Brophy Family and Youth Services has provided more than 700 nights accommodation to people experiencing homelessness this financial year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Team leader Leah McDonald said in addition to that there was a high number of people who were forced to stay with family due to a lack of affordable housing.
"For the Rough Sleeping Program at Brophy so far this financial year, we have supported 94 episodes of accommodation, which has equated to a total of 705 bed nights of support for individuals and families in Warrnambool," Ms McDonald said.
"These individuals and families are all seeking private or public rental properties."
Ms McDonald said lack of affordable housing was becoming a very visible concern in the community.
"The current waitlists for being housed in affordable public or social housing can be up to eight to 10 years for a single person, so we encourage all people who we support to apply for private rentals, however, the lack of affordable rentals is now changing our options and we are now supporting people to seek shelter with family and friends," she said.
Ms McDonald said the median rental price in Warrnambool was placing enormous strain on people's finances.
"This is due to the inability of their income to service their weekly rent costs as well as affording the increasing costs of basic necessities - groceries, medications, utilities, fuel etc," she said.
"Low-income earners receiving JobSeeker receive $629.50 per fortnight. There are currently no one-bedroom properties for rent in Warrnambool and two-bedroom properties have a median price of $346 per week ($692 per fortnight).
"I'm sure we can all clearly see that this is unaffordable and unsustainable for any low-income earner.
"Those with casual employment could also seriously struggle to afford the cost of private rental in Warrnambool as well as cover costs of their basic necessities."
A new report released last week revealed the average cost of rentals had risen by 13 per cent in the past 12 months.
Ms McDonald's comments come after Member for Western Victoria Stuart Grimley called for a housing summit.
He said there had been an increase in the number of people on the social housing register from September to December.
In Warrnambool and Portland the number of applicants increased from 879 to 906.
"These social housing numbers are quite scary," Mr Grimley said.
"It means more and more people are being pushed to homelessness or housing insecurity."
Mr Grimley said a housing summit would be conducted similar to the Local Government Rating Review, which was in 2019 and 2020.
He said an independent panel would travel to all Victorian areas, including regional and rural towns.
"It is a worry to think these numbers represent just one quarter - September to December last year - and that this number is likely to keep increasing, and represents a range of people including those fleeing domestic violence," Mr Grimley said.
"Whilst we never saw the government's proposed Bill to increase social housing, we do think it's a good opportunity for the government to consult with the broader community, including small rural towns, to find solutions to this problem.
"These problems aren't going away until we sit down as a collective and discuss solutions together."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.standard.net.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines and newsletters
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
- Tap here to open our Google News page.
- Join our Courts and Crime Facebook group and our dedicated Sport Facebook group
- Subscribe
Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: