Census results reaffirm depth of housing crisis

Tasmanian Labor

Results of the 2021 Census have reaffirmed the need for urgent and meaningful action to address Tasmania’s housing crisis.

The results show what many Tasmanians already know – a shortage of rental properties, and prohibitive increases in rental costs, especially when compared to average incomes.

The number of unoccupied dwellings has dropped by more than 9 per cent since 2016 – to 29,185 in 2021.

At the same time, the cost of rent keeps rising – but wages are not keeping up, leaving households with less money to pay for other essential items like petrol, groceries and electricity.

Between the 2016 and 2021 Census there were 11 per cent more households paying rent in the range of $275 to $349 and the number of households paying $350 to $449 rent per week increased by 142 per cent.

But during the same period, the number of households earning negative/nil income rose by over 200 per cent, and the number of households earning just $150 to $299 a week was up by 142 per cent.

The Census information underlines the complete lack of action on housing by successive Liberal governments over almost a decade, which has left almost 4,400 families languishing on the public housing waiting list.

The Rockliff-Ferguson government is continuing that tradition of big, empty promises, with nowhere near enough in the recent State Budget to address the lack of affordable or social housing.

Instead of ongoing bad economic management, this governments needs to follow through on its promises, get back to basics and deliver the housing so many Tasmanians desperately need.

Rebecca White MP

Labor Leader

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