What's the rent? Seminar: Shelter NSW and NSW Tenants Union

Where: Mitchell Theatre, Level 1, Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney

The aim of rent subsidies for social housing tenants and Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is to deliver affordable rents … but these forms of assistance face a number of pressures:

Financial sustainability of social housing — how can social housing providers balance financial viability with the current rent-setting models?

Workforce participation — are work disincentives inevitable where social housing tenants pay income-based rents, and most CRA recipients’ eligibility is tied to another Centrelink benefit?

Equity — can the division in outcomes between social housing (affordable rents, relative security) and CRA-assisted private rental (rents often still unaffordable, little security) be addressed?

If your agency assists low-income tenants or you are a tenant, ‘What’s the rent?’ is for you. This seminar will investigate current arrangements for delivering affordable rents, and explore directions for reform.

Speakers

Associate Professor Kath Hulse, Senior Researcher, Swinburne Institute for Social Research

Deborah Brill, Director, Housing Strategy, Housing NSW

Maree O’Halloran, AM, Director, Welfare Rights Centre

Professor Hal Pawson, City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales

Adrian Pisarski, Chairperson, National Shelter.