Ten year housing strategy to consider pathways for young people to earn and learn

The Palaszczuk Government is looking at breaking down barriers that stop children of public housing tenants from earning or learning when they finish school.

Minister for Housing and Public Works said that as part of the upcoming ten year housing strategy, the Government was determined to make sure that the public housing rent system gave families a real pathway to a brighter future.

“I’ve said before that intergenerational dependency on public housing assistance has a significant impact on communities,” Mr de Brenni said.

“In consulting on our new housing strategy, what I’ve found is that some parts of our rent system act as a disincentive for young people to get out into the workforce.”

Mr de Brenni said that the current system supported kids from public housing to take on apprenticeships or study full-time, but unfairly penalised people who enter the workforce or study while working.

“If someone works hard in school and gets a Tafe qualification, I believe that we should be supporting them as much as possible to get a kick start on their careers.

“By taking on full time work under the current system that kid effectively doubles the family’s rent.

“This type of scenario has led to young people having to make the choice to enter the workforce or continue living with their parents.

“Kids should be able to kick off their careers without having to make such a heavy choice, especially in cases where they have played a carer role for their parents whilst growing up.”

Mr de Brenni said that reforms being considered as part of the upcoming housing strategy would build upon work already done to restore fairness in housing.

“Last year we established Fairness Principles to apply to rent settings and we started amending rent policies accordingly, reversing cruel and harmful changes made by the previous LNP Government.

“Our approach to public housing is to better support tenants to meet their obligations in terms of paying rent, taking care of their properties and being a good neighbour.

“The proposals we are exploring with the new strategy are aimed at provide a pathway for people into independent accommodation wherever possible, whether that be new affordable housing, the private rental market or home ownership.”

Mr de Brenni said more than 1,870 people had given their views on what should be in the housing strategy and that it would be finalised early this year with key reforms to be outlined at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Conference which will be hosted in Brisbane in March 2017.

ENDS

Media Contact: Tristan Douglas 0447 164 197