Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Shelter's Peter McMillan talks to Katie Woolf about the 'Priced Out' report where essential workers take the hit when it comes to rent increases

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NT Shelter's Peter McMillan talks to Katie Woolf about the 'Priced Out' report where essential workers take the hit when it comes to rent increases · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Has been reported that the coalition of welfare and housing
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  Speaker 1: advocacy organizations behind the Everybody's Home campaign, they've released a
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  Speaker 1: new paper comparing data on rents against the full time
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  Speaker 1: award wages of people in fifteen essential worker categories who
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  Speaker 1: are living alone. It's called the Priced Out Report, and
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  Speaker 1: it says that essential workers have lost an average of
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  Speaker 1: six hours from their weekly income to rent increases, which
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  Speaker 1: works out to a loss of thirty seven days pay
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  Speaker 1: each year since before the pandemic. Now, joining me in
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  Speaker 1: the studio to tell us a little bit more about
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  Speaker 1: this report and what it means for workers essential workers
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  Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory is Peter McMillan, who's the
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  Speaker 1: CEO of NT Shelter. Good morning, Peter, they're really good.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you as always for joining us in the studio.
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  Speaker 1: Now the Everybody's Home Report, Peter, what exactly has it
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  Speaker 1: told us?
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  Speaker 2: This SAM report is amazing really in what it's about
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  Speaker 2: key workers in a Northern Territory, KDI. I haven't seen
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  Speaker 2: a report quite like this where it looks at you
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  Speaker 2: everyday essential workers in our in the territories, such as
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  Speaker 2: construction workers, delivery drivers, people working in schools, a school, teachers,
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  Speaker 2: hospitality workers. What it's showing is that right across the territory,
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  Speaker 2: people are spending around forty five percent or more of
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  Speaker 2: their income in rent. And that's astounding because for those
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  Speaker 2: of us who work in the housing space, we say
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  Speaker 2: to people that if you're spending thirty percent or more
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  Speaker 2: of your after tax income on household rent, for example,
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  Speaker 2: then you're doing it tough. You're really starting to get
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  Speaker 2: in a situation where you're finding hard to pay other
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  Speaker 2: bills to juggle your household budget and costs, and even
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  Speaker 2: starting to have to make sacrifices around what you can
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  Speaker 2: spend your money on discretionary spending. So if you're spending
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  Speaker 2: in some cases I'm just looking down a list now
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  Speaker 2: for age care workers, sixty one percent of your income
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  Speaker 2: on rent. It's absolutely astounding, and it just shows just
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  Speaker 2: how hard it is out there for renters. It's incredible.
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  Speaker 1: Really, that is astonishing, more than sixty percent of your
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  Speaker 1: income on rent. And then, you know, I get that
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  Speaker 1: if you're in a couple then that burden can be shared,
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  Speaker 1: but if you are single, that's an incredibly tough situation
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  Speaker 1: to be in.
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  Speaker 2: Look absolutely, I mean, if you were a young person
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  Speaker 2: wanting to get out of home, you'd be thinking twice.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you'd be thinking, I just can't afford that.
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  Speaker 2: I've got to stay at home with mum and dad
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  Speaker 2: a bit longer. If you're an existing individual or a
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  Speaker 2: family that's in a rental property and the rent goes up,
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  Speaker 2: or you're not sure what it's going to go up
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  Speaker 2: at the end of your ease, and it goes up
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  Speaker 2: seventy bucks a week as a can at the moment
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  Speaker 2: quite quite often, then you are in a wad of pain. Really.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, these are key workers we're talking about here, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: These are all lifeblood of our economy.
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  Speaker 1: We need them with. These are people that we actually
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  Speaker 1: need in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: What's really frustrating. There are things that we can do
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  Speaker 2: about this, and we need to and I'd just like
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  Speaker 2: to maybe mention before I forget that if you're in
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  Speaker 2: that situation where you're starting to get payday loans or
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  Speaker 2: buy now, pay later schemes, maybe you're falling behind on
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  Speaker 2: your power bills, maybe it's hard for you to meet
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  Speaker 2: the rent payments. You're falling behind there, or you can't
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  Speaker 2: meet your loan repayments, getting quick and get help while
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  Speaker 2: you can before it's too late, because once that collectors
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  Speaker 2: start getting involved, it's very hard to get out of
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  Speaker 2: that situation. So get financial help now. There's nothing to
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  Speaker 2: be ashamed about in that, and there are really good
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  Speaker 2: organizations out in the community that do that and can
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  Speaker 2: provide you with help.
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  Speaker 1: I reckon that's really good advice. And I actually think
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  Speaker 1: that there's probably more people in the Northern Territory who
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  Speaker 1: are struggling right now than what a lot of us realize,
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  Speaker 1: because not only is the rent and is paying for
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  Speaker 1: your housing incredibly high, but it's also like the cost
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  Speaker 1: of living is really high right now.
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  Speaker 2: You know, when we talk about when I've been on
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  Speaker 2: your program before and talk about people that are visibly
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  Speaker 2: doing it tough, like rough sleepers, visitors to town, this
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  Speaker 2: is a whole new level together. This includes people who
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  Speaker 2: are working in occupations, sometimes professional occupations, who just can't
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  Speaker 2: make ends meet. What our member organizations like Catholic Care
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  Speaker 2: are saying is that they're getting around five hundred people
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  Speaker 2: a month coming through. So some are in mortgage stress,
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  Speaker 2: some are in rental stress. We know that a number
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  Speaker 2: of people who have like a mortgage offset account. We
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  Speaker 2: know the Reserve Bank Governor's saying that there's less money
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  Speaker 2: now and offset accounts, which is a sign that people
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  Speaker 2: don't have that means to continue to fund or offset
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  Speaker 2: their mortgages as they were in the past. People right
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  Speaker 2: across Australia are doing it tough. A lot of people
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  Speaker 2: you can't see right There are people who might be
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  Speaker 2: as we've talked about before, there could be people CouchSurfing
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  Speaker 2: or homeless in caravan parks, in intents, whatever whatever they
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  Speaker 2: can do to make ends meet. But there's also we're
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  Speaker 2: talking here about people who have jobs. So we're talking
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  Speaker 2: about what some people say is like the working poor,
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  Speaker 2: people in middle incomes, and as I said, a whole
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  Speaker 2: raft of key occupations. I mean, if we're really wanting
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  Speaker 2: to build and grow the territory, we've got construction workers
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  Speaker 2: playing around sixty percent of their after tax income in rent,
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  Speaker 2: then we're going to struggle.
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  Speaker 1: We certainly are. We're going to struggle to get people
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  Speaker 1: to come here to fill those jobs. Peter, how do
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  Speaker 1: we compare to other states?
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  Speaker 2: They're very similar numbers, Katie. So this is a national
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  Speaker 2: problem and maybe you can just talk a little bit
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  Speaker 2: about what we can do or what we should do
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  Speaker 2: about this, not just to mention the Australian government and
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  Speaker 2: also the territory government. Maybe I'll start off with the
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  Speaker 2: territory government because there has been a program in place,
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  Speaker 2: it's still in place in a Northern Territory called Rent
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  Speaker 2: Choice and that's now open for people in the regional
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  Speaker 2: locations of Catherine, Tenant Creek and Alice Springs where people
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  Speaker 2: who are coming towards the end of day lease looking
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  Speaker 2: to take out a new lease through a license real
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  Speaker 2: estate agent can get up to six thousand dollars for
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  Speaker 2: six months for key workers. So when we're talking about
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  Speaker 2: key workers again, we're talking about people who are who
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  Speaker 2: are trades, health and emergency services, transport and logistics, agriculture, construction,
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  Speaker 2: sales and marketing. And there's a whole lot of occupations there.
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  Speaker 2: So if you're in Catherine and your lease is coming
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  Speaker 2: towards the end and you're wanting to renew, the rents
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  Speaker 2: may be gone up or you're looking you're one of
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  Speaker 2: those people who actually can find somewhere in Catherine, for example,
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  Speaker 2: to rent, then check out that website, the Rent Choice website,
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  Speaker 2: because you might be eligible for a subsidy. Those things
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  Speaker 2: cut us to the non territory government for that, for
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  Speaker 2: actually having a scheme that helps key workers meet the
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  Speaker 2: costs of rent and so we can keep those people
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  Speaker 2: in our regional economies. That's brilliant. We need to do
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  Speaker 2: more of that. We need to continue that scheme in
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  Speaker 2: the main budget and onwards, because it's like Rome's burning
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  Speaker 2: right now, there's no doubt about it. The joints on
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  Speaker 2: flier and we can't have more people going into homelessness
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  Speaker 2: or even the territory to find someone that's cheaper to runt.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're spot on. Now what about we know that
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  Speaker 1: the federal budget's going to be handed down in May
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  Speaker 1: as well. What do you think that we need to
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  Speaker 1: see here in the Northern Territory when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: housing from the federal government perspective.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm absolutely staggered, to be honest, Katie that you know,
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  Speaker 2: we've got some positive policy coming out of Canberra around
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  Speaker 2: building more social affordable housing. That's great, although the legislation
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  Speaker 2: didn't get through the Senate and that's up in the
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  Speaker 2: air at the moment. So as far as the territory
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  Speaker 2: is concerned as things standard, the moment. We don't have
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  Speaker 2: any guarantee it'll be any house is provided anytime soon.
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  Speaker 2: But housing, of course is important and the government in
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  Speaker 2: camera's got a key role to play. Let's look at
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  Speaker 2: other things they can do. Since two thousand and eight
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  Speaker 2: they've had a National Rental Affordability Scheme. They've paid three
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  Speaker 2: quarters of the cost of that and the states have
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  Speaker 2: picked up the other quarter. And that again provides an
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  Speaker 2: eleven thousand and seven one hundred dollars subsidy for affordable
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  Speaker 2: housing for workers. And that scheme's coming to an end
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  Speaker 2: over the next few years. What that means is in
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  Speaker 2: Australia we need literally hundreds of thousands of new homes
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  Speaker 2: for social and affordable housing, but we're going to be
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  Speaker 2: losing from the existing pool. You know, around another twenty
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  Speaker 2: seven thousand houses across Australia, and right here in the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory we've got nine hundred and forty families and
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  Speaker 2: individuals getting rent assistance under that scheme. Now I mentioned before,
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  Speaker 2: the joint's on fire. The thing we need to see
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  Speaker 2: the least at the moment for people in those households
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  Speaker 2: that are risk of losing that subsidy. When it runs
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  Speaker 2: out this year or over the next couple of years,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to have difficult choices to make again, can
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  Speaker 2: they afford to find a place that they can afford
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  Speaker 2: to rent? You know, we've got to look at ways
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  Speaker 2: of continuing to meet the costs of households renting at
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  Speaker 2: the moment, other things like the rent assistance which has
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  Speaker 2: fallen behind the cost of rents, and we've seen in
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  Speaker 2: DA it's one hundred and sixty dollars a week more
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  Speaker 2: expensive now per week than it was back in twenty sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: When you look at the price of rent that's gone
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  Speaker 2: up compared to the price at which rent assistance has
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  Speaker 2: gone up, there's been such a lag And the federal
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  Speaker 2: government also can with the states, can have a conversation
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  Speaker 2: with renters and with real estate agents around having something
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  Speaker 2: like a rental Commissioner, which New South Wales is looking at,
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  Speaker 2: saying what can we do to make sure that rent
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  Speaker 2: increases are reasonable. I think most listeners will say, Okay,
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  Speaker 2: rents shouldn't be capped, they shouldn't be frozen. That's not
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  Speaker 2: going to happen, but what can we do to make
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  Speaker 2: it reasonable so that you don't get a seventy percent
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  Speaker 2: increase like we've seen it in situlately for rents. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: what are we trying to achieve here again in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to shoot ourselves in the foot. We've got
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  Speaker 2: to have those conversations and we've got to do something
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  Speaker 2: for renders until the new housing supply comes online. And
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  Speaker 2: that's why I think the Common Walth government has got
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  Speaker 2: it so wrong when they're saying we're building all these houses.
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  Speaker 2: Look at all this stuff we're piling into the territory
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  Speaker 2: in remote housing. Wonderful, that's so important. What at rents
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  Speaker 2: right now? Who are going to go into homelesses? So
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  Speaker 2: are you seriously going to abandon those people?
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's exactly right. And then when you look at
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  Speaker 1: the fact that they are essential workers that we actually need,
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  Speaker 1: like we need them here in the Northern Territory. We're
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  Speaker 1: screaming out to make sure that we fill the workforce.
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  Speaker 1: So there does need to be so much work, Peter,
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  Speaker 1: we have run out of time. Can I just ask
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  Speaker 1: you though, before I let you go, if there is
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  Speaker 1: anybody listening this morning that's thinking to themselves, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I'm in some real strife at the moment financially, when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to my rent, when it comes to juggling everything.
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to be in that situation. What steps
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  Speaker 1: can I take? Where would you sort of recommend that
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  Speaker 1: they go to to get some of that financial assistance
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  Speaker 1: or some help.
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  Speaker 2: As a first step, I'd refer them to shelter me website,
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  Speaker 2: which is a directory that provides links for people who
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  Speaker 2: have financial needs, or housing needs or other forms of support.
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  Speaker 2: That contains a really extensive listing, Katie Ross, the territory
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  Speaker 2: of organizations, typically non government organizations and geos and charities
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  Speaker 2: that provide that help, organizations like Catholic Care. So I
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  Speaker 2: just I just suggest people put in NT Shelter sorry,
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  Speaker 2: a shelter me dot org dot au. That's s h
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  Speaker 2: E L T E r m E dot org dot au.
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  Speaker 2: Follow the links and go and go and take some
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  Speaker 2: action today if you're in that situation before it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Peter McMillan, I always appreciate your time, The CEO
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  Speaker 1: of MT Shelter, thank you so very much for joining
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  Speaker 1: us on the show this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie