“Premier Morris Iemma has previously indicated that affordable housing was one of his three social policy priorities, along with mental health and services for people with disability”, said NCOSS Acting Director, Catherine Mahony.

The Government’s Metropolitan Strategy, released in December 2005, promised a NSW Affordable Housing Strategy by mid 2006. This has not happened and today’s State Plan has not even reconfirmed this commitment.

On the Government’s own figures, some 175,000 low to moderate income households in Sydney are experiencing housing stress; that is 30% of their income is spent on housing costs. Figures released by the Real Estate Institute today show that rental vacancy rates in Sydney are at a six year low of 1% and have warned tenants to expect rent increases. The time for a significant increase in affordable housing is long overdue and this growing need will not simply go away because of Government inaction.

Market forces alone cannot solve our housing affordability problem. We need positive measures to expand the supply of affordable housing and to ensure that low income households can access such housing.  The absence of any such measures in the final State Plan is a serious, missed opportunity.

NCOSS and HomelessnessNSW.ACT is equally disappointed that the Government has not adopted the community sector’s proposal to develop an integrated NSW Homelessness Strategy. This is the only way we can develop a coordinated and responsive service system, rather than continue with a disjointed series of programs and projects.

“Homeless people are one of the most marginalised and socially excluded groups in NSW. It is a great shame that despite recognising ‘fairness and opportunity’ as a key component of the State Plan, the NSW Government has provided no new response to the 27,000 homeless people in NSW, the highest number of any State or Territory”, said Sue Cripps, Executive Officer of HomelessnessNSW.ACT.