Inside Australia's Housing Crisis: Decade-Long Waits and Deteriorating Motel Rooms

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Australians with disability are facing a “severe” lack of affordable and accessible housing, forcing them into “precarious” living situations, advocates say.

Many on fixed incomes are also being excluded from the private rental market, with waiting lists reaching up to a decade for social housing, according to a new report from the Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA).

“It has been neglected — the housing needs of people with disability — and it is causing enormous amounts of harm and distress,” DANA’s chief executive officer El Gibbs told SBS News.

“People are not being able to find somewhere to live, but also being forced into houses where they may not be able to leave, move around or access a bathroom.

“There are real issues that need action.”

The second annual report by DANA’s National Centre for Disability Advocacy (NCDA), released on Tuesday, found what it called “shocking evidence” of exclusion and discrimination of Australians with disability across housing along with guardianship, transport and child protection.

‘We are still hearing these stories’

DANA represents organisations across the country that work directly with people with disability.

The report is based on insights from dozens of advocates from 40 organisations who came together for an online forum last March to discuss the systemic issues their clients are facing.

Organisations from all states and territories were represented, DANA said.

“I don’t think people with disability will be that surprised [with the findings] because we understand the barriers that so many of us experience in every single part of our community,” Gibbs said.

“We’ve had a four-and-a-half year Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, so it isn’t any surprise that we are still hearing these stories.”

Housing causing ‘some of the most significant problems’

Advocates across the country reported that housing was one of the areas causing “some of the most significant problems” for people with disability, Gibbs said.

“I think it’s really well known that our housing system is in crisis across the country for everyone, particularly those on low incomes, or on income support. People with disability are very much in that group,” she said.

“We tend to be poorer as a community, more reliant on income support and less likely to be in work. So we face that affordability crisis even more than other Australians — but on top of that, we also have an accessibility crisis.”

Advocates cited in the report said an increasing number of people with disability are facing housing issues, particularly a lack of affordable housing in the private rental market, from which those on fixed incomes are often excluded.

While these people can be placed on waiting lists for social housing, it can take up to 10 years before suitable housing becomes available, it said.

“People with disability can’t find an affordable, accessible or available home that is anywhere near the services that they use, or near their families,” Gibbs said.

“People are being forced to move long distances away, to find something that they can afford, but also really struggling to find accessible housing.”

‘We’re seeing that again’

Taylor Bellomo is the executive officer of Action for People with Disability, an organisation that provides individual advocacy for people with disability living in the northern region of Sydney.

Bellomo said it has seen a “really significant increase” in requests for appropriate housing support from those who are already on a waiting list for social housing but cannot wait years.

A decade ago, Bellomo said the organisation would receive calls for support from ageing or unwell parents who were unable to continue caring for their children with disability and without adequate housing options.

“We’re seeing that again,” she said.

“There are multiple barriers for people with disability: the lack of accessible housing, the limited availability of specialist disability accommodation … private rentals being inaccessible to them, and discrimination — even if they are able to afford a private rental, finding it difficult to be offered a lease due to stigma,” she said.

“That’s for people in the northern region of Sydney … But for people living regionally and remote, it’s far worse.”

Bellomo agreed the housing shortage across the country is “intensified and highlighted more” for people with disability.

“I don’t think the barriers facing people with disability ever receive the necessary attention, and that goes across the housing issue as well.”

Advocates from multiple states and territories also stressed the “complexity” of accessing homelessness services.

In Victoria, people requiring crisis or emergency accommodation must ring a central number, with advocates reporting having to wait on hold for over an hour for a voucher for a stay of up to seven nights, the report said.

In regional areas, an advocate would need to contact a local social housing provider to find a motel room with availability, which is often run down.

Advocates also raised concerns around the limited regulation and appropriateness of living environments such as Specialist Residential Services, and non-registered group homes for Supported Independent Living (SIL) funding.

The Queensland Disability Advocacy Network has set up a Housing Working Group to coordinate actions at a national level. The group provided a submission to the federal government’s National Housing and Homelessness Plan to ensure disability is a priority.

Guardianship, transport and child protection concerns

Also among the report findings was concerns over the “suspected overuse” of guardianship offers for people with disability.

The report cited observations from advocates about a “sharp rise” in applications since the National Disability Insurance Scheme began in 2015, which it says are often initiated by disability providers.

It also revealed transport barriers and child protection “inequities”.

Calls to address ‘chronic underfunding’

However, the report acknowledged the “chronic underfunding” of systemic advocacy — which is capped at 10 per cent of funding through the National Disability Advocacy Program.

Advocates say that, with 90 per cent of funding going towards individual advocacy, the sector’s ability to drive wider change is limited.

More broadly, Gibbs said organisations are seeing a “really big increase” in demand for their services.

“Increasingly, the cases that are coming to advocates are complex. What we’re seeing is the current rate of funding is seriously inadequate,” she said.

“There is a new advocacy program planned for next year and we really need to see a significant uplift in funding to meet the demand that is already here.”

The NCDA program is funded by the Department of Social Services, which has been contacted for comment.