Australians for affordable housing is back!

Australians for Affordable Housing is a campaign established by national housing, welfare and community sector organisations to highlight the problem of housing affordability in Australia. Our aim is to make affordable housing a ‘top 5’ political issue nationally.

What is the problem?

One in ten Australian households are in housing stress. These households are on low to moderate incomes and pay more than 30 per cent of their income in rent or mortgage repayments. Paying too much for housing makes it harder for people to pay for the other basics, like food, clothes, transport and healthcare.

The lack of affordable housing directly contributes to homelessness, housing insecurity and financial stress. It creates problems for individual households and the entire economy.

This problem has gone on too long. Both federal and state government’s have policy levers within their control that can make housing more affordable. Yet inaction and declining commitment to resolve the issues means that affordable housing continues to become further out of reach for many.

What will the campaign do?

Australians for Affordable Housing is a media campaign that aims to raise the problem of housing affordability and put pressure on governments to deliver solutions. The campaign will produce a flow of stories that highlight the problem - for different demographics, localities, and tenures, and then follow up with series of stories that promote solutions.  The campaign has a full time campaign manager, Sarah Toohey, who is the campaign spokesperson, and employs media consultancy, Essential Media Communications to support its media activity.

Alongside the production of ‘media hits’ in the print, radio and TV media, the campaign will have an active social media presence, including Facebook, Twitter, a blog and an interactive website.

What can you do?

Producing enough stories to elevate this issue onto the national stage will necessarily be a collective effort. We need your help to:

·         Keep AAH informed of events your organisation is hosting

·         Let us know about upcoming research you’re releasing

·         Let us know if you have access to local statistics about housing stress

·         Help to find people experiencing housing problems who are happy to speak to the media

The campaign also needs resources to keep operating for at least two years. We continue to welcome your donations.

If you’re able to help, or want more information on how you can be involved in the campaign contact Sarah Toohey, Campaign Manager on 03 9654 5050.

Tell your story

To help launch the campaign, and for the campaign website, we’re looking for people who are willing to tell their story of housing stress. In particular we’re looking for people who:

·         may have experienced homelessness or moved frequently due to housing insecurity

·         are currently paying a large proportion of their income for housing, both in rental and in mortgage repayments

·         are  trying to buy their first home; or

·         may not have housing issues themselves are concerned about the problem for their family and friends.

What would people who tell their story need to do?

There are a number of ways people can tell their story and we’ll talk to any participants about the level of identification they’re comfortable with.  Some of the things may include:

·         talking to newspaper journalists about their housing situation (we can tell the journalist if people prefer not to be named)

·         having a picture taken for newspaper articles or for the campaign website

·         being interviewed by television news, or for a video for the campaign website.

How we’ll help

We’ll talk to anyone participating before any media interview and answer any questions about the process. If people would prefer that their full name isn’t printed, or have any other privacy issues, well make sure that the journalist knows about it.  

The kinds of questions that journalists will ask:

·         What sort of cost of living pressures are affecting you?

·         How long do you think you've been in housing stress?

·         Do you think Australia is facing a housing crisis?

·         Do you think you will ever be able to afford your own home and leave the rental market?

 If you are interested in helping the campaign, please contact Queensland Shelter on 07 3831 5900, or comms [at] qshelter [dot] asn [dot] au.