Access to safe, secure and affordable housing is a foundation for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds to live active, independent and fulfilling lives. The current housing crisis has manifested in declining affordability, decreasing rates of home ownership, unmet demand for social housing, and stress in the private rental market. Migrants settling in regional areas face these issues as well as additional barriers to accessing secure, affordable housing, such as literacy, digital literacy and financial barriers, lack of rental history and references, unfamiliarity with housing services, and racism and discrimination in the housing market.
The housing crisis in rural and regional areas is predicted to worsen under current projections and policies. In ECCV’s consultations with communities in regional Victoria, we have heard increasing concerns about insufficient and unsuitable housing availability for low-income and socially disadvantaged communities. However, ECCV has found that for many people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, these difficulties are compounded by barriers of racial and religious discrimination, exploitation and intimidation. Migrant populations also experience stress and hostility as a result of public commentary that blames them as the primary cause of the housing crisis.
In this submission, we make a number of recommendations for actions and policy changes the state government can make to ensure that people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in regional Victoria are better able to access safe, secure and affordable housing.
Media Enquiries
For media enquiries or more information, please contact Media & Communications Lead Xiaoran Shi. Email: media@eccv.org.au
Phone: 0478 218 472
