Publication date:
June 2018
ACTCOSS has produced a factsheet presenting data on housing affordability and homelessness in the ACT. This is one of a series of ACTCOSS factsheets that will harness data to provide accessible insights into key social policy issues in the ACT.
This factsheet brings together a range of important data and information for the first time to show the true dimensions of housing stress and homelessness in the city of Canberra.
The numbers show that:
- Out of 1,176 rental properties only 41 were suitable to households living on income support payments and only 84 were suitable for households living on the minimum wage
- 7,000 households in the ACT are experiencing housing stress
- On average, applicants for standard public housing in the ACT are waiting 2.7 years for a property
- More people are rough sleeping in the ACT
- Housing stress and homelessness are disproportionately impacting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people experiencing domestic and family violence and people with mental illness.