Ballarat working families pushed into poverty by wage stagnation and cost of living

More Ballarat people are appealing to support organisations for help to pay rent and put food on the table amid rising costs. Read the impact.

Working Ballarat families are falling deeper into poverty as wages fail to keep up with the increased cost of living.

More people than ever before, including those paid working wages, are appealing to the Central Highlands Uniting branch, historically a refuge primarily for the unemployed.

Uniting Western Division homelessness senior manager Adam Liversage said it was not only individuals overwhelming the organisation’s resources.

“Families as well are really battling to put food on the table,” Mr Liversage said.

“We already know that for those especially in the rental market that aren’t working – maybe on Centrelink income or minimum wage – the affordability of rentals is just not there.

“ …We’ve never seen so many present through our entry points, through our front doors, experiencing homelessness.”

Altogether 274 households are on Uniting’s books, including 194 aged over 25 and 80 under 25.

In the older bracket, there are the same number of single-person households as there are those with multiple members; in the younger, there are a little more than double the number of single people.

The most represented age group is 56 to 65 years old.

“We’ve never experienced this rate before,” Mr Liversage said.

“Usually in the past we’d be sitting around 120, maybe 130 of the combined lists together – now we’re sitting on 270-odd households combined.

“It’s unprecedented.”

Mr Liversage said residents were seeking help simply to pay rent owed in numbers “never seen before”.

“We’re seeing a lot of working families, a lot of people who are working, accessing the [private rental assistance package] program,” he said.

“People aren’t earning enough income to a keep up with the rent and obviously to keep up with the increase in the cost of living.”

He said more public and affordable housing was needed, as well as better government funding of assistance programs.

A Uniting report from October 2022 report, which surveyed 112 people, found that 92 per cent of people were cutting back on food and groceries, 70 per cent were unable to eat well, and half were reducing their heating.

The One Humanity Shower Bus, which sits on Armstrong St three nights a week, is visited by between 15 and 20 people a night, mainly from people looking for toiletries.

A year ago, those people could be counted on one hand – although Covid restrictions did make visits more difficult for those who needed to access the service.

“We’ve seen a steady increase, not necessarily in people having a shower, but we also provide toiletries, clothes, blankets, that kind of thing,” treasurer Danielle Trezise said.

“We would have seen an increase in people who can't afford toiletries, can’t afford shampoo.

Ms Trezise said other local services appeared to have similar stories of stagnant wages combined with increased costs of rent, mortgages, and food.