‘We’re hidden away’: Queensland’s housing crisis to be exposed

A Senate committee hearing in Brisbane will shine a light on the state’s housing distress, with victims sharing their experiences.

Queensland is the epicentre of the nation’s homeless crisis and tenants are forced to access their life savings to cover crippling rent increases, a leading advocate warned.

A Senate committee hearing in Brisbane on Wednesday will shine a light on the state’s housing distress, with victims sharing their experiences.

One of those is Janet Bradford, who has been forced to live in a caravan on a family member’s property.

She spent many years working in hospitality in Tasmania, but the industry’s collapse during the pandemic forced her to return to Queensland in 2021 in the middle of prolonged flooding, which she described as “horrendously bad” for those forced to sleep rough.

Ms Bradford said data such as the social housing register failed to document the true scale of the crisis, given the numbers forced to sleep in tents and cars.

“We’re hidden away,” she told The Courier-Mail. “If the true numbers were exposed, this crisis would be seen a bit differently to what it is now.”

Camp Hill mother Robyn Cook said she was slapped with a 30 per cent rent hike this year and fears the next lease renewal will include another significant jump given the continued surge in the market.

She said she was forced to accept the increase given the significant cost of moving paired with the squeeze on stock availability.

“We are dipping into our savings in a way that was unanticipated,” she said.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh said Queensland was the epicentre of the crisis and it was critical the issues were detailed given the committee has no Queensland representation.

“Our population has grown at a rate that other jurisdictions have not and at the same time, our government has failed to increase social housing stock across the last decade,” she said.

But housing academic Cameron Murray disputed this, saying rental affordability had been a constant issue.

He said the focus should be on the groups involved in shaping the outcome of the inquiry.

“Another big message would be take what landlords say with more than a grain of salt, because they have no financial interest in bringing rents down,” Dr Murray said.

“If they‘re happy with what comes out of the inquiry, then you’ve probably failed to achieve material change.”

Greens federal housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather has been a vocal thorn in the Albanese Government’s side in the Senate by refusing to pass Labor’s landmark housing bill unless rent freezes are legislated.

“Rents are increasing at the fastest rate in 35 years, and the RBA has said things are only going to get worse, so along with proper investment in public housing, we desperately need to cap increases,” he said.

“But if Labor won’t listen to the data, perhaps they will listen to the submissions and testimonies of thousands of renters.”

Originally published as ‘We’re hidden away’: Queensland’s housing crisis to be exposed