A brutal rally for housing

Inside Parliament House on Thursday , Cassy O’Connor, Secretary to the Cabinet, referred to the pressure low income earners are under in securing affordable housing.

Outside, in conditions described by one observer as ‘brutal’, she was rugged up to meet rallying supporters of the Private Rental Tenancy Support Service (PRTSS). She was able to tell them $4 million in funding was secure.

Supporting clients to get private rentals is vital, O’Connor had said earlier, given the continuing shortfall in public housing. The Support Service gives assistance through bond, rent and removal payments.

It can also give advice to landlords and mediate between them and their tenants.

The two year funding arrangement includes:

$1 million to the PRTSS to help people keep their tenancies

$2.2 million for the PRTSS to broaden assistance to households experiencing financial difficulty in maintaining private tenancies

$800,000 for specialist homelessness services to continue to provide brokerage assistance for people needing a roof over their head.

The Support Service is delivered in Tasmania by Centacare in partnership with the Salvation Army.

Andrea Witt, manager of the Housing Program for Centacare said the funding would now allow the prorgram to continue right across the state, with an outreach service for isolated people who would otherwise be homeless.

The 1,100 households supported in one year were represented by cut-out yellow houses on the Parliament House lawns.

‘We have provided over 4.600 units of assistance since 2005,’ said Andrea, referring to the number of individual issues dealt with.

Those issues are wide-ranging, interconnected and complex.

Heather, a case worker with Centacare said:

‘I can describe a house with a family living in it that is dripping with rising damp and where you can see the mould. There is continual condensation on the windows. It’s freezing cold and the heaters don’t work. One of the children in this house has asthma. Now they need help with everything – from trying to manage the damp and its effect on that child, to making housing applications.

It’s the mulitiplicity of issues that’s the problem. That’s what makes this support so critical. People with sick children mightn’t be able to put paying the rent on the top of their priority list.’

Tracey who has been in secure housing for three months now, was asked by TT how much difference it made having the help of the Support Service.

Her answer – “Heaps.”

TT asked O’Connor if there had been any resistance in parliament to the funding proposal.

Her answer – “None.”

It was the weather for short answers. And for adequate housing.