If addressing challenges in housing and homelessness is something you’d like to see addressed by the next state government, this might interest you. The policies of the four key political parties have been evaluated by peak body Shelter WA.
Using publicly announced policies and responses provided by the parties, each party was assessed against the recommendations made by the Unlock Housing coalition. The group comprises more than 30 housing and homelessness service providers including Anglicare WA, Vinnies, The Salvation Army, St Pats, Nulsen Disability Services, Outcare, Co-operation Housing and Centrecare, along with peak bodies such as YACWA, the Aboriginal Health Council of WA, the Western Australian Association for Mental Health, WACOSS and the Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing.
All major parties were invited to provide details on their commitment to address twelve policy asks to end homelessness, revitalise social housing, and fix the housing system. Their responses have been summarised in a Scorecard released today.
Shelter WA CEO Michelle Mackenzie said it’s important to provide visibility over where the parties stand on housing and homelessness commitments ahead of the State Election this weekend.
“One in nine West Australians said homelessness is their top election issue,” Mackenzie said. “Unfortunately WA Labor has only committed to one of our ten commitments to deal with this crisis.”
“The WA Liberals have at least gone some way to committing the necessary investment required to stem the critically depleted supply of social housing. Whilst their commitment of 4,600 social and affordable homes over five years in partnership with the community housing sector falls short of what is required, it is a significant improvement on the government’s current target of just 260 social homes per year. We also welcome their commitment to using government owned land for community housing,” Ms Mackenzie said.
The Greens, meanwhile, ticked nearly all the boxes including, crucially, committing to at least 2,500 new social homes per year over the next term of government. The Nationals also made welcome commitments on affordable rentals and emergency accommodation in the regions.
“Overall, what our Scorecard shows is that the priority in the WA community of resolving WA’s homelessness crisis has not translated into election promises that address the systemic problem or deliver solutions at the scale needed to end the housing crisis,” Mackenzie said.
The Election scorecard has been released the day after Housing Minister Peter Tinley AM MLA denied Western Australia is experiencing a housing crisis.
“To hear the Minster deny we’re in a housing crisis beggars belief. We’ve been working with government over the last four years and have clearly articulated the depth of the crisis, in particular for people on very low and low incomes and those who rent, as well as providing a clear pathway forward. The housing crisis is a mainstream issue and will not go away by denying it exists,” Mackenzie said.
Read more about each party’s policies and view the election scorecard.
OIP Staff
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