'Insiders' ignores hard facts of housing crisis

A discussion on ABC's Insiders sidelined the plight of the elderly and disabled through Australia's housing crisis, focusing on problems of the younger generation, writes Melissa Marsden.

DURING INSIDERS on Sunday 22 September, panellists discussed housing affordability and the demand crisis, forgetting 21.4% of Australians.

That is the number of Australians with a disability from 2022.

The nation’s ageing population was also left out, despite safe, secure and affordable housing increasingly being labelled beyond the reach of older people.

Age debates rage

Media narratives of the housing crisis frequently focus on young people and the feeling that the “Australian dream” is out of reach.

The Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report 2022–23 found older people (often older women) face a significant housing crisis where a major disruption – such as the breakdown of a marriage, loss of a job, the death of a partner or the development of an illness – together with a lack of savings led them toward their very first experience of homelessness.

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The housing crisis in Australia is already bad enough without media stereotyping tenants and landlords into victims and villains.

Women aged 55-plus are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness.

Instead, Insiders panellists focused on the age-old argument of supply and demand and youth being locked out of the housing market.

While Samantha Maiden’s attempt to steer the Insiders discussion towards older women was largely ignored and no mention was made of people with disabilities, this leads me to conclude that housing will continue to be placed within a discourse of ageism rather than a discourse of privilege.

Insiders panellists discussed none of these factors whilst the wholly non-disabled couch sitters Samantha Maiden and Shalailah Medhora took shots at each other for a disproportioned focus on the plight of young people in the housing crisis compared to those reaching the end of their working lives.

Similarly, the discussion failed to consider the necessity for many Australians to live in shared housing, particularly among family members.

However, when focusing on the shared living arrangements between people with disabilities and parents, discourse all too often is driven by the perception that this arrangement can only be a burden rather than a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Author Susan Wendell’s interdependence analysis demonstrates the false dichotomy of independence and dependence by illustrating the ‘value in being dependent on others and being depended on’.

Particularly for single parents living with adult children with disabilities, the relationship between the two can have mutual benefits.

Disability

For many people with disabilities who live with a parent or family member, their joint housing situation is largely overlooked. For many, the conversation around such situations has focused on dependency and the need to empower people with disabilities to live independent lives.

However, for many people with disabilities like myself who live with a single parent, the relationship and living situation orient far more towards interdependency than dependency.

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Susan Wendell argues that although these ideals of normalcy have advantages, independence ‘undervalues relationships of dependency or interdependence’.

In 2018, 96% of people with disability (including 87% of people with severe or profound disability) lived in the community (in private dwellings).

At the same time, two-thirds (64%) of people with disability were living in owner-occupied housing, either with (22%) or without (41%) a mortgage.

In June 2022, one in three (33%) individuals and families receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) and with Disability Support Pension (DSP) as the primary income support payment were in rental stress.

The South Australian Government boasts that ‘people with disabilities have many accommodation options’ including:

renting or buying [their] own home;

living at home with family or friends as support;

host family support;

share houses and boarding;

public and community housing;

group homes and cluster housing with 24-hour support; and

supported residential facilities.

However, discussions on Insiders either ignored these groups (likely under the impression a focus on age was more newsworthy) or forgot that people with disabilities also aspire towards home ownership.

Why the housing crisis is here to stay

An economic strategy that emphasises increased public housing is urgently needed to remedy the worsening housing crisis.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, people with disabilities are more likely to receive their income from the Government than salaries or wages. Welfare payments are vitally important to supporting people with disabilities. However, the dependence on these payments means renting and buying is far more complex.

Whilst the number of homes increased by 52,900 to 11,211,000 in the June quarter of this year, most housing in Australia does not meet the needs of people with a disability.

In South Australia, 25% of people with a disability live in private rentals and those living in regional South Australia are considering moving away due to a lack of accessible infrastructure and community awareness around disabilities.

The attention on people with disabilities in housing has often focused on two areas: independent living or shared accommodation. However, neither of these options includes people with disabilities within the broader housing conversation.

In 2022-23, more than half (53%) of people with a disability identified housing (such as affordability, availability and accessibility) as the main reason for seeking assistance, while one in five (21%) identified family breakdown or domestic violence as the primary driver.

However, the first two options are far more complex than they appear.

For many people with a disability, living independently, whether it be due to the extent of impairment, distance from major cities or housing affordability (amongst others), isn’t an option.

In line with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the National Disability Insurance Agency is working toward breaking down barriers and enabling people with disabilities to choose where and with whom they live.

However, by viewing housing in binaries where age or impairment are treated as unrelated issues, discourse on the crisis is only becoming more divisive.