Advocates warn Aussies are in dire straits as rental affordability hits near zero

Frontline workers have warned Australians are already facing severe consequences of the escalating affordability crisis. Anglicare Australia’s April 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot has revealed a stark picture of the nation’s housing system, with affordability collapsing across the country. It examined 48,776 rental listings nationwide and found just one property across Australia was affordable for someone on JobSeeker. None were affordable for people on Youth Allowance. Single pensioners are also being squeezed, with only 0.2 per cent of rentals deemed affordable for someone on the age pension. Even full-time work is no longer a safeguard. A single minimum-wage worker could afford just 0.5 per cent of listings, while a couple on two minimum-wage incomes could afford only 14.8 per cent. Frontline worker and St John’s Care manager Jason Haines said the situation had escalated to dire levels for many Australians. “We keep saying that people are falling through the cracks, but let’s be honest, we’re actually working within the cracks,” he said on Thursday. “We’re trying to get our way out, trying to work our way around the cracks, because there’s no longer falling. Some people are already in there.” “People are sending their kids to school from cars. People are living on the street ... Things need to change.” Anglicare executive director Kasy Chambers said many of those struggling spend “more than an affordable part of their income in rent”. This led to consequential issues like food insecurity, not being able to afford electricity or transport costs, she said. But the sector was “ecstatic” at speculation federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers would scrap the 50 per cent capital gains discount in the upcoming federal budget, she said. “We are ecstatic, (that) is probably even understating it, to think that this budget we might come out of that lockup knowing that CGT is going to be wound back, knowing that negative gear is going to be wound back,” she said. “And we cannot not talk about the level of benefits, about JobSeeker, about Youth Allowance, about disability support and parenting pension. We need to see those increase to a proper level.” She later said the conversation around housing needed to pivot back to it being a fundamental “human right”. “It’s very hard to send your kids to school if you’re doing that from a car … it’s difficult to manage your health if you’re doing that from a rental that has mould,” she said. “It’s difficult to manage your mental health if you don’t know when the rent is going to go up next and you don’t know how much by. “It’s difficult to know when to enrol your child in next year’s school if you don’t know where you’re going to be next year. “Those kind of things just don’t operate for a third of the society.” Ex-Australian Public Service (APS) worker and renter Samira has an adult son with a disability and the family relies on her husband’s single income. She recounted feeling like she had to give up her “dignity” by providing intimately personal details about her life for a rental application. Questions were far more invasive than those she answered for her APS security clearance, she said. She described it as “very disconcerting” but an example of the sacrifices families had to make to try to crack into the rental market. “(There are) 20 applicants, we’re all seeing each other repeatedly at the same houses, and the prices we’re looking at are $1500 a fortnight,” she said. “It’s getting ridiculous. It’s beyond a joke, and I can’t afford this. We can’t afford to live.” The Anglicare snapshot also highlights how conditions have shifted over the past decade. Ten years ago, a couple earning two minimum wages could afford about one in four rentals. Today, that figure has fallen sharply, highlighting a widening gap between wages and soaring rents. Families are facing even tougher choices. A single parent on JobSeeker can afford just six listings nationwide, while a single parent combining the parenting payment with a minimum-wage income can afford only 2.6 per cent of the market.