Increasing hardship demands long term change

The Rudd Government has announced a range of initiatives including first-home buyer savings accounts, tax credits for investors who provide affordable rental housing, and a $500 million Housing Affordability Fund, but none of these address the immediate and serious lack of public housing options for thousands of families and individuals at risk of homelessness.

We desperately need greater investment in public housing and a full review of tax provisions including capital gains and negative gearing to discourage investors from competing with low income earners to purchase housing at the lower end of the market.

Perhaps the only part of the package with an eye on the long term future is the creation of 56,000 new training places at a cost of $187 million. Anglicare Victoria welcomes this initiative but calls on the Rudd Government to commit further funding for programs targeted towards the long term unemployed and marginalised workers, often suffering from disability or mental health issues.

This group of people do not have the ability to fill skills shortages in the short term but through more intensive training and employment in a transitional workplace they will build skills to bolster the workforce in the future.

The Rudd Government has shown it is prepared to spend money to stabilise the Australian economy. These initial measures will inject cash and encourage spending but will do little to protect the most vulnerable in the community from ongoing hardship and rising unemployment.

We look forward to the promised infrastructure funding to be invested in skills training, affordable housing and capacity building programs to protect the most vulnerable in the community and build a more robust and stable economy in the future.