Western Australia’s Pilbara Region is experiencing a sustained housing crisis that undermines the sustainability of local communities, hampers living standards and hinders efforts to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for local residents.
The Pilbara has long been a source of economic activity and wealth generation for the Australian economy and for people working in the mining and resources industries. Unfortunately, despite, and often because of, the level of economic activity and wealth generated in the Region, for many local Pilbara residents in need of assistance, access to basic housing, services and opportunities is constrained.
Due to its remoteness and the dominance of the mining and resources sector in the local economy, the Pilbara experiences high housing and living costs. There is very high demand for limited existing housing stock and due to a lack of long-term sustained investment in permanent residential housing, the Pilbara is unable to adequately accommodate its population and its workforce. More than 50% of the Region’s workforce resides outside of the Region, which places further pressure on available housing options and limits local construction capacity. As a result, the Region suffers an ingrained structural housing crisis – with high rents, low rental availability and limited direct investment in new housing supply.
The effects of housing supply challenges are being felt by communities across Australia. However, the scale, severity and sustained nature of the crisis for the Pilbara means these issues are more widely spread and the consequences more extreme than elsewhere. This creates additional impacts for low-income households and communities.
The lack of housing options for those on low incomes increases housing instability, homelessness and rough sleeping. In the Pilbara, these problems are being exacerbated as the lack of affordable housing for community services staff is preventing the delivery of essential community supports and interventions. This not only leaves households without safe, secure accommodation but also reduces access to critical services designed to strengthen communities and support individuals and families to improve their lives.
More broadly it is undermining the viability and sustainability of community service provision across the Region – increasing the cost of service delivery and reducing access to and the quality of services that are available. Housing availability is an issue for all community organisations in the Region, hampering their ability to attract and retain staff and making the delivery of quality services more difficult. Service providers adapt service delivery and staffing levels to respond flexibly to these challenges. However, the situation is becoming more dire and unsustainable with providers struggling to maintain effective service delivery. In multiple extreme cases, service providers have relinquished contracts or not expanded services due to an inability to attract or house staff.
If residents in the Pilbara are to benefit from the wealth created in their Region and have access to opportunities and similar services as other Australians, the current situation cannot continue. Action is required to ensure there is an increase in affordable housing supply to support low-income households and to ensure there are sustainable community services able to deliver critical and essential services to individuals and communities. Without action, low-income and disadvantaged households in the Pilbara will be unable to access the critical support they need.
Underinvestment in social housing since the 1980’s and shifts in government policy and funding arrangements over the last two decades have reshaped Australia’s approach to the supply and delivery of affordable housing. This has seen a move from a reliance on direct State Government public housing provision to a greater emphasis on supply provided through the non-government Community Housing sector using a mix of public and private funding.
Due to its high cost, remoteness and challenging housing construction delivery environment (with limited suppliers, land availability constraints and high project delivery risks), the Pilbara has largely missed out on attracting significant investment in affordable housing through the Community Housing sector.
However, recent changes and enhancements to the funding and financing for affordable housing projects have enhanced the viability of investment in affordable housing in regional locations. This offers hope but provides no guarantee of future affordable housing investment in the Pilbara.
The Pilbara’s community services sector recognises the dire need for action and this Report seeks to identify potential solutions.
The Report identifies four key enablers for creating an environment conducive to attracting sustained investment in affordable housing:
-
Access to and availability of funding and finance
-
Policy Intent and Community Will
-
Housing Sector Capacity and Capability
-
Vehicles for the Delivery and Management of Affordable Housing Projects
The Report considers current Pilbara region capacity against the enablers and makes 10 recommendations for proactive actions the community sector can take to build and harness local capacity to attract and facilitate affordable housing investment into the Pilbara.