Briefs

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had some effect on how people are living and working within Australian cities, but which impacts are temporary and which are more permanent remains to be seen.

Even though some Australian states and territories are reducing the rules for people to quarantine themselves at home, the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing just how liveable, or otherwise, our homes and cities actually are.

With Australian Government Treasury analysis predicting that Australia will record an unemployment rate of 10 per cent by June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth Government will be exploring ways of stimulating the economy in the near future to increase jobs and spending.

Housing support for women and children facing domestic and family violence (DFV) has been an important policy focus in recent years, and the restrictions put in place as a result of COVID-19 may impact that support. Additionally, with people around the world being forced to stay home in order to reduce transmission of the coronavirus, medical professionals and policing organisations are warning of an increase in cases of DFV.

Although the Commonwealth Government, through the National Cabinet, has announced a moratorium on rental evictions due to the coronavirus for six months,  residential tenancy laws are the responsibility of the states and territories, and as such vary across the country.