Media release
16 November 2022
Every political party is today being called on to confront the unprecedented housing crisis ahead of the NSW State Election in 2023.
Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW) will launch a campaign today calling on political parties to Confront the Crisis and commit to cutting down the social housing waitlist.
“Interest rates are continuing to rise, rental prices are skyrocketing, while the availability of rental housing is at record lows across NSW. This is a full-blown housing crisis,” said Mark Degotardi, CEO of CHIA NSW.
“With unprecedented numbers of NSW residents facing housing stress and homelessness, the demand for affordable housing is out of control.
There are 50,000 households on the social housing waitlist in NSW according to data from June 2021. CHIA NSW has lodged a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the NSW Government to release the latest social housing waitlist figures.
“We know that as of June last year there were 50,000 families and individuals on the social housing waitlist, but we expect the current figures to be even worse and we need to understand the current demand.
CHIA NSW is hosting a launch event for the Confront the Crisis campaign today, hosted by journalist Sarah Harris and featuring a panel of people with first-hand experience of the housing crisis.
Mr Degotardi said that social and affordable housing in NSW has been chronically underfunded for decades, but that our state leaders have a chance to fix this.
“Investment in social and affordable housing, through not-for-profit community housing providers, is the key to addressing the growing crisis. This will get people off the waiting list, out of rental housing stress and into long-term, secure and affordable homes,” he said.
“We’ve seen the Federal Government leading the way in addressing Australia’s housing crisis, but it’s now time for our state leaders to step up and take responsibility for a problem they can no longer ignore.
“We’re launching a campaign today to call on the State Government to confront the crisis by investing in community housing,” said Mr Degotardi.
The public is invited to RSVP for the launch event here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/confront-the-crisis-campaign-launch-tickets-449921255587
Learn more and join our campaign at https://confrontthecrisis.com/.
Media contact: Josh Appleton – [email protected]