At the last Census there were more than 30,000 Victorians without a home. Victoria has more people than any other Australian state or territory living in housing stress – that is, on a low income and paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – and single mothers are enduring enormous and specific challenges as a result.
At CSMC, we know two things to be true. Being a single mother isn’t the problem, the system our families exist in is. And by working together, we can bring about real and long-lasting change.
We’re about to launch an urgent appeal to raise funds to help us better support single mothers. Keep an eye on your inbox for more about that, and please share the appeal widely on social media, and among your family and friends.
We are also working to bring about systemic change. This takes many forms, including lobbying government, business and policy makers, meeting with influential people to argue for change, and writing submissions to government to change policy and legislation. Importantly, it includes us working with single who are keen to tell their stories and share their experiences.
Below are some of our actions with individual single mums, support for research, and looking forward to the next steps now we have the new Federal government and the State budget.
CSMC is the Research Partner for Tenants Victoria which won a grant to find out why single parents have the most legal problems with tenancies and are the least likely to seek legal remedies for those problems. It is a detailed study with 17 single mothers and two single fathers. Three single mothers will form the lived experience panel when the report is launched in mid-June. This report has some keenly targeted recommendations for community and legal services which will help us get better services for single mothers experiencing tenancy issues.
Renee is a single mum who is completing a Social Work degree. She has worked with CSMC on student placement and as a worker. She has recently submitted a YouTube video presentation of one of her ideas for single mother housing as an assignment and got a high distinction. She is editing this now to share with members.
Another single mother has recently taken on a PhD on single mothers and housing. She aims to find architectural solutions to promote the needs of single mothers and their children whilst also promoting social equity.
We are engaging with housing entrepreneurs, policy makers, women’s housing organisations, and rental reform groups, and have made a submission to the inquiry into the public towers demolition and rebuild.
Now that we have the next Federal Government in place, we are commencing our work lobbying for greater housing access, affordability, and certainty for single mothers and their children.
Social housing is an essential component of our housing system. It ensures that where the private market fails – through discrimination, high rents and low incomes, or other shortcomings – Victorian single mothers can still secure a roof over their head.
New data – derived from research into social housing growth targets commissioned by the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance from SGS Economics & Planning – shows that we need to build 7,990 new social homes a year for the next 10 years to catch up to the national average. Sadly, the budget just released does not include any new funding to build social housing. This has been the case for decades and is one driver of the current housing crisis.
Social housing is essential infrastructure, and CSMC is supporting the Victorian Council of Social Service’s (VCOSS) campaign calling for the Victorian Government to set a target and establish a strategy to build 80,000 new social homes in the next decade. You can read more about their campaign here.
