There has been action - only the wrong kind.

Each week about 150 people are coming to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in housing distress, but only 40 can be accommodated.

Asylum seekers in Australia are increasingly at risk of homelessness as the rental crisis continues to bite, with more than 70% of people who turn up to a leading asylum seeker support charity in housing distress unable to be placed in accommodation.

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has shifted resources since the pandemic to provide emergency accommodation for asylum seekers who are sleeping rough or at immediate risk of homelessness.

This year, 6,619 rental properties will lose their affordable rental status, under the phasing out of a national scheme providing government subsidies to facilitate housing for lower income households. In the ACT at the end of September 2022 there were 1,083 NRAS properties (down from the original 2,384). We are expecting the loss of 93 more properties this year.

Advocates are urging the federal government to continue a national scheme that allows lower-income households to rent properties at least 20 per cent below market rates.
The National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) was rolled out in 2008 by Kevin Rudd's government and comes to an end in 2026, with more houses exiting the program each year.

A struggling renter on the NSW north coast who’s been forced to live in his car for five months wrote to the PM – and says he received a “pathetic” response.
The man, who has been living in his car for five months, has written a scathing letter to the Prime Minister amid soaring rental prices – and was directed to welfare agencies in response.

In the letter, which was addressed directly to Anthony Albanese, father-of-two Michael Collier outlined how quickly his life was derailed when his former landlord decided to put his rent up by a whopping $150 a week, a cost he simply couldn’t afford.

While the ACT law provides that a landlord cannot impose an increase in the rent to this extent it does allow a landlord to propose any amount. It is only if the tenant refuses the amount on the basis it is excessive that the landlord has to apply to ACAT seeking approval for the amount. It is very important that renters know their rights.

"The ACT is leading the country in terms of insulation requirements: from April this year, private rentals and public housing properties will begin having to be fitted with high-standard ceiling insulation".

We will wait and see how this pans out for renters, noting that the changes do not cover occupants - those who make up some of our most disadvantaged renters

"Systemic change was needed to prevent rental market conditions which made it difficult and time-consuming to find a home"