Following advocacy from our office, we have received the following from the Minister for Housing regarding the need to review the income eligibility for social housing given the cost of rentals for our key industry workers:
Queensland Government has ordered a review of the income limits for access to social housing that have not changed since 2006 and ongoing eligibility for existing tenants for social housing.
Applicants for public housing in Queensland are assessed against an eligibility test, which includes a limit on how much money they earn.
This would form part of the department’s response to a report from the Queensland Audit Office, which made a series of recommendations about social housing.
As of writing, for a single person, the limit is set at $609 per week before tax, while the gross income that a couple with two children can earn is capped at $999 per week – or less than $52,000 per year.
The Queensland Audit Office report that the Minister referenced: https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/reports-resources/reports-parliament/delivering-social-housing-services
Further Information:
While on housing for our workers and residents, as updated via newsletters and on social media, amongst our other efforts, the Department of Resources handed over a suitable site (the former House with No Steps) for a transportable/Tiny Homes village for our workers and families to the Sunshine Coast Council four years ago. Regardless of Sandy’s efforts since 2018 to secure this site for an interim solution to our emergency, affordable and disability housing needs, this site has been relatively unused. Why? The reasons proffered included that it is ‘too far from town’, which it is not, as our workers have cars and are currently sleeping in them. Instead of ‘why we can’t’ we need to look at ‘why we must’ to avoid homelessness, and evictions of families in their tiny homes from private properties. This site is currently out for tender, and even though not in the Noosa Electorate, we have again sought that our Community Housing providers and the Department of Housing secure this site to provide interim solutions until permanent projects in the pipeline have been delivered.
Further direct advocacy regarding affordable housing in our electorate can be directed to the QLD Minster for Housing via housing@ministerial.qld.gov.au and please cc’ our office in via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au and forward any response you receive to us.
For our previous Noosa 360 updates on housing, please visit www.sandybolton.com/?s=Housing.