About 54 people experienced homelessness in the past 12 months and were supported by the St Patrick’s Community Support Centre (St Pat’s) Homeless Engagement Assessment Response Team (HEART) in the City of Kwinana.
St Pat’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Piu said about 80 per cent of people supported by the outreach program in Kwinana were either new to homelessness or unfamiliar with the range of local services available to them.
“Housing affordability stress is overwhelmingly the reason people are needing support with people regularly spending more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
“And for people on low incomes or social security that figure is much higher, ranging between 60 and 80 per cent of income spent on rent,” Mr Piu said.
According to the latest REIWA data, the median cost to rent a home in the City of Kwinana increased between 17 per cent to 20 per cent in the past year, with the average house costing between $550-$600 a week.
Mayor Peter Feasey said for a single person on an aged pension in Calista, they’d have just $127.80 left for food, bills, transport and medical costs after paying their rent.
The average wait time for social housing is 2.8 years, with Shelter WA recently estimating an extra 5000 social and affordable houses are required each year to meet demand.
While there has been significant investment by government, private and philanthropic sectors, St Pat’s is aiming to deliver new social housing for single parent families in Kwinana.
In the meantime, families and residents in need are urged to access the St Pat’s service in Kwinana.
“I encourage anyone who is facing housing stress, eviction or living in unsafe accommodation to reach out for help as soon as possible.
“The earlier people seek support, the more the team can do to help, and the HEART service is based on the ground floor of the Darius Wells Library and Resource centre.” Mayor Peter Feasey said.