Future focussed State Budget is good news for many, and more social housing investment still needed

The NSW Government has delivered a State Budget that is future focussed and will lead to positive impacts for women, children, First Nations Peoples, and people struggling to afford homes.

There are people in deep need who will miss out.

“The initiatives encouraging women’s participation in the workforce, early education and childcare, partnerships with First Nations Peoples, and making home ownership more affordable are all very positive.

“The Treasurer is right to point out that housing security is the foundation of both economic security and a good life.

“The reality is that for far too many people, the idea of buying a home is not within their grasp.

“It is these people, on the margins of society, who need more substantial support,” St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO, Jack de Groot, said.

“The lion’s share of funding for social housing in this budget is going towards upgrading existing residences.

“This is both good and necessary and we also need significantly more new social housing dwellings.

“The number of new residences funded by this budget is in the hundreds when there are 50,000 applicants on the social housing waiting list in NSW.

“This represents over 100,000 people, many of whom wait 10 years or longer for a home.

“The social housing waiting list could be reduced by three quarters if 5,000 new social housing residences were built each year for the next decade,” Mr de Groot said.

“The additional funding for the Together Home program is very welcome as we have seen some great successes that it has brought about,” St Vincent de Paul Society NSW State Council President, Paul Burton, said.

“While it is fantastic to help people who are sleeping rough find a long-term home, people sleeping rough only make up 7% of the overall number of people who experience homelessness.

“We need to do more to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in NSW and to do that we really need more social and affordable homes.

“This is something that is true right across the state, with housing affordability and availability creating situations where people who have jobs, that would have previously allowed purchase or rental of property, forced into homelessness,” Mr Burton said.

Media contact: Lachlan Jones | 0417 446 430