Photo of child illustrates Australia’s heartbreaking rental crisis

An upsetting picture has emerged as shocking figures reveal the scale of a shameful Australian trend. Money is being raised for the boy in this photo.

A Perth therapist has revealed how she took a single mother and young child into her home after seeing a desperate plea on Facebook that had a disturbing reaction to it from some.

Claire Orange started a GoFundMe page for the mother and child she took into her home after they found themselves homeless, living out of a Ute with no heating or cooling.

She shared a picture of Charlie, 6, sitting in the car with a blanket and toys on his lap, and the car windows behind him frosted.

“Imagine living in a ute – with a 6 year old – over winter,” Ms Orange wrote. “This is what Mackay and Charlie have done and she’s one of many homeless women in Perth who has struggled to find a home for her child.

“In the time that Mackay has been homeless, she’s looked after Charlie beautifully – taking him to school every day, cooking for him, putting up her small summer tent when the weather allowed so that they were able to sleep lying stretched out instead of bundled up.

“She’s a remarkable, ferocious mumma who’s put her child’s needs first consistently.”

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Six-year-old Charlie lived in a Ute with his mum over winter. Picture: GoFundMe

Ms Orange told news.com.au she had welcomed Mackay and Charlie into her home about a month ago after seeing a desperate plea from Mackay on a Facebook community group asking for somewhere safe to park her Ute overnight.

Disturbingly, Ms Orange said she had noticed comments under the post from men suggesting they were going to “go after her”.

This is something Ms Orange said she sadly sees often while scanning community pages as part of her work helping women and children.

Mackay and Charlie have since secured a home and Ms Orange is accepting donations to help set them up for their new life, including healthcare for Charlie who has ADHD and other mental health disorders.

Mackay and Charlie’s story is one of many told this year about Australians finding themselves homeless, unable to secure a property amid the housing crisis.

Ms Orange said Mackay had been taking to Charlie to school and then going off to look for rental properties but there was so much competition she wasn’t even being considered.

“Who is going to give (a property) to a mum with insecure income when they could give it to 10 other people waiting?” she said. “For our single mums it’s dire. There’s always a young single or couple with much more disposable income.”

Mackay became financially unstable after leaving a relationship.

The weekly median rent for houses in Perth is $495 and units is $420, according to the latest PropTrack Market Insight report released on Thursday.

There has been a 10 per cent increase in house rental prices and 6.3 per cent increase in unit rental prices in the west coast city in the past year.

In the September quarter unit rental prices did not increase, but house rental prices increased 3.1 per cent.

Australia as a whole witnessed the fastest quarterly rise in rental prices on record from July to September.

Median weekly advertised rents increased 4.3 per cent.

That brings the year-on-year rise to 10.3 per cent, also the largest annual rise on-record.

PropTrack director of economic research Cameron Kusher said Australia was experiencing the “tightest rental market we’ve ever seen”.

“It’s a big challenge for renters and ultimately impacts low-income workers and essential workers the most,” he said.

The national weekly median rent for houses is $500 and for units it is $450. Across the capital cities the average is $520 for houses and $460 for units.

The tight rental market is set to become even worse as migration to Australia is expected to lift in the coming months, according to Mr Kusher, with the effects of this to be most acute in inner-city suburbs.