Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
Minns accused of ‘fuelling division’ after Lismore residents allegedly harassed on squatters’ street
Kate Lyons The Guardian (No paywall)The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has been accused of “fuelling division” and “dog-whistling”, after residents of a Lismore street were allegedly attacked and terrorised in the early hours of Saturday morning. The alleged incidents were labelled “vigilante attacks” by a NSW state MP, who has urged the premier to “call for calm and walk back from his threats to demolish homes”. NSW police confirmed they had been called out to Pine Street, Lismore at 2.15am on Saturday after reports of malicious damage and were investigating reports that “unknown people had performed burnouts, harassed residents and damaged vehicles on the street, before leaving in a black four-wheel drive”.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/16/minns-acc…
# Hot topic NSW, Eviction.Wollongong rents are half a typical wage earner's pay packet: new report
Saffron Howden Illawarra Mercury (Paywall)Typical income earners in Wollongong can expect to pay more than half their weekly income on rent, a new report shows. On the South Coast, a single person earning the national median income of $72,592 could be paying just under half of their take-home pay, or 47 per cent, to rent a unit. Priced Out, a new report from national housing affordability advocacy group Everybody’s Home, was released on March 18. It found Wollongong was the second-most expensive area to rent a unit in NSW outside Sydney.
# Must read NSW, Rent.Australians need six-figure income to afford average rental, report finds
Annika Burgess ABC (No paywall)Gone are the days when a $100,000 salary would be considered a secure income. Housing advocates have warned that Australians in both cities and regional areas on a six-figure salary are now struggling with rental stress. A new report by campaign group Everybody's Home found that a single person now needed to earn at least $130,000 to comfortably afford a typical unit. The group said the findings underscore an "alarming shift" in the housing market. The rental crisis is no longer confined to Australians on lower incomes.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-18/six-figure-salary-rental-…
# Australia, .Changing Australia: Zachariah Matysek on rebuilding Indigenous housing
ABC (No paywall)If you talk to Meriam man Zachariah Matysek about his childhood in the remote part of the Torres Strait, community and culture were everything. Some of his favourite memories are of family, fishing and hunting. This upbringing, and his later work at a homeless shelter in Queensland, set the foundation for his work now, trying to build better solutions for Indigenous housing.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/c…
# Audio Australia, .Vulnerable outback residents with prepaid electricity see power cut off
Emma Haskin and Stewart Brash ABC (No paywall)Meet Warumungu elder Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla. During the long, hot, brutal summers of Central Australia and the Barkly, he spends $20 a day to keep his Tennant Creek housing commission house liveable. He says he's one of the lucky ones as he has a good job and can afford to top up his prepaid electricity bill, which cannot be disconnected over the weekend. "We get cut off every Monday at nine o'clock," he says. "Just imagine you have 12 to 13 people in a house, and then they all low income earning people ... I can't imagine what their power bill will be."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-11/nt-red-centre-temperature…
# Must read Australia, Aboriginal renters, Privacy and access, Rent.Renters rejoice: New reforms pass with the aim to make life easier for Victorian renters
Beat (No paywall)The new measures include banning no fault evictions, extending notice times for rent hikes and more. In a massive win for the renting population, Victoria’s Parliament has given the green light to a hefty package of rental reforms, cementing the state’s reputation as the ultimate champion of renters’ rights nationwide. The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 passed this week, delivering a knockout blow to dodgy rental practices that have plagued Melbourne’s housing scene. The reforms add to an already impressive 130 measures introduced since 2021.
https://beat.com.au/renters-rejoice-new-reforms-pass-with-the-ai…
# Must read, New policy announcement Australia, Eviction.Brisbane charity refuses to take tents for homeless away as Brisbane City Council calls for them to be removed from parks
Kenji Sato & Baz Ruddick ABC (No paywall)A Brisbane charity is refusing to take tents away from homeless people as the council warns it is breaking a law that holds a maximum penalty of more than $8,000. Northwest Community Group president Paul Slater received a letter on Wednesday, informing him his tents violated Brisbane City Council's local laws. "It is an offence for a person to deposit any article on council land without a reasonable excuse,” the letter read. "Council intends to exercise its powers under the [local law] to ensure compliance with all relevant laws."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-14/charity-refuses-homeless-…
# Must read Australia, Eviction.Sam can't afford to live alone. His path to home ownership would 'ruin his future'
Ewa Staszewska SBS (No paywall)Sam Bahrij can no longer afford to live alone in Brisbane after his weekly rent soared $210 in 12 months. The 34-year-old was forced to find a new two-bedroom home and a housemate to keep up with the increases in his neighbourhood. "Currently, with the rental crisis, the way things are, there is no way for me to rent by myself," Bahrij told SBS News. Rents across the capital have risen 58 per cent since March 2020, according to property analysis group PropTrack. Many tenants face changing living arrangements or delaying the dream of home ownership due to high costs. For Bahrij, buying his first home no longer feels possible.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/superannuation-access-for-fi…
# Must read Australia, Rent.