Advocates warn Aussies are in dire straits as rental affordability hits near zero
Frontline workers have warned Australians are already facing serious consequences from the escalating economic crisis.
Anglicare Australia’s April 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot has revealed a clear picture of the country’s housing system, where affordability is collapsing across the country.
It examined 48,776 rental adverts across the country and found that just one property across Australia was affordable to someone on JobSeeker. None were affordable for Youth Allowance recipients.
Single retirees are also under pressure; Only 0.2 percent of rents are considered affordable for someone on an old age pension.
Even full-time employment is no longer a guarantee. A single minimum wage worker could cover only 0.5 percent of the postings, while a couple with two minimum wage incomes could cover only 14.8 percent.
Frontline worker and St John’s Care manager Jason Haines said the situation was reaching dire levels for many Australians.
“We say people fall through the cracks, but let’s be honest, we actually work within the cracks,” he said Thursday.
“We’re trying to find our way around the cracks because there are no more falls. Some people are already there.”
“People send their children to school in cars. People live on the streets… Something needs to change.”
Anglicare chief executive Kasy Chambers said many of those struggling were spending “more than an affordable portion of their income on rent”. This, he said, leads to significant problems such as food insecurity and not being able to afford electricity or transportation costs.
But he said the industry was “excited” by speculation that federal Chancellor of the Exchequer Jim Chalmers would cancel the 50 per cent capital gains allowance in the upcoming federal budget.
“We’re very happy to think that this budget can come out of lockdown knowing that CGT will be rewound, negative gear will be rewound, we’re probably even taking it for granted,” he said.
“And we can’t help but talk about the level of benefits such as JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, disability support and parenting pay. We need to see these rise to an appropriate level.”
He then said the conversation about housing should turn to the issue of housing being a fundamental “human right.”
“It’s very hard to send your kids to school if you’re doing it from a car… it’s very hard to manage your health if you’re doing it from a moldy rental car,” he said.
“It’s hard to manage your mental health if you don’t know when the rent will next go up and by how much. “If you don’t know where you’ll be next year, it’s hard to know when to enroll your child in next year’s school.
“This kind of thing doesn’t apply to a third of society.”
Former Australian Public Service (APS) worker and tenant Samira has a disabled adult son and the family survives on her husband’s sole income.
She described feeling like she had to give up her “dignity” by providing very intimate personal details about her life for a rental application. He said the questions were much more invasive than those he answered for his APS security clearance.
He described it as “very concerning” but an example of the sacrifices families are having to make to enter the rental market.
“(There are) 20 applicants, we are all meeting at the same houses over and over again, and the prices we are looking at are $1,500 every two weeks,” he said. “It’s getting ridiculous. It’s beyond a joke and I can’t afford it. We can’t afford to live.”
The Anglicare snapshot also highlights how conditions have changed over the last decade.
Ten years ago, a couple earning two minimum wage could afford about one in four rents. Today that figure has fallen sharply, underlining the widening gap between wages and rising rents.
Families face even more difficult choices. A single parent on JobSeeker can only afford to get on six lists nationwide; A single parent combining parenting payments with minimum wage income can cover only 2.6 percent of the market.
