Tuesday May 07 2024
The soaring cost of living is forcing some Territorians to get no interest loans to pay the rent and access emergency relief services for the first time so they can put food on the family table and petrol in the car.
Darwin is among the most expensive places in Australia to live despite its remoteness and status as the smallest capital city by population, the Northern Territory Council of Social Service’s latest Cost of Living report found.
Low-income Territorians households find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find a home in the NT private rental market, putting them at risk of homelessness. A sole parent with two children on Job Seeker would be forced to pay more than 80% of their income to rent a three-bedroom house in Inner Darwin.
If the parent worked full time on the minimum wage, rent would still make up more than half of their income making it almost impossible to make ends meet.
A household is typically described as being in ‘housing stress’ if it is paying more than 30% of its income in housing costs.
NTCOSS member Anglicare NT told us that they had many clients getting No Interest Loans for rent arrears “where just the smallest hiccup in someone’s circumstance can lead to not being able to pay the rent and no way of catching up, some are skipping meals to keep a roof over their heads.”
On top of that, transport costs are an increasingly significant proportion of Territory household budgets.
Alice Springs remained Australia’s most expensive regional city, according to the Transport Affordability Index at December 2023.
A typical household in Alice Springs was estimated to spend 18.2% of their weekly income on transport costs. In Darwin it was 17.4%.
“The rising cost of living has been affecting all of us, but it is those on the lowest incomes who feel the effects the most and continue to struggle to afford the basics in supposedly one of the wealthiest nations on the planet,” NCOSS CEO Sally Sievers said.
“Housing stress flows on to hardships such as having less money for essentials such as food, electricity, transport and telecommunications.
“This prevents people participating in society, including accessing health, education, employment and negatively effects social wellbeing for all Territorians and our ability to build safe and healthy communities.”
NTCOSS has made numerous recommendations of targeted support for Territorians who are in the most need including:
- Raising Job Seeker and other working age income support payments to at least $80 a day (from a current $54).
- Ensuring Territory renters have at least same rights as the states, including restrictions on rent increases; and minimum standards in rentals including energy efficiency.
- Establish yearly indexation of the NT Motor Vehicle Registration concession..
Click here for the Cost of Living Housing Factsheet
Click here for the Cost of Living Transport Factsheet
Contact Greg Roberts 0429 515 013 or media@ntcoss.org.au