experiencing these violations of human rights and abuses.

These cases also show that raising awareness about forced marriage is critical both for prevention and intervention purposes.

If you or someone else you know experience forced marriage, you can contact the AFP on 131 AFP or My Blue Sky on https://mybluesky.org.au/

References:

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/nsw-man-jailed-over-attempted-forced-marriages-his-children

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/29/ruqia-haidari-murdered-forced-marriage-mother-sakina-muhammad-jan-sentence-ntwnfb

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/29/ruqia-haidari-murdered-forced-marriage-mother-sakina-muhammad-jan-sentence-ntwnfb