Over 1100 applications pending for public housing in Alice Springs

THE Territory’s peak body for housing and homelessness has called on the future government to make a housing and homelessness policy to address a concerning shortfall of public housing in Alice Springs

Alice Springs suffers from homelessness at 17 times the national rate

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THE Territory’s peak body for housing and homelessness is calling on the future government to make a housing and homelessness policy to address a concerning shortfall of public housing in Alice Springs

Speaking as part of National Homelessness Week, NT Shelter Executive Officer Peter McMillan said that a clear plan was needed to tackle the country’s highest rates of homelessness and set firm commitments on the number of new social and affordable houses for the next four years.

Mr McMillan said there was a disturbing shortfall of public housing in Alice Springs where locals suffer homeless at 17 times the national average.

“We know from the most recent figures that there are 1181 applicants on public housing wait lists in Alice Springs and 208 applicants in Tennant Creek.

“They can include family members so it can be a much greater than that. People are waiting up to eight years for a house and we know they’re very long waits.”

Mr McMillan acknowledged the significant $1.1 billion ten year remote housing program currently under way by the NT Government.

But he said that far more needed to be done to deliver anything close to the NT Government’s own estimate of the 8,000 to 12,000 shortfall of housing needed over the next five years.

Department of Local Government, Housing and Community Development annual reports for the past three years reveal a net increase to total housing stock of just 136 public housing assets in remote communities and 23 urban dwellings.

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Under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, the Northern Territory receives a total of one per cent of national funding from the Commonwealth for its estimated homeless population of 13,717.

“It is so important that our next Minister heads off to Canberra to press for funding allocations for homelessness that are based on need rather than our share of population,” Mr McMillan said.

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