While politicians ignore calls to raise Newstart, alarming levels of financial stress among private renters, particularly in low-rent outer suburbs, show why current welfare payments are too low.
Having quality housing matters. What's standing in the way of ensuring every Australian has housing that meets basic comfort and health standards? And how can we overcome these problems?
Housing markets never have met the lowest-income households' needs. Now is the time to tackle problems that have been years in the making by creating a better system to supply their housing.
If we recognised social housing as infrastructure as essential as transport links, schools and hospitals, not properly investing in it could become unthinkable.
UNSW's Simone Zarpelon Leao made a valuable discovery while in Fiji for a symposium with Pacific Island communities on sustainable infrastructure and housing maintenance.
