Briefs

People who are experiencing a range of mental health issues can live comfortably and safely in many different forms of housing tenure, including the private rental sector. However due to their medical situation they may need extra forms of support from real estate professionals to maintain tenancies.

Every year, 1 in 5 adult (around 20%) Australians are estimated to experience mental ill health (equating to about 5 million Australians in 2020-21). AIHW data reveals that 4.5 million patients (17.7% of the Australian population) filled a prescription for a mental health-related medication in 2020–21.

Family violence occurs at higher rates in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities than in the general Australian population, with the rate of hospitalisation for Indigenous women due to Family violence being 8 per 1,000 women and 0.2 per 1,000 for non-Indigenous women. In addition, Indigenous males were 27 times as likely to be hospitalised for family violence as non-Indigenous males.

There is a role for housing programs for perpetrators of DFV as men who are removed from the family home and have nowhere else to go are more likely to attempt to return to the family home, which may compromise the safety and security of the women and children.

After years of relatively little progress on improving housing affordability the Australian Government has declared its commitment to developing a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan, ‘with the support and assistance of key stakeholders including States and Territories, local government, not for profit and civil society organisations, industry bodies, superannuation funds and other experts in housing, finance and urban development.’