Entire generation robbed of promise afforded to their parents and grandparents

Vast proportions of Australians have been given no choice but to kiss goodbye an essential piece of the great Aussie dream.

The great Australian dream of owning a home is officially dead, communities are in despair and no one seems to be making meaningful headway towards a solution.

Home ownership has become a luxury that many Aussies have been forced to accept is not on the table for them as they face the uphill battle against excruciating rising costs of living.

An entire generation has had the “promise of certainty ripped away from them”, Georgina Harrison, former Secretary of the NSW Department of Education and the CEO of AMPLIFY, a nonpartisan and independent community organisation, told news.com.au.

“The time it now takes for young people to save a deposit means they’re not moving into their own homes and making big decisions like starting a family until far later in life,” Ms Harrison said.

Still, some hope existed in authorities smartening up their act on bolstering housing supply.

“There’s a huge sense of urgency from the community about this, but politics as per usual isn’t getting to grips with this issue,” she said.

“We keep seeing more demand side levers being pulled by the government, and more subsidies, when actually in the long term logically it makes the system worse.

“What we don’t see is the government getting on with it and getting out of the way of development, so that builders can build the houses we need, in order to get the supply we need to bring prices down.

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Young Aussies have had homeownership ripped away from them. Picture: Media Mode/news.com.au

“That is the only thing that is ultimately going to shift this.”

Leading into the federal election, Ms Harrison said Australians – 100 of which were polled on pressing topics at her Amplification event in February – wanted to see a commitment from the government that matched their anxieties.

Urgent supply reform, particularly in the modular housing industry, was a potential solution, she argued.

“The government appears to be going far slower than it needs to,” Ms Harrison said.

CEO of Amplify, Georgina Harrison. Picture: Instagram/theamplifycommunity

A catastrophic downfall in communities was a direct outcome of Australians being unable to buy their own home, as generations before had been able to.

“If young people lose the hope of having the life their parents had, you start to pick away at the fabric of society,” Ms Harrison said.

“Because if I cannot get a foothold in a community, in a place I want to live, why would I bother investing in that community? Why would I bother showing up for the P&C meetings? Why would I bother getting involved?

“I do think this disconnect – young people not being able to have the same life their parents had – changes their whole approach to their local community and the way they engage with society.”

Unattainable homeownership for huge sectors of the Australian population went against the nation’s “fair go” attitude, she added.

“Are we really looking out for each other? And if I can’t get a fair go myself, am I going to care as much as the people who are really in need of support?

“Whether it’s women fleeing domestic violence, or someone who’s lost their job – are you really going to care for your fellow Australians in the same way if you don’t see a path for opportunity for yourself?”

Hopeful homeowner Queenslander Dee Yardley. Picture: Supplied/news.com.au

The bleak outlook is being experienced in real-time by Queenslander Dee Yardley.

The 26-year-old told news.com.au that despite both her and her partner having well-paying jobs, achieving the Aussie dream of owning their own home felt out of reach.

“We’ve had to put it on the backburner as something we don’t know if we’ll be able to achieve,” Ms Yardley said.

It wasn’t just homeownership potentially getting ripped away, the couple also felt further away from their goals to get married and have kids because of the state of the economy.

“It’s just like, what am I going to have to sacrifice? Is it one or the other? Kids on their own are a massive expense – can you even have kids and own a home anymore?”

She has been tossing up on whether to further her studies to better her chance at a higher income down the track to ultimately afford a house.

The drawback being she might not be biologically capable of having children by the time she’s able to buy a home.

Ms Yardley has put her goal of buying a home on hold for the time being. Picture: Supplied/news.com.au

“I don’t think that owning a home can be part of the dream anymore to be honest. It’s more a matter of just surviving and making enough money to live,” she said.

“That’s the new Australian dream.”

Like many young people, Ms Yardley had been hopeful of taking advantage of the government’s first homebuyer scheme.

The conditions of the scheme in Queensland though, including that it be under $750,000 and that buyers live there for a year, meant it wasn’t necessarily helpful.

Properties in locations where there’s employment opportunities don’t sell for less than $750,000, so access to the market often means moving remote and away from family, friends, work, hobbies, sports and events.

“Are you saying I need to sacrifice all of that just to obtain a property 1000 kilometres away in some tiny remote town?

“It’s absurd.”

Originally published as Entire generation robbed of promise afforded to their parents and grandparents