The Inquiry looked at Australia’s human rights mechanisms and in May 2024 recommended a national human rights act. Australia, while agreeing to many international human rights obligations, has a weak, incomplete and complicated domestic framework for human rights. The Inquiry looked to strengthen this framework, notably with a federal law that will place human rights standards at the heart of federal law, including the right to housing.

The NHHP bill, introduced into federal parliament in June 2024 by Senator David Pocock and Kylea Tink MP, invokes the right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right, and as an organising principle for housing policy reform.

While our enforcement is weak, the Australian Government has already formally agreed that housing is a human right. International obligations, signed and ratified, are explicit. Most notably the right to an adequate standard of living is detailed in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 provides the right to adequate housing as part of an adequate standard of living. “Adequate” includes housing that is affordable, well-located, culturally appropriate and more. See this UN Factsheet on the Right to Adequate Housing. 

How could a right to housing work?

In New York, there exists a right to shelter. This is not a right to long-term housing. Instead, New York has an extensive number of congregate or “shelter” facilities that allow people a bed for the night. These are in no way ideal and recent counts show that a population totalling more than 130,000 people (including children) are typically housed as such every night. Read more about New York homelessness, including recent pushes to end this right, on the website for the Coalition for the Homeless.

In the UK, this right is stronger. Under laws from Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977, local governments have duties to provide long-term housing for certain categories of people experiencing homelessness. Around 50,000 formerly homeless households are housed annually in permanent social housing tenancies in England under these legal duties. Read the Homelessness Monitor for information about the UK’s homelessness data and related policies.

Housing as a human right is unlikely to provide Australians experiencing homeless a right to housing the way it does in the UK. Our rates of social housing are far lower and our federal government lacks constitutional powers to impose housing duties on state/territory or local government as in the UK framework.

More likely, a right to housing could be used to provide better enforcement of laws relating to housing. Already, individuals have used other, state-based human rights to maintain housing.  For instance, in Queensland a domestic violence survivor was able to avoid eviction to homelessness with the help of the Queensland Human Rights Act, see Case 2.

More than just empowering individuals under the law, a human rights approach to housing could force government to consistently take responsibility and put policies in place to ensure all Australians are adequately housed. Think of a world where housing, like roads or parks, become essential infrastructure for communities.

Do we need to talk about housing as a human right?

Beyond making housing a Commonwealth government issue, a human rights framework can be a powerful organising principle for housing policy reform. As a way to understand the world, it moves us from thinking about dollars and statistics to consider people and their needs and reinforce the primacy of housing as a human necessity. This is extremely important if we’re to solve the housing crisis in Australia.  We need to shift the narrative from the financialisation of housing to essential infrastructure; from a commodity to a necessity that every single person needs to thrive.

Work in narrative shift around housing is growing. More than just countering NIMBYism, this work seeks to change how we view housing and what we want to make a strong community.  There are some excellent examples of this coming from the US: Housing Justice Narrative Initiative, FrameWorks Institute, The Case Made and Housing Narrative Lab

How can philanthropy work in this space?

A good place to start for those wanting to advance housing as a human right is around advocacy for stronger human rights. You can directly support the implementation to create a national Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Law Centre also publishes information about casework in the area and has explainers to cut through the politics.

Other campaigns supported by philanthropy include Everybody’s Home, which recently ran a People’s Commission into the Housing Crisis after receiving more than 1,500 individual submissions. The final report, Voices of the Crisishad a series of recommendations including recognising housing as a human right. Everybody’s Home campaigns are collaborations between key sector organisations – providing strength in numbers and a unified voice.

Don’t forget that support can be more than funding. The private members bill introduced into federal parliament in relation to the upcoming Housing and Homelessness Plan is an example; see this overview. Individuals and organisation could make submissions – Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation provided a written submission supporting the bill. While the bill may be unsuccessful, the submissions showed support for a robust Housing and Homelessness Plan with the necessary institutional architecture in place to ensure meaningful accountability for developing and progressing it.

There is growing momentum in Australia for a narrative shift – and yet much more here still to do. Tripple recently ran a deep dive grants program focused on solutions to the housing crisis. They wanted their work to be community-focused and grassroots led – using the voices of those affected by the housing crisis. They found that harmful narratives are deepening the housing crisis. Read their excellent Evaluation Report detailing how and why they chose to ground their housing work in human rights.

Want to learn more?

There are a number of recent publications on the topic. A good concise start is AHURI’s What does ‘Housing as a human right’ mean in Australia?  The Human Rights Law Centre has an explainer about the Inquiry into the Australian Human Rights Framework. To better understand how human rights could be embedded in a National Housing and Human Rights Plan, see Chris Martin, Hal Pawson and other’s definitive overview Towards a Australian Housing and Homelessness Strategy. The Hon Kevin Bell, a former Victorian Supreme Court justice, has recent produced a book, Housing: the Great Australian Right, which should also get a mention. Like our current prime minister, Bell grew up in social housing and his short book provides both a legal as well as moral call to formalise housing as a human right. 

The Affordable Housing Funders Network’s recent session on Housing as a Human Right was recorded: Housing as a human right and the role of philanthropy on Vimeo. Speakers include Daney Faddoul, Human Rights Law Centre, Hal Pawson, UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre and Sally Hill from Tripple.

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The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust celebrates a diverse group of everyday Australians committed to making a positive impact in their communities and beyond.

Sally Campbell, Acting CEO of the Churchill Trust, said: “The beauty of a Churchill Fellowship is that they are for people from all walks of life. They are not reserved just for academics or those already in the spotlight.

“In fact, recipients are often quietly achieving extraordinary things behind the scenes. They’re everyday Australians who have the drive to create real change, often without seeking recognition.”

The Churchill Fellowship is an opportunity unlike any other, giving recipients up to eight weeks to immerse themselves in international best practices, gathering firsthand experiences and knowledge from around the globe. This year’s Fellows will explore a vast array of fields and topics, each driven by the desire to bring innovative solutions back to Australia.

“Fellows return home ready to challenge the status quo and work in their field of endeavour to implement what they’ve learnt – they’re determined to make a difference,” said Sally.

Since its inception in 1965, the Churchill Trust has awarded more than 4,700 Fellowships. Impact of these Fellowships can be seen in countless areas of Australian life, from the development of Questacon to the introduction of unit pricing in supermarkets.

Churchill Fellowships in 2024 are awarded to 24 people from VIC, 23 from NSW, 15 from QLD, 14 from WA, 10 from SA, 7 from TAS, 5 from the ACT, and 5 from the NT. The full list of recipients are listed online.

In their own words below, Bernadette Black and Erin Dolan share more on their plans and what this opportunity means to their work.

Bernadette Black, Founder and CEO of SEED Futures

Sir Winston Churchill didn’t want statues as his legacy, but human beings to learn from other countries to strengthen their own. When I found out I was a recipient, my first thought was about the future generations – not statues – whose lives will be set to flourish due to this incredible fellowship. I am oscillating between joy and ‘passionate responsibility’.

In Australia, our systems can exacerbate and hold people in disadvantage, costing us socially and economically. One child every hour (one baby every six), enters Out of Home Care. We are missing a huge window of opportunity to nurture expecting and early parents through primary prevention, before intergenerational disadvantage takes hold.

I will learn how other governments and philanthropy fund long-term primary preventative programs, as well as how they move universal approaches, such as Centrelink, to a primary preventative and nurturing frame.

I am travelling to five countries, learning from the Nordic Council of Ministers, with its vision that the Nordic region is the best place in the world for children to grow up, the inaugural Future Generations Commissioner in Wales, and I’ll be attending the United Nations Second World Summit for Social Development.

On my return, I will share my findings with our governments, philanthropy and the public through a speaking tour, as well as publish my report and book – ‘Flourishing Future Generations – our greatest hope.’

It’s been a long road since my own teenage parenting story, I can’t wait to write this part of history with you all.

Erin Dolan, Senior Program Manager, Homelessness & Affordable Housing at the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. Erin is also Chair of the Affordable Housing Funders Network at Philanthropy Australia.

I will be travelling to Austria, Canada, Ireland, Spain and the USA to investigate international housing funds to increase affordable housing in Australia.

Through this Fellowship, I want to import a circuit-breaker that will change the way we develop housing to make it more affordable.

Australia is in a housing crisis with rents and house prices at an all-time high. Charitable developers struggle to provide below-market housing due to the high cost of land, materials, labour – and finance. I want to reduce the cost of financing to create more affordable housing.

Examples from overseas show that low or no-interest loans can reduce the cost of housing. While banks focus on commercial returns, a housing fund supported by philanthropy can focus on social outcomes.  A housing fund is a way for philanthropy to support housing more effectively. As a revolving fund, loans can be recycled and used over again to help more and more charitable developers.

In partnership with other funders, I’m aiming to use my learnings to create Australia’s first philanthropic housing fund. This fund will increase the supply of affordable housing as well as enable innovators using alternative housing models who are unable to attract commercial loans. It will also help difficult to fund cohorts, such as young people who cannot afford higher rents.

These housing funds work overseas. I want to know why – and then apply these learnings in Australia.

I am excited, and very honoured to receive a Churchill Fellowship. The process was highly competitive and challenging. I had many people in the philanthropic and housing sectors help me, including past Fellows – so am thankful for the support.

Next week, Philanthropy Weekly will hear from Em Scott on her plans for the Fellowship.

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Renting in Australia

Rents are on the rise.  Since lockdowns have lifted, the costs of private rentals have risen dramatically. Adding to the rising cost of living generally, renting is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Those in housing affordability stress – lower income households who pay more than 30% of their income on housing – are making tough choices about food, health, housing.

The issue of renting has taken centre stage in our community, featuring heavily in our daily news. Renting has also become a political battle ground. At the Federal level, the Greens demanded a rent freeze this year, stalling a national housing bill. A Senate Inquiry into the worsening rental crisis recently finalised their report, yet the committee couldn’t find consensus on recommendations.

Commodification of housing is often to blame, and Australia is unique in the high number of private individual landlords.  ‘Mum and Pop’ investors is the term used for these types of landlords, perhaps a deliberate misnomer as over half of all private rentals are owned by investors with multiple rental properties.  Regardless, Australia has a tax system that supports the status quo over more emerging models, such as institutional build to rent.

Renting was once considered the steppingstone to home ownership, a period where young people could save for a home deposit.  This is now increasingly unlikely, as rents take more and more of people’s wages – pushing home ownership further away. Roughly a third of people rent in Australia and more people are renting for longer.

Yet renting doesn’t need to be a temporary form of housing.  In other countries, for instance Germany, renting provides long-term security. This is not the case in Australia; the median rental duration in Melbourne is currently 19 months. Finding new rental properties takes resources, it also creates instability for the household and can weaken community bonds.

Renting laws

Rental laws differ in each state, yet rent controls,which limit landlords’ ability to increase rents, are not very strong in Australia. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) provides a great a explainer on the differences between rent cap, rental controls and rent freezes. The AHURI brief also evaluates the research on the utility of rent controls generally and suggest they are a short-term fix rather than a long-term solution.

Even with rent controls, landlords can use no grounds evictions to reset rents; evicting tenants to increase the rent with a new tenant. The ability for landlords to utilise no grounds evictions or raise rents creates a power imbalance, with many renters fearing reprisal if they complain to their landlord about their rental properties.

This is why many renters don’t use the available laws, particularly as they relate to minimum standards that make each rental property habitable for living. Minimum standards, like having a heater, are particularly important for ensuring we have climate safe homes free from excessive heat, cold or mould. 

Philanthropy’s role

There are several ways philanthropy can help support renters. One of the obvious spaces for philanthropy to invest is to help renters use existing laws. For instance, the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation funded Justice Connect to help renters during lockdown through Dear Landlord.  This online tool enabled renters to apply for Victorian rent relief grants. More recently, Justice Connect also received funding to research why laws aimed at helping women escaping family violence stay in their rentals are underutilised in Victoria.  Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation is also funding another group of community legal services to improve how renters can better utilise minimum standards provided under Victorian rental laws.

Some alternative housing models are bridging the gap between renting and owning. One option is cooperative housing, where tenants purchase shares that provides them with long-term housing at reduced rent. Other models include build to rent or even build to rent to buy – although these models for lower income households are just emerging.

Importantly, we need to directly support and advocate for an increase in social housing, which used to be more prevalent in Australia.  A reminder that our current Prime Minister was raised in social housing. When philanthropy invests in social housing, we are investing in one of the most secure forms of renting in Australia.

Many community housing organisations also run real estate agencies as social enterprises. HomeGround Real Estate offers an affordable housing scheme where private landlords receive tax discounts for providing below market rental properties.  Women’s Property Initiatives has a real estate agency that provides rental properties to women, many who have escaped family violence.

Finally, philanthropy should support charities working for change. Better Renting, as the name suggests is a charity that works to get renters a better deal.  Notably they run a Healthy Homes for Renters campaign that calls on government to implement minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties across Australia. Everybody’s Home works across the spectrum of housing typologies.  As part of their rental campaign, they seek to create further legislative protections for renters as well as policies to prioritise home ownership over speculative housing.

Renting should be a respected option for housing Australians. Renting should be both a short-term and a long-term option amongst Australia’s housing mix. Rental properties should have reports that detail energy efficiency. We need to think deeply about the causes of unaffordability and be brave about shifting to a stable, climate safe and affordable housing policy.

If you are interested in learning more about these issues or how philanthropy can impact the housing and rental space, view a video of the latest Affordable Housing Funders Network meeting on our Better Giving Hub. The next meeting is in March – contact Erin for more: erin.dolan@lmcf.org.au.  

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This session will provide an overview of renting in Australia. Each State and Territory has distinct laws, some faring better than others, including those with Rental Tenancies Commissioners. With a focus on private rentals, this session will look at the key issues in renting that make Australia unique. We will discuss rent caps, no-grounds evictions, minimum standards, provisions for family violence and the recent ways that renters have tried to assert their rights.  We’ll assess whether the housing market needs ‘mom and pop’ investors and if the emergence of a build to rent industry funded by institutional landlords can take their place. We will review what the future holds for those of us that rent as well as examples of how philanthropy has helped renters negotiate with their landlords.

While a third of Australia is currently renting, most aspire to become owners – indeed our old age pension is predicated on owning a home before you retire. Will renting always be an in between step before owning a home – or is it time to reimagine the Australian Dream? Foremost, what is the role of philanthropy in ensuring rental properties are healthy, close to amenities and affordable?

Please note:

• Presenters will share their thoughts and views in conversation but will not offer any financial advice.

Audience

This event is for Philanthropy Australia Affordable Housing Funders Network members only.

If you want to join this funders network or find out more about the philanthropic work in this area, please reach out to programs@philanthropy.org.au.

Speakers

Joel Dignam – CEO, Better Renting

Joel Dignam is the founder of Better Renting. He is a leading community organiser with broad experience in non-profits, unions, and electoral politics in Australia and the UK.  Previously he worked as Network Organiser for Climate Action Network Australia, and he has also worked with United Voice and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.

Joel has studied “Leadership, Organizing and Action” with Professor Marshall Ganz through Harvard’s Kennedy School of Executive Education, and he holds an Advanced Diploma of Management from the Groupwork Institute of Australia. He is a 2019 Churchill Fellow and the 2020 Gill Owen Scholar.

Cameron Lavery – Head of Community Programs, Homeless Law, Justice Connect

Cameron Lavery is a principal lawyer at Justice Connect where he has worked since 2016. His current role as the head of Community Programs includes leading Justice Connect’s Homeless Law, with a specialist focus on preventing and ending homelessness for Victorians by increasing access to integrated and digital legal support, and advocating for better laws and policies. Prior to starting with Justice Connect, Cameron was the managing lawyer of the LawRight (formerly QPILCH) Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic for over four years, supervising 20 outreach legal clinics for people facing homelessness across Queensland. Cameron has also worked in private practice and has been actively involved in the wider-community and legal assistance sectors.

Funders network chair

Erin Dolan – Senior Program Manager – Homelessness and Affordable Housing, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation

Erin is an experienced grants program manager, with nearly twenty years’ working in the industry. Her role entails developing and managing granting programs using best practice philanthropy and a focus on systemic change. She is the Chair of Philanthropy Australia’s Affordable Housing Funders Network and writes on issues relating to homelessness and affordable housing:

• Using philanthropy to build affordable housing through alternative financing pathways
• Housing Australians through COVID-19
• 10 Ways Philanthropy is Housing Australians

The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation is an independent community foundation that has supported Melbourne’s charities and the critical issues facing Melbourne since 1923.

The Foundation has worked on addressing homelessness as a priority for over a decade and recognises that the supply of affordable housing is one of the primary causes of homelessness.

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There are many contributing factors that can lead to a person experiencing homelessness, but the lack of affordable housing remains paramount. Below is a, not exhaustive, list of ways that philanthropy has recently housed Australians.

1.    Scale

Opened in July 2019, VincentCare’s Ozanam House in North Melbourne is now Australia’s largest homelessness accommodation centre. The centre, a redevelopment of an existing site, has 134 short, medium and long-term rooms and apartments housing men and women. The ground floor boasts an integrated health and social supports services, which can help 250 people a day.

While the Victorian Government contributed to the redevelopment, philanthropy kick-started the investment with major contributions from Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation and Gandel Philanthropy. Additional funders included St Vincent de Paul Society, Perpetual and EnergyAustralia.

2.    Safety

Family violence is the main reason why people, mainly women and children, seek assistance for homelessness. A woman’s ability to maintain housing when escaping family violence is linked to her access to financial and social resources, which can often be an aspect of abuse from a controlling partner. Women escaping family violence may not have a housing history, or may have to leave immediately, limiting her ability to rent.

Launch Housing is developing innovative accommodation and support to assist women and their children who have been affected by family violence, family breakdown, mental illness and substance issues and who remain at risk of becoming homeless. The development will provide 60 self-contained apartments with a 24-hour concierge services. The women and children will also be helped through the co-location of support services within the development, including child-care and after school homework club. Philanthropy, including Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, Shine On Foundation, ANMF and other philanthropic donors, has been critical in supporting this project from its inception and have helped leverage Victorian Government funding of $13 million.

3.    Young people

Young people have high rates of homelessness; 19 to 24-year-olds have the highest rate of homelessness at nearly 1 in 100, compared to 1 in 200 of the general population. This is even more significant when considering that people who experience homelessness in their youth are more likely to experience entrenched homelessness as an adult.

Literally on the frontline of homelessness support in the CBD is Melbourne City Mission’s Frontyard. Frontyard is the central intake in the city for youth who are experiencing homelessness and now has an 18 bed accommodation with 24-hour wrap around service to help the most high acuity youths. Completed in May this year, the redevelopment of Frontyard is geared towards young people with services including animal therapy and a separated chill-out room which provides specialised sensory equipment to help youth to self-regulate their emotions.

Philanthropic funding was provided by Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Peter and Lyndy White Foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, Joe White Bequest, PwC, Andrew and Geraldine Buxton Foundation and with significant inkind contributions from the Property Industry Foundation.

4.    Underutilised land

The cost of land, particularly in major cities, is driving housing unaffordability. People are moving farther away from the city, with less access to public transport or employment opportunities.  Removing the cost of land is one way to lower housing costs.

The Affordable Housing Challenge is an initiative of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation that encourages local councils to contribute well-located sites to affordable housing supply using council owned underutilised land. The City of Darebin has partnered with the Foundation, providing a council owned car park close to amenities.   

5.    Transportable homes

Another way to encourage the use of underutilised land is through transportable homes. Harris Transportable Housing Project is using nine parcels of vacant VicRoads land in Footscray and Maidstone to create 57 tiny homes for people with a chronic experience of homelessness. The project is a partnership between Launch Housing and philanthropists Geoff and Brad Harris, of Harris Capital, with funding from the Victorian Property Fund.

Of course Kids Under Cover has been using relocatable units for close to 30 years, supporting vulnerable young people who are either experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness through their Studio Program, building in the backyards of a family or carer’s home. More recent innovations include a trial of studios for emergency accommodation and Village 21, a pilot in partnership with Anglicare Victoria with funds from the Victorian Government, using studios on underutilised land, including a remodelled car park, for young people leaving out-of-home care. Kids Under Cover partners with philanthropic supporters from small individual donors through to major partners including the Shine On Foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, Reinehr Family Foundation, RE Ross Trust, the HDT Williamson Trust and the Brian and Virginia McNamee Foundation.

6.    Underutilised buildings

Over a million houses across Australia were recorded as unoccupied on census night. That is 11.2 per cent of all housing. There are many reasons why homes may be unoccupied, including when waiting for planning provisions to be finalised for redevelopments. These homes can be utilised for short periods to provide temporary accommodation to those in need. 

The Pathways Home Transitional Housing Project (Pathways Home) is a partnership between PAYCE Foundation, Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) and Bridge Housing. Under the program, developers and property owners provide vacant homes which are used for much-needed crisis accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence.

In inner city Melbourne, YWCA secured a short-term lease of a vacant aged-care facility, now known as Lakehouse,  to convert to a ‘pop-up shelter’, providing nearly 40 women over 55 with temporary accommodation. Contributing partners included Metricon, Residential Group, Dezign Electrics, Reece, Ades Dingley Plumbing, Two Good, Tonner Transport, Kitchen Innovations, All Over Bins, Bunnings Port Melbourne, Prime Group, Silver Chef, Milton Group, Sigma, Caspacare, Housing All Australians, Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation, Rotary – South Melbourne and state and local government.

7.    Education

Many would recognise education as a key to a good life, yet many students are doing it tough. Around one in seven, or 15 per cent, of Australian university students (local and international students) regularly go without food or necessities because of financial difficulties. The same survey found this percentage to be higher if you were from a low SEO background (18 per cent) or were Indigenous (25 per cent).  If education is the key to future prosperity, then students need to be set up to succeed.

The Hansen Little Foundation recently provided the University of Melbourne with a $30 million gift to house and support students whose personal circumstances may have not provided them with the chance to study. The Hansen Scholarship Program will begin next year with 20 high-achieving students. The gift includes a new building, purpose built to house over 600 students who will call Little Hall home during their three years of undergraduate study.

In Western Sydney, Lendlease is also helping young people through a partnership with Platform Youth Services. The pilot program will house six young people in Lemongrove House, while they study.  As well as housing, the program offers tutors and youth workers to ensure the young people receive support while they study. Leadlease funded the program through their new philanthropic initiative, Futuresteps – aimed at creating partnerships to end homelessness.    

8.    Ageing in place

The latest census data showed us that homelessness for older people is on the rise. This is likely to increase, as Australia’s overall population ages. Women over 55 years are the fastest growing group experiencing homelessness, with a range of structural and cultural factors increasing women’s economic disadvantage.

Age Discrimination Commission the Hon. Dr Kay Patterson noted, in a recent Background Paper, that there were few services available for older women who were working, renting and had modest savings – as this group was likely to become homeless once they received the aged care pension and their savings ran out. 

One innovative model that is currently being tested is the Older Women’s Housing Project created by Women’s Property Initiatives. The project will build four unit townhouse, with prescribed guidelines for accessibility and flexible space to allow for caregivers if required in the future. Planning approval for the pilot has been approved in Beaconsfield, with hopes that this model could be applied to other sites.

Funding has been received by Women’s Property Initiatives from the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Gandel Philanthropy, The Big Issue’s Homes for Homes, the Mercy Foundation, the Ian Potter Foundation and the Westpac Foundation.

9.    Creating vacancies

The highly sought-after social housing, which includes both public and community housing, is now elusive for all but the most highly disadvantaged. Even then, some people can wait years for such housing. The social housing waitlist in NSW has over 60,000 people, while in Victoria the number is 82,000. 

Charities have looked to create more vacancies in social housing by helping those within social housing move out into the mainstream private market. The Barnett Foundation helped 28 families move from social housing through their Melbourne Apartment Project, a development in North Melbourne where units were sold to families with a deferred second mortgage. The Barnett Foundation is expanding their trial, and their philanthropic activities to include investing in financial literacy skills for social housing tenants and the development of crisis accommodation for those experiencing homelessness.  

10.    Influencing policy

Most of these examples have been about increasing housing stock, yet there are numerous policy leavers that can affect homelessness.

Everybody’s Home

Everybody’s Home has a five point plan to fix Australia’s broken housing system. The plan includes: new investment to increase social and affordable housing, a national plan to end homelessness, housing tax changes, tenancy law reform, and an increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance. StreetSmart has contributed funding – with the campaign currently seeking further support.

Raise the Rates

For renters who derive their incomes from Centrelink benefits, only a fraction can afford private rentals. For instance, a recent Rental Report showed only 0.3 per cent of one-bedroom dwellings are available for singles on Newstart in Melbourne. 

Raise the rates is a campaign asking the government to increase Newstart. Funders included The Myer Foundation, The Snow Foundation, Fay Fuller Foundation, The Broadley Trust, Reichstein Foundation, The Wyatt Trust, The RE Ross Trust, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, Mutual Trust.

Home Stretch

As the name suggests, the Home Stretch campaign aims to extend government support for young people to the age of 21 in out-of-home care, a group that is significantly over-represented in homelessness statistics. The campaign is national, with some initial success in Victoria where the State Government has committed to a trial of 250 young Victorians over five years starting in 2020. Home Stretch philanthropic partners include B B & Miller Foundation, Beverley Jackson Foundation, Collier Charitable Fund, Community Services Trust, David Taylor Galt Charitable Trust managed by Equity Trustees, Edith Grace Kemp Charitable Trust managed by Equity Trustees, Gandel Philanthropy, Louis & Lesley Nelken Trust Fund managed by Equity Trustees, Sidney Myer Fund, The Alfred Edments managed by Equity Trustees, The William Buckland Foundation and Vera Moore Foundation.

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