| Sydney Situation | |
Some facts you should know if you
are going to start squatting, or someone
is squatting in your neighbourhood.
*In the last 10 years, Sydney has
experienced an average 200% rise in the
price of houses, and a 40% rise in rents per week.
*A 1995 survey by the Sydney City
Mission revealed that 665,000 houses
in the lowest income bracket in Australia were spending an average of 33.7%
of
their income on private housing, or between 30% and 50% of their income on
communal and sharehouse accommodation. The Ministerial Task Force On
Affordable Housing considered 30% of a household's income as a generous cost
benchmark for rents in Sydney.
*According to the DSS, "the
availability of affordable housing in all
sectors is seen as the single most important issue in reducing the level of
homelessness across all sectors of the homeless population".
*The total homeless population of
Australia in 1995 was approximately
40,000. If you were to extend the definition to those paying for
accommodation, but whose dwelling is not of a decent standard, lacking in
privacy and affordability and autonomy over one's immediate surroundings,
the number would be greatly increased. (source: DSS)
For further information, have a look at these resources:
Ministerial Task Force On Affordable
Housing, "Affordable Housing in New
South Wales: A Need For Action" (Agency Printing, Sydney, 1998)
Nicholls, Susan (Dr.), "Report
on Current Research into Homelessness
(1992-May1997) (DSS, Sydney, 1998)
Cox, Gary, "The Olympics and Housing" (Shelter NSW, UWS, Macarthur, 1994)
Sydney City Mission, "Shadow
People: The Reality of Homelessness in the
Nineties" (SCM, Sydney, 1995).
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