Pope Francis was a man of peace, compassion, mercy, faith and love. A man for others. He reminded us of our common humanity, our responsibility to care for each other and for our planet. We give gratitude for his life, he will be greatly missed.
Pope Francis often spoke about mercy. In fact, he declared 2016 to be the Jubilee of Divine Mercy. On Sunday, 3 April 2016, Pope Francis delivered a homily at Saint Peter’s Square, speaking about mercy. The last paragraph of the homily concludes with these words:
Truly, God’s mercy is forever; it never ends, it never runs out, it never gives up when faced with closed doors, and it never tires. In this forever we find strength in moments of trial and weakness because we are sure that God does not abandon us. He remains with us forever. Let us give thanks for so great a love, which we find impossible to grasp; it is immense! Let us pray for the grace to never grow tired of drawing from the well of the Father’s mercy and bringing it to the world. Let us ask that we too may be merciful, to spread the power of the Gospel everywhere, and to write those pages of the Gospel which John the Apostle did not write.
Read the full homily here.
The recent announcements from the two major parties have focused on access to housing for younger people. It is disappointing that women over 55 years, who are the fastest growing group to experience homelessness, have been left behind.
More than 75% of single older women living in private rental are living in poverty. Each day, women are making tough choices between food, medication, transport and paying rent. Decades of poor policy, persistent structural barriers and pervasive ageism has significantly increased their risk of homelessness.
What is desperately needed is more investment in social housing that supports the needs of all people, including older women, and urgent attention to address immediate needs.
Yumi Lee, CEO of the Older Women’s Network of NSW, recently spoke about the need on ABC radio.
Listen here.
Professor Jessie Hohmann recently released a report, The Right to Housing in Australia, commissioned by the Human Rights Law Centre that discusses the need for a right to housing as a human right in Australian law.
The report explains the right to housing, Australia’s existing human rights framework, provides a case study to illustrate what housing looks like without a human right to housing, why we need a right to housing at all levels of government and how to make the right to housing a reality in Australia.
In the executive summary, Jessie writes:
Adequate housing shields us from the elements and from external threats and pressures. It gives us a base from which we can take part in the life of the community, and from where we can build a livelihood, take part in education, and contribute to society. Housing also provides a space where the private aspects of our lives are fostered and supported. The way people are housed reflects a social and political agreement about what standards of living, levels of inequality and social exclusion we tolerate or condone. Thus, housing provides not just material shelter, but helps set physical boundaries of belonging and community.
Th report can be accessed here: The Right to Housing in Australia 2025
The Grattan Institute released a report finding that two in three retirees who live in the private rental market live in poverty. With the decline in home ownership in Australia, this figure is expected to increase. The figures are worse for women, where 78% of single, retired women renting in the private market are living in poverty. This places them at great risk of homelessness, and the anxiety of living with the burden of poverty.
Many older working Australians in the rental market have insufficient funds to continue paying rent when they stop working. Without enough social housing to meet the current demand, many retirees will be left with nowhere to go.
The report recommends that
- The maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance should be increased by 50% for singles and sharers, and 40% for couples.
- Commonwealth Rent Assistance should be indexed to changes in rents for the cheapest 25% of rental homes in capital cities.
Access the report here: Renting in Retirement: Why rent assistance needs to rise
Congratulations to Maeve Brown, the recipient of the Cath Leary Social Justice Award for 2024. The award recognises Maeve’s outstanding efforts, leadership and lifelong commitment to upholding human rights and human dignity in her work with people seeking asylum and people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Read more
A 10 year study from AIHW data has revealed that the mortality rate for people seeking support from homelessness services in the last 12 months before their death was 1.8 times that of the general population.
Over the 10 year period, 12,525 people died within a year of seeking assistance from a homelessness service and the median age of death was just 49 years.
More than 10% of all deaths were women aged between 25 – 34 years.
Around 1,500 people are dying each year of preventable deaths, and that’s an increase of 60%.
Accidental poisoning and suicide were the most common underlying causes of death among SHS clients, accounting for around one-quarter to one-third of all deaths each year within the study period.
These statistics are shocking and unacceptable. We know that homelessness is detrimental to both physical and mental health and this is confirmed by the recent AIHW study.
Good quality, affordable and safe housing is fundamental for health and wellbeing. Homelessness is a national health emergency and should be treated as such.
Read the report from AIHW here.
On Friday 22 November, SGS Economics and Shelter Australia released the latest Rental Affordability Index. The results show that Australia’s rental crisis is getting worse and driving more households into serious financial hardship. Low income earners continue to face the heaviest burden of the housing crisis.
The housing crisis continues to severely impact both urban and regional areas. Perth has overtaken Sydney as the least affordable city to rent.
- Perth’s median rent is $629, or 31% of median incomes
- Sydney’s median rent is $720, or 30% of median incomes.
All major cities and regional areas are now classified as “critically unaffordable” for those relying on JobSeeker, part-time parenting payments, or pensions.
There is some good news, with Tasmania and ACT recording slight improvements in affordability, with ACT benefitting from rent increase limits introduced in 2019.
This crisis demands immediate bipartisan action to increase the supply of affordable housing across the nation, to limit rent increases as in ACT and ultimately ensure that everyone living in our country has a safe and affordable home.
Australia is experiencing the double shock of a housing crisis and a cost of living crisis, putting enormous financial pressure on families and individuals including the risk of homelessness.
A report released today by Impact Economics and Homelessness Australia highlights the increasing numbers of families and individuals seeking assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services and the growing number of calls that go unanswered due to the surge in demand.
Additionally, new modelling estimates that in 2022 there were between 2.7million and 3.2million Australians at risk of homelessness, where one negative event could result in them losing their home. This represents an increase of 63% between 2016 to 2022.
Homelessness Australia is calling for greater investment in homelessness services to help prevent and resolve homelessness, an increase in CRA to help make renting more affordable and continued investment in social housing.
>>> Read the media release.
>>> Read the report.
Yesterday, the Attorney General The Hon Mark Dreyfus announced the appointment of Australia’s first Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Chris Evans, previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Freedom Network of Walk Free and former Senator for Western Australia between 1993 and 2013, was appointed to the role.
The announcement from the Attorney General’s office noted that:
The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will further strengthen the work undertaken across government, business and civil society to prevent and respond to modern slavery by supporting victims and survivors, raising community awareness and helping business address the risk of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.
The establishment of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner delivers on the Albanese Government’s election commitment to establish an independent Commissioner to lead the fight against modern slavery.
The Albanese Government committed $8 million over four years in the 2023-24 Budget to support the Commissioner’s establishment and operation.
The Anti-Slavery Commissioner will play a key role in helping to shape the implementation of future modern slavery reforms, including those arising from the statutory review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth).
NSW was the first state to appoint an Anti-Slavery Commissioner. Dr James Cockayne has held this role since June 2022.
We congratulate Mr Evans on his appointment and look forward to working with the Commissioner to work toward ending modern slavery in Australia.
Temporary migrant workers are recognised as being at risk of exploitation and modern slavery. Following recommendations from the NSW Anti Slavery Commissioner, the NSW parliament is holding an inquiry into modern slavery risks faced by temporary workers in rural and regional NSW.
The terms of reference state that the Committee is particularly interested in:
- the lived experience of temporary migrant workers working in agriculture, horticulture, meat processing and other sectors reliant on temporary migrant labour
- incidence, causes and extent of forced labour, deceptive recruiting, gender-based violence,
sexual servitude and labour trafficking
- violations relating to wages, allowances, superannuation, leave entitlements, workers
compensation, piecework payments, such as underpayment, excessive deductions and debt
bondage arrangements
- structural factors that make temporary migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation
- worker conditions and labour practices of direct employers and labour hire companies,
including the adequacy of regulations governing both
- confiscation of passports and other personal identification
- adequacy of monitoring, compliance and enforcement of workplace laws, including health
and safety laws
- support and resources needed by local communities, NSW Government frontline agencies
and non-government service providers to support at-risk and vulnerable temporary migrant workers, including education, training and cultural capability needs
- the impact of visa settings and conditions of employment on temporary migrant workers in rural and regional New South Wales
- adequacy of interjurisdictional/cross-government cooperation and data sharing in the
provision of accommodation, medical care and other essential services to temporary migrant workers
- potential protections for temporary migrant workers through State based interventions
- any other related matters.
Submissions to the inquiry are due by 31 January 2025.
More information is available here.
