In the midst of the 2025 federal election, Anglicare Australia today released its annual Rental Affordability Snapshot. The welfare organisation also called on all parties and candidates to act on housing affordability

The Snapshot surveyed 51,238 rental listings across Australia and found that:

  • 352 rentals (0.7%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage
  • 165 rentals (0.3%) were affordable for a person on the Age Pension
  • 28 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the Disability Support Pension
  • 3 rentals (0%), all rooms in sharehouses, were affordable for a person on JobSeeker
  • No rentals were affordable for a person on Youth Allowance.

“Australia’s housing crisis is the worst it has ever been,” said Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers.

“We keep hearing that this election is about living costs, but housing is the biggest cost facing Australians. The housing crisis is climbing the income ladder, and people on lowest incomes don’t stand a chance. Less than 1% of rentals are affordable for a full-time worker on the minimum wage. Across the country, there are 74 electorates without a single affordable rental for someone on the minimum wage.”

“For a person out of work it’s even grimmer. Out of 51,000 listings across the country, just 3 were affordable for someone on JobSeeker.”

“Voters are desperate for action. Instead, parties are promising more of the same. At best they are overlooking those who need the most help, and at worst, they are making promises that could overheat the market and push costs up.”

Ms Chambers said that the Government must step up instead of leaving housing to the private sector.

“The Government spends eight times as much propping up private investors as it does on building homes for people who need them. This approach is wrong, and it’s supercharging rents and house prices.

“These results show that housing cannot be left to the private sector. We’re calling on the next parliament to ensure that rentals are affordable by building rentals people can afford, and by fixing Australia’s unfair tax system.”

 

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