Indigenous Communities Are Facing a Crippling Housing Crisis, Too

Indigenous communities around Australia are calling out for an urgent boost to federal funding for First Nations housing ahead of the May 21 federal election, after the Morrison government cancelled all dedicated funding for remote housing from next year.

At an election forum on Indigenous housing on Wednesday, Australia’s only Aboriginal social services coalition, Change the Record, and affordable housing advocates Everybody’s Home, are set to call on the major parties to make stronger federal housing commitments to Australia’s First Nations people, who currently find themselves in the throes of a crippling housing crisis. 

Together, both advocacy groups are trying to rally federal support for at least 8,500 new codesigned, culturally appropriate, climate-resilient homes over the next four years. The groups hope to combat severe overcrowding and a bloated rate of First Nations homelessness.

For First Nations communities, the national public shortage has had material health consequences, which have only been exacerbated by catastrophic recent flood events and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic was reported to be the impetus for major overcrowding as recently as last year, which saw families pile into homes so full they became “obstacle courses” and left others homeless. The extent of how recent floods have impacted the housing crisis is still being measured – but is estimated to last “decades”.

Cheryl Axleby, chair at Change the Record, said the Morrison government has all but abandoned remote Indigenous housing. 

“The lack of federal support for First Nations housing in the bush, in towns and in our cities is appalling. We saw the very real health consequences of the overcrowding crisis on our people during COVID-19 and yet the federal government has failed to do anything about it,” Axleby said. 

“For years, successive governments have neglected First Nations’ housing – aggravating poverty and chronic disease and preventing First Nations people from achieving social and economic justice,” she said. 

“Right across the continent, communities are deprived of the powerful economic ripple effect of housing investment. If we can dole out subsidies to first home buyers, why can’t we adequately support housing for First Nations people?”

Just last month, the Morrison government moved to turn the screw once more, when it continued with cuts to Indigenous social housing and homeslessness services as part of its federal budget, leaving only $223.8 million for remote housing in the Northern Territory. 

The funding doesn’t come close to what experts estimate the community needs. 

According to the Central Land Council, the federal government would need to spend $2 billion in the Northern Territory alone to narrow the housing stock shortage being felt by First Nations communities in the region. 

Kate Colvin, national spokesperson for Everybody’s Home, said the lack of new investment in Indigenous housing is a “national scandal”. 

“The overcrowding crisis facing First Nations People is not an accident, it is the direct consequence of government policy,” Colvin said. 

“With renewed investment we can make a profound improvement and give more First Nations Australians the secure, safe housing we all deserve.”

As it stands, neither of the major parties has mounted a policy platform to meet their concerns. But if the Greens are to walk away from May’s election holding the balance of power in the House of Representatives, they promise to build 750,000 new public and community houses.

It’s a policy the party says will be paid for in part by the introduction of a new 6 percent “Billionaire’s Tax,” which was first pitched in March last year, and would see about 122 Australian billionaires taxed at a higher rate. 

When the policy was announced in October last year, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said it stands to benefit people experiencing homelessness, people on public housing waiting lists, and people locked out of the housing market. 

“Our pitch is that Australia is in a housing crisis and this requires big solutions. If you’re committed to reducing inequality in this country, this has to involve providing affordable housing for everyone who is locked out currently,” Faruqi said. 

“At this rate, our society is only going to get more and more unequal if we don’t act now,” she said. “House prices are out of control in this country and homelessness is a national shame. There is no good reason anyone in Australia should be homeless. 

“There is no good reason an entire generation has been locked out of owning their own home. Building one million homes is not just a nice idea – it’s essential.”

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