act student housing pilot study

7/28/2019 ACT Student Housing Pilot Study

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1A M O N G S T T E RT I A RY S T U D E N T S I N T H E A C T | J U N E 2 0 1 3

Pilot study of housing stress and poverty indicatorsamongst tertiary students in the ACT

B Y C L A I R E L L O Y D- J O N E S A N D J E R E M Y H A L C R O W | J U N E 2 0 1 3


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2 P I L O T S T U D Y O F H O U S I N G S T R E S S A N D P O V E R T Y I N D I C AT O R S

Summary of ndings 10% of Canberras population are full-time or part-time students

at a technical, further education or university institution. Half liveindependently in private rental, college or share housing.

Housing stress 87% of respondents who lived out of home indicated at least mild

housing stress

13% indicated serious housing stress such as falling behind inpaying rent

47% had to ask for help to pay their rent from parents or family 11% moved back home because living independently was too

expensive

Homelessness 15% of students had at some point been unable to nd a suitable

place to live while studying in Canberra

22% of respondents had experienced a time when they hadnowhere permanent to stay, most frequently in a couch surng

situation (7% of all respondents) 3 students (1% of respondents) had slept in their cars (primary

homelessness)

Financial stress 16% reduced their study load from full time to part time

16% considered discontinuing study because they couldnt afford it

28% of independently living students experienced some level offood insecurity, every month or more often

31% of respondents unable to afford medical or dental care theyshould have, every few months or more often

17% of respondents unable to pay bills on time, every few monthsor more often

50% of the students who were food insecure every fortnight ormore had experienced some level of homelessness

50% of the students who were food insecure every fortnight ormore were unable to access medical or dental care they needed onan ongoing basis

Of the 7% of students unable to pay bills on time monthly ormore often, more than 90% experienced food insecurity every fewmonths or more often and more than 90% went without medical ordental care every few months or more often.

OF RESPONDENTS WHOLIVED OUT OF HOME

INDICATED AT LEASTMILD HOUSING STRESS

OF THE STUDENTSWHO WERE FOODINSECURE EVERY

FORTNIGHT OR MOREHAD EXPERIENCED

SOME LEVEL OFHOMELESSNESS

87%

50%


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Introduction and aims of the studyIt is well documented that the ACT has a lack of affordable rentalproperties, with very few appropriate rental properties available to low-income households. Over the past two years the Anglicare RentalAffordability Snapshot (RAS) has found virtually no affordable housing

for any low income household. These households did not only includepeople reliant on Government benets, but a range of families relyingon the pay packet of one worker.

As a result this research has been developed as an extension ofAnglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) with a number ofparticular aims:

nd out more about students actual solutions to the unaffordablerental situation in Canberra, considering that the Snapshotfound next to nothing that this signicant population group in theTerritory could affordably rent

discover the extent and range of share housing among students inthe ACT. This is an important missing piece of the puzzle given thatAnglicares RAS looked at formally advertised rental properties.There is a tendency for share house vacancies to be lled throughword of mouth and other informal mechanisms when compared toother private rental properties.

determine the appropriateness of the standard 30/40 test of rentalaffordability for students, given their particular nancial situation

In this paper housing stress is measured in two ways. Primarily it isthe traditional 30/40 test, a benchmark which states that a household

in the lower 40% of incomes will be in stress if it is spending 30%or more of its income on housing. This is commonly used by thehousing sector, real estate sector and in some cases by mortgagebrokers, and has been shown to be a robust and conservative measureof what a lower income household can afford to spend on housing(Yates, 2007:4). Housing stress is also measured using a group ofindicators of housing and nancial stress, from less severe indicatorssuch as worry, up to experiences of being unable to pay rent andhomelessness.

Interestingly, an Australian study found that if socio-demographicfactors are controlled for in multivariate analysis, the relationship

between housing stress and nancial stress becomes insignicant(Rowley & Ong 2012: 29). Therefore, while housing stress and nancialstress are associated by common causes, one is not necessarily apredictor of the other. Housing stress is a complicated matter, andsome households may, for example, be paying less for housing byliving in a cheaper area, but more for transport costs as a result,perhaps keeping the household out of housing stress but not solvingthe nancial stress problems.

This may be the case in some cities, but it would appear that inCanberra the level of rental stress is so high that it will inevitablycontribute to nancial stress through the simple lack of money left

after spending half a low income on rent alone. Public transportinfrastructure in Canberra is not sufcient for those living in cheaper,outer suburbs to avoid owning and running a car which is a majorextra expense.

AN AUSTRALIANSTUDY FOUND THAT IFSOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC

FACTORS ARECONTROLLED FORIN MULTIVARIATEANALYSIS, THERELATIONSHIP

BETWEENHOUSING STRESSAND FINANCIAL

STRESS BECOMESINSIGNIFICANT

(ROWLEY & ONG 2012: 29).


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Respondents to the pilot represented the institutions as follows:

Overall it is unlikely the mix of institutions in the survey sample willhave signicantly impacted the results.

An ideal breakdown of institutions would have had close to half ANUstudents and close to a quarter each of UC and CIT students. Onone hand, the overrepresentation of ANU students means that the

issues associated with attending university in the city centre may beoverstated; UC students may have easier access to cheaper suburbswithin reasonable distance of their university. On the other hand theunderrepresentation of CIT students means that housing issues facedby disadvantaged groups such as new migrants and refugees, thosewho left school without a Year 10 or Year 12 Certicate, and thoseretraining in the hope of re-entering the workforce, may not have beenproperly shown.

If anything it is likely the sample has produced conservative resultsfor housing stress and the poverty indicators. International students,due to a lack of family support close to hand and uctuations in the

Australian dollar, could be at greater risk. They accounted for 21% ofall higher education students in the ACT in 2008, but are only 7% ofthe respondents in this survey. None of the respondents identied ashaving an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.

Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents were studying full time, compared toabout 70% ACT-wide (ABS 2010, report 1308.8); 68% of respondentswere female, compared to 54% ACT-wide.

Most of the respondents to the survey were studying at Bachelorsdegree level; 6.5% were studying at Masters level and a smallproportion covered other qualication types from Certicate III throughto Doctorate level.

The largest age group in the survey was 18-21-year-olds, who made up52% of the sample, followed by 22-25-year-olds who made up a further36%.

course types they offer mean that not all of these enrolments wouldoccur simultaneously. The ABS listed just over 9000 people enrolledat a technical or further education institution on Census night in 2011 -the vast majority of whom would attend CIT.

Australian National University

University of Canberra

Canberra Institute of Technology

Australian Catholic University

Other

72%

21%

4%1% 2%

LARGEST AGE GROUPOF THE SURVEY

THAT COMPRISED OF18-21-YEAR-OLDS.

52%


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MethodologyStudents were asked via social media to participate in a brief surveyasking about their study commitments, spending on accommodationand income, and experiences of nancial and housing stress (seeAppendix 1: Questionnaire). The survey was incentivized with a luckydraw for a $100 voucher to a local restaurant. The majority of thesurvey was qualitative in nature, however students were promptedfor comment on certain questions such as thoughts on housing, andexperiences of nancial stress and homelessness.

Methodological IssuesThe demographic distribution of respondents in comparison to actualstudent numbers at the various institutions highlights the difcultyin reaching certain groups, some of which represent signicantcomponents of the student population. In particular, internationalstudents were signicantly under-represented in this study, as wereCIT students. Considering the distribution of institutions attendedgiven by the ABS, the under-representation of CIT students wasregrettable, and future studies will need to undertake more aggressivemethods to recruit respondents from this group.

The incentive to complete the survey assisted with the balance ofrespondents between those living independently and those living withparents or other supporting family. However as noted below there wasstill an underrepresentation of students living at home; it is possiblethat they didnt think the survey was relevant to their situation.

While support from student associations was extremely helpful andhighly valued, we would need to gain support from tertiary institutionsthemselves in order to capture a wider and more representativesample for future research.

ResultsA total of 212 responses were recorded. 7 were immediatelydisqualied since they recorded that they were not currently studying.ANU students were over-represented. Unsolicited promotion of

the survey by the ANU Housing Co-op, a group of students witha particular interest in housing policy and knowledge of difcultsituations students have faced, might have potentially skewed theresults to appear more severe than might be the case for the broaderstudent population. However, since these students listed their housingtype as Other, the gures for students living independently were notaffected. This indicator included only those respondents who recordedthat they lived in private rental, shared rental, paying a mortgage, or incollege, or a privately run student accommodation facility.

Type of housingRespondents most frequently lived in a shared property (28%) followedby their family home (21%). A dozen of the 20 people who respondedother lived at the Canberra Student Housing Co-op.

WHILE SUPPORTFROM STUDENT

ASSOCIATIONS WASEXTREMELY HELPFULAND HIGHLY VALUED,

WE WOULD NEED

TO GAIN SUPPORTFROM TERTIARYINSTITUTIONS

THEMSELVES INORDER TO CAPTUREA WIDER AND MORE

REPRESENTATIVESAMPLE FOR FUTURE

RESEARCH.


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In comparison, the 2011 Census considered nearly 50% of full timestudents in the ACT to be Natural or adopted dependent studentsor Dependent student step child, and 9% to be Group householdmembers. Only 2% of full time students in the ACT were in Loneperson households. 17% were considered Not applicable,presumably because they lived not in a private household but in acollege or similar. Since students living at their family home are muchless likely to have signicant rental costs, it is likely that the studentssurveyed in this pilot were in some ways at greater risk of nancialand housing stress than the total Canberra tertiary student cohort.

83% of students who were living in their parents or family homecited the cost of housing as an inuencing factor in their choice ofaccommodation.

Satisfaction with housingarrangementsMost students reported satisfaction with their housing arrangements.Students living at home and in college had a slightly higher incidenceof being very satised. Meanwhile those in a privately run student

accommodation facility had a much lower incidence of being verysatised, with more than a quarter dissatised with their currentaccommodation. Those in share houses or renting privately had highlevels of satisfaction overall but low levels of very satised responses.

Housing arrangementsof respondents

18%

11%

11%

1% 10% 28%

21%

Renting in a shared property

In your family/parents home

In a college run by theinstitution you attend

In Unilodge/Uni Gardens orsimilar

Renting privately by yourselfor with your partner

In a property you are paying amortgage on (yourself or withothers)

Other

OF STUDENTS WHOWERE LIVING IN THEIR

PARENTS OR FAMILYHOME CITED THE COST

OF HOUSING AS ANINFLUENCING FACTORIN THEIR CHOICE OFACCOMMODATION.

83%


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Housing CostsAs shown below, most students were spending between $150 and $200on their accommodation. However a signicant number were spendingmore than that.

18%

12%

11% 2%30%

45%

Very satised

Satised

Neither satised nordissatised

Dissatised

Very dissatised

N um

b er

of

st u d ent s

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80


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IncomeVery few students had an income of more than $500 per week, withmost earning $200-$500 per week.

The most common income source was part-time or casual work, fromwhich nearly 70% of students earned money. Nearly 30% received

Youth Allowance from Centrelink, which may represent a part or fullpayment depending on their other income. 25% of students receivedregular nancial support from family to cover their expenses.

Other sources of income included savings, other Centrelink benets,a farm and a sole trading business. 72% of students derived incomefrom working part time, casually or full time, and over 30% derived atleast part of their income from Austudy or Youth Allowance. Notably,25% received regular nancial assistance from their parents or family.

Work - part time/casual

Work - full time

Youth Allowance

Austudy

Rent Assistance

Scholarship

Allowance from parents/family

Other

N um

b er

of st u

d ent s

N um b

er

of

st u d ent s

Chart 5: Distribution of weekly income brackets

- all respondents

Chart 6: Income sources for students

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80


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Problem All All out ofhomePrivate

rent Share HomeCollege/Unilodge

Housing costs were taking uptoo much of my budget. 56

68 71 81 22 53

I was worried about where I wasgoing to live. 43

51 52 67 15 34

I wanted to move somewherecheaper but there was nowhereavailable.

36 38 24 52 24 28

I was working more hours thanI wanted to in order to affordhousing.

38 44 48 54 24 32

The number of hours I needed towork was affecting my ability tostudy.

53 52 57 59 54 43

I dropped back from full timestudy to part time so I couldwork more.

16 16 29 18 17 8

I fell behind in my rent because Ididnt have enough money to pay. 12

13 24 9 5 13

I moved back home becauseliving independently was tooexpensive.

11 3 5 6 39 0

I had to ask my parents or familyfor money to help pay my rent. 47

56 43 65 15 53

I thought about discontinuingstudy because I couldnt afford it. 16 16

29 17 17 11

None of these 16 13 10 2 29 25

Total Respondents: 189 128 21 54 41 53

Only 16% of respondents answered that they had experienced noneof the above indicators of housing stress. In comparison, only 2% ofrespondents who lived in shared housing had not experienced any ofthe above. While 56% of all respondents felt that housing costs weretaking up too much of their budget, 81% of share housed students feltthis way. Respondents who were renting by themselves or with theirpartner were in even greater stress, with 29% considering giving upstudy, 29% changing their study load to part time to accommodateextra work hours, and 24% falling behind in rent. It is important to

consider the 47% of students needing to ask for nancial help fromtheir parents, as well as the 11% who moved back home; this indicatesa high chance of difculty for young people without access to a familysupport safety net such as young people aging out of foster care.

OF ALL RESPONDENTSFELT THAT HOUSINGCOSTS WERE TAKING

UP TOO MUCH OF THEIRBUDGET

56%

Where groups have a higher than average incidence, it is highlighted.


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Financial stressA large number of students indicated some level of nancial stresson a regular or semi-regular basis. These ndings suggest that moreresearch should be conducted on the nancial stress experienced bystudents and to what extent it is related to the high cost of living inCanberra.

DiscussionApart from those students living at their family home, respondentswere spending a very large proportion of their income on housingcosts alone.

Students in shared housing spent a median of $169 per week onhousing, with a median income of $397.50. They were spending amedian of 46% of their income on rent, with some paying up to 70-80%. Students who reported that their rent costs included utilitiesother than water were not included in this calculation. This puts theaverage share-housing student in severe rental stress (more than 45%of income on rent).

Students renting privately or with a partner were spending a median of$232.50 per week on rent, out of a median income of $490 per week.Students in this living situation spent a median of 54% of their incomeon housing costs, and only one respondent reported spending lessthan 30% of their income. In some cases, respondents reported theirrental costs as higher than their income; these cases were excludedsince it was not clear how these costs were being covered (partnersincome unknown, savings etc).

In both cases where students were living independently, students werein rental stress in the classical sense to a severe extent. However,some have questioned whether students with few major nancialcommitments may be able to withstand devoting a higher proportionof their income to rent without entering serious nancial stress. Thefollowing analysis will show that there is little evidence to support thispossibility in the Canberra-based data we have collected.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Everyfortnight ormore oftenEvery monthor so

Every fewmonthsOnce ortwicenever

Chart 7: Indicators of financial stress - all respondents

Unable to affordthe leisure

activities you want

Unable to affordthe clothing you

should have

Unable to afford themedical or dental care

you should have

Unable to affordthe kind of food you

should have

Unable to pay abill on time

THE MEDIAN AMOUNTSPENT PER WEEK BY

STUDENTS IN SHAREDHOUSING WITH A

MEDIAN INCOME OF$397.50

$169


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Financial stressThe survey asked students about how often they had been unable topay a bill on time, afford the kind of food they should have, afford theleisure activities they want, afford the medical or dental care theyshould have, and afford the clothing they should have. These questions

were adapted from Elo et al (2009) and cover the rst two of the fourtypes of objective material needs identied by the OECD, the absenceof which indicates material deprivation 1.

The results and associated comments showed that students werein some cases experiencing serious nancial issues. While overallmonthly bill stress was just 8%, 15% of respondents who were rentingon their own or with a partner had difculty paying bills on a monthlyor more frequent basis, as did 15% of share house residents.

1The OECD identies four types of material needs:1. Satisfaction of basic needs refers to those items (e.g. food, clothes, ability to

keep the home warm during winter, etc.) whose availability is essential for physicalsurvival.

2 Capacity to afford basic leisure and social activities (e.g. having a week ofholiday away from home at least once per year, or occasionally inviting friends andrelatives at home for drinks or meals) refers to items that, while not essential forphysical survival, are critical for enjoying a decent quality of life.

3. Availability of consumer durables refers to items that are essential to performevery-day life activities (e.g. having a telephone) or that signicantly easehousework and other domestic tasks (e.g. having a microwave oven).

4. Housing conditions relate to both the physical characteristics of the dwelling (e.g.availability of electricity, water supply, or indoor ushing toilet, or whether partsof the dwelling are deteriorated or damaged) and to the broader environmentalcharacteristics of the areas where dwellings are located (e.g. exposure to noise,indoor pollution etc.). (Boarini & dErcole, 2006:15)


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Nearly 20% of respondents reported not being able to afford medicalor dental care that they needed every month or more often; forstudents renting their own place this jumped to 48%, and for those inshared housing, 28%. Some had experienced serious health problemsand been unable to access adequate care because of the cost; in somecases this was compounded by the food insecurity they were alsoexperiencing.

Have experienced a number of health issues whilst studying butbetween the combined nutritional and medication maintenance mostlycant afford to visit the doctor when sick so keep going to uni whenreally ill, or have failed subjects because I cant afford medical care.

I currently have a dental problem but am unable to afford to doanything about it.

I have a permanent disability it was becoming difcult to study.I started intensive physio treatment had to ask my parents fornancial assistance (something I personally nd degrading)

I have not gone to the dentist despite chipping a tooth, and not goneto see a doctor on the basis that I cant afford the visit.

Medical paying for rehabilitation from neck surgery

anything that cant be somehow subsidized by my Medicare I simplycannot get

A sizable majority (62%) of students who were renting on their own orwith a partner were unable to afford the leisure activities they wantedevery fortnight or more often; while this question likely depends on the

Chart 8: Experience of housing insecurity,by frequency of food insecurity

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Never foodinsecure

Food insecureonce or twice

Food insecureevery month

or so

Food insecureevery fortnightor more often

Food insecureevery fewmonths

OF STUDENTS RENTINGTHEIR OWN PLACE

REPORTED NOT BEINGABLE TO AFFORD

MEDICAL OR DENTALCARE THAT THEY

NEEDED EVERY MONTHOR MORE OFTEN

48%

Food insecurity was also correlated with housing insecurity, with 50%of students who were unable to afford the kind of food they shouldhave, every fortnight or more often, having an experience of insecurehousing or homelessness.

Hadexperiencedhousinginsecurity (%)

Had notexperiencedhousinginsecurity (%)


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nature of leisure activities students wanted, such a high percentageat the most frequent option nevertheless suggests a possible elevatedrisk of social exclusion for this group. 41% of shared accommodationresidents reported this frequency, and overall 49% of respondentswere foregoing leisure activities every fortnight or more often.

Housing stress andhomelessnessA signicant percentage (21%) of respondents answered Yes tothe question Have you ever had to stay at a friends place, motel,campus building open overnight, or somewhere else you couldnt livepermanently, because you didnt have somewhere permanent to stay?

However, it should be noted that their experiences in relation tothis question ranged from less than a week as their student housingarrangements were claried to far more serious experiences of

homelessness.Nevertheless it was important to phrase the question to cast a widenet in capturing the experience of student homelessness. It has beenshown that couch surfers and young people experiencing periodsof homelessness often do not identify as homeless, since it isstigmatized and they may not be aware of the breadth of situations theterm is used to describe (Hallett, 2010:16).

There are three levels of homelessness: primary homelessness,where the person is sleeping outside, in a car or other improviseddwelling; secondary homelessness, where the person is movingbetween various forms of temporary shelter such as friends, hostels,and emergency accommodation; and tertiary homelessness, wherethe person is living in a single room in a private boarding housewithout security of tenure. (ABS 2011).

Examples of all three types of homelessness were seen inresponses to this question, with the most common being secondaryhomelessness. Typically those respondents reported spending up tothree months staying temporarily in friends houses while unable tond a suitable and affordable place to live.

spent two and a half weeks on a oor of a friends college bedroomwhile trying to nd a place

lease ran out and spent 3 months sleeping in a mates loungeroombefore I could nd somewhere suitable / affordable

Another relatively frequent issue was experiencing difculty ndingaccommodation when rst arriving in Canberra. This occurredat different levels of severity; for example for one woman aged22-25 it was only a few days until I found a spot on the studentaccommodation of CIT. However for a female rst-year aged 18-21from Malaysia the experience was very stressful: [it was] dauntingbecause it was my rst time living away from my family and Ididnt have the leisure of having a car to go around and do houseinspections. I thought once my family had to leave, I would have to stayat backpackers and look for accommodation on my own and it was just scary... These difculties should be taken into consideration bypolicymakers encouraging large increases in student numbers.

OF STUDENTS WHOWERE RENTING

ON THEIR OWN ORWITH A PARTNERWERE UNABLE

TO AFFORDTHE LEISURE

ACTIVITIES THEYWANTED EVERYFORTNIGHT ORMORE OFTEN

62%


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WE RENTEDTHROUGH A PRIVATE

LANDLORD WHOSTARTED BEHAVINGIN A THREATENINGAND INTIMIDATING

MANNER. WE HAD TOMOVE OUT QUICKLY,

WITH NO ALTERNATIVEARRANGEMENTS.


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Two people appeared, from their responses, to be currentlyexperiencing secondary homelessness.

I am living where I am currently with a neighbour who took me inUnfortunately the house is being sold so I am moving out again inanother fortnight.

I rely on friends and other students to offer me a place to stay. At onehouse I can sleep on an airbed on the oor which is much better thanhaving to camp at the caravan park which would be the alternative as Idont feel comfortable relying on people all the time.

We considered the distinguishing factor between staying in a hosteluntil ones booked accommodation becomes available, and stayingin a hostel while looking for accommodation for example, to bethe insecurity involved. It is the not knowing when more secureaccommodation would be available, or how long the person wouldneed to continue paying per night or imposing on friends, whichdistinguishes this situation from the less problematic instances wherestudents have simply been waiting for a known period of time for theirarranged house to become available.

Perhaps most disturbing were the reports of primary homelessness,given by three of the respondents.

I have slept in my car at uni on more than one occasion

Have slept in cars

Lived in a car for a while, was homeless for a while longer. Stayed oncouches when I was lucky Its frightening, because you never knowhow long you can last.

As well as describing the situation they experienced, a number ofrespondents described the emotional experience of fear and insecurityassociated with not having somewhere to live. Respondents usedwords such as disruptive, stressful, bad for mental health,unsettling, disheartening, destabilizing, and described feelingsof vulnerability and anxiety.

Really awful... I felt so incapable and anxious.

Some respondents alluded to the potentially risky power relationshipbetween landlords and young, low-income tenants, for example:

We rented through a private landlord who started behaving in athreatening and intimidating manner. We had to move out quickly, withno alternative arrangements.

One respondent said that when unable to nd a suitable place to livewhile studying, she moved in with junkies. Although to an extent itis inevitable that some people will need to make risky arrangementssuch as moving into an unsafe place or leaving an unsafe situationwithout a backup plan, the lack of affordable other options in Canberraclearly compounds these issues and prolongs the period betweensecure housing that these young people experience.

LIVED IN A CARFOR A WHILE, WASHOMELESS FOR AWHILE LONGER.

STAYED ONCOUCHES WHEN IWAS LUCKY ITS

FRIGHTENING,BECAUSE YOU

NEVER KNOW HOWLONG YOU CAN

LAST.


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18 P I L O T S T U DY O F H O U S I N G S T R E S S A N D P O V E R T Y I N D I C AT O R S

Finding aplace to live

was so hard...Iwas so worried

I would be

living on thestreet,Casey, university

student


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Case StudyCasey, 18, could be considered a typical young Canberra universitystudent. She loves spending time with her friends, and has worked atmany places including a newsagency and is planning to care for older

people at a nursing home. However, after a family breakdown, Caseyexperienced the tough reality of homelessness.

Finding a place to live was so hard. I then went to Centrelink butit took so long to get anything done. I was so worried I would beliving on the street, said Casey. I had so much trouble trying to getenough money just to pay rent. Centrelink didnt listen to anything Isaid and removed my side of the story from my report. It took about3 to 4 months to get my independent youth allowance nalised andeven though they paid me back for the time Id lost, my grades weresignicantly impacted by the extra time I had spent at work, saidCasey.

Whilst waiting for her applications to be processed at Centrelink,Casey moved between a number of houses. She struggled with ndingplaces to live especially due to her age and high rental costs. Caseyutilised private rental accommodation for approximately 11 months.

I couch surfed for a bit, then boarded at different places for a while. Ifound these through people at my church. They let me pay them backat a later stage if I didnt have the money. If it wasnt for these people, Iwould have been living on the street.

After struggling for over a year to nd affordable and stable housing,Casey approached The Junction, an Anglicare-run Youth Health

Service in Civic for help. The Junction recommended her to OurPlace a partnership project of Anglicare and Barnados who providesupported accommodation for young people who would otherwise beat risk of homelessness and who are engaged in full time education.Due to Caseys university enrolment, she was accepted.

I am so thankful to Anglicare and Our Place. They have given me alovely place to live. It was so great to be able to move in and have myown place. They helped with the initial set up such as with sheets andtowels so I didnt have to worry about that nancially, said Casey.

Due to her newfound housing stability, Casey is now able to focus onher studies and is looking for a new part time job.

It is wonderful being able to focus on my studies without worryingabout nding a place to live. Our Place has really allowed that tohappen, said Casey.


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Policy ImplicationsPolicies to encourage more students to the ACT need to consideraffordable housing needs of students. Expensive privately run studentaccommodation providers are not an adequate solution. Part of this

issue is the denition of affordable as 75% of market rent, where majorinstitutions are located in central and consequently expensive areasand even 75% of market rent is unaffordable to low income earners.

Considering the ACT Governments wish to encourage more peopleto study in Canberra, it is important to take into account that manyof these students are teenagers and it will be their rst time livingaway from home. Many rst-year undergraduate students arestill emotionally and in some cases legally children, and thereforeexperience higher stress levels than those in later years (Ramsay etal, 2007:248). We must not set up a situation where young people withlimited life experience are arriving in Canberra without appropriate

supports to nd somewhere to live.Of particular concern are the ndings in the 2011 Census, which foundthat 70 in every 10,000 19-24 year olds in the ACT were homeless, upfrom 44 in 10,000 in 2006. This is double the rate of increase Australia-wide. (ABS 2012, article 2049.0)

One solution recommended by respondents in the survey was theStudent Housing Co-Op model, which provides an affordable andpleasant environment for students to live without the signicant costsof constructing new college-style accommodation.

On a national level, income support payments and in particular

Commonwealth Rent Assistance payments are sadly inadequate,especially for students moving to cities with high rental costs suchas Canberra. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institutereported in 2002 that 70% of students who received at least $1 ofCommonwealth Rent Assistance per fortnight felt that its availabilityhad been a factor in their decision to study (Burke et. al., 2002).However, for illustrative purposes, the current maximum fortnightlyrental assistance would be barely enough to rent a campsite for afortnight in the ACT. While recipients are appreciative of all assistancethey receive, in the context of the Canberra rental market, CRA issimply not sufcient to keep students out of poverty.

Future research neededAs a pilot study, this survey has revealed a range of very concerningresults that deserve deeper and broader-scale investigation. It is clearthat further research is needed to paint a more accurate picture of thecurrent situation of Canberras tertiary students and the intersectionbetween high rental costs, food insecurity, nancial stress and thelack of accessible public transport options. Further research shouldlook at the inter-relationship of student housing and transport costs,including the pressure to own and run a private vehicle in Canberra.

The food insecurity and nancial stress measures allude to somepotentially serious underlying issues for health and well-being, sosome more in-depth qualitative research into these poverty indicatorsis needed to esh-out this picture.

OF PARTICULARCONCERN ARE THEFINDINGS IN THE

2011 CENSUS, WHICHFOUND THAT

70 IN EVERY 10,000 19-24

YEAR OLDS IN THE ACTWERE HOMELESS, UP

FROM

44IN 10,000 IN 2006.


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Additionally, a larger sample is required to adequately capture certaingroups, including CIT students, international students, Indigenousstudents, and to obtain a more representative gender balance amongrespondents.

Furthermore, Anglicare in partnership with Barnados and the ACT

Government, is delivering supported accommodation to students infull time study . It is appears this model is assisting in stabilising thelives of students who have experienced homelessness, ensuring theysuccessfully complete their studies and enter the workforce. Furtherresearch could look at whether an expansion of this model is the bestmodel for helping reduce the extent of tertiary student homelessnessand associated impacts.

ConclusionGiven the large student population in the region, this pilot study intoHousing Stress and Poverty Indicators amongst Tertiary Students inthe ACT points to a concerning level of housing and nancial stress.The extremely tight rental market both for standard rental and sharehouses means students are living in arrangements they can not afford,and taking signi cant time away from their studies in order to workand support themselves. It is clear that further research is needed toclarify the extent of these problems, particularly in light of governmentintentions to increase the number of people studying in the ACT.

In order to preserve Canberras reputation as a city which welcomestertiary students, the issues affecting their well-being and ability tostudy must be addressed.

As a result of the ndings of this pilot report, in additional to its annualRental Affordability Snapshot, Anglicare recommends the followingactions:

Recommendations

1. ACT Government to look at expanding the Foyer Model ofsupported accommodations for tertiary students at high risk ofhomelessness

2. Adjusting Commonwealth Rent Assistance for tertiary students sothat it takes into account regional factors such as the high cost ofrent close to Canberra universities

3. Anglicare encourages governments to address structural issuesin the tax regime discouraging affordable rental. The FederalGovernment needs to rethink negative gearing to ensure a socialelement is required for claiming. In other words, negative gearingmay only be claimed on properties in which the tenant is a low-income earner.

4. Encourage greater resourcing of bulk billing on-campus medicalservices including greater partnering with specialist healthservices for youth-at-risk such as Anglicares The Junction.

5. Ensure tertiary students can access existing emergency food and

nancial relief services and housing assistance.

THE EXTREMELYTIGHT RENTALMARKET BOTH

FOR STANDARDRENTAL AND

SHARE HOUSESMEANS STUDENTS

ARE LIVING INARRANGEMENTS

THEY CANNOT AFFORD,AND TAKINGSIGNIFICANT

TIME AWAY FROMTHEIR STUDIES INORDER TO WORK

AND SUPPORTTHEMSELVES.


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ReferencesABS (2011) 2050.0 Position Paper ABS Review of Counting the

Homeless Methodology found at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/0/90db868e528d3eebca2578df00228cee?opendocument

ABS (2012) 2049.0 Estimating homelessness, 2011 found at http:// www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/2049.02011?OpenDocument#Data

ABS (2010) 1308.8 In fACT Statistical information on the ACT andregion, Dec 2010 found at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/ Products/E148C4EFA043D699CA2577EE000C8884?opendocument

Anglicare Australia (2012) Anglicare Australia Rental AffordabilitySnapshot, Canberra

Anglicare Australia (2013), Anglicare Australia Rental AffordabilitySnapshot, Canberra.

Boarini, R. & dErcole, M. (2006) Measures of Material Deprivation inOECD Countries OECD Social, Employment and Migration WorkingPaper 37.

Burke, T., Pinkney, S. & Ewing, S. (2002) Rent Assistance and YoungPeoples Decision Making. Australian Housing and Urban ResearchInstitute, Swinburne-Monash Research Centre.

Elo, I. et al (2009) Perceptions of Neighborhood Disorder: The Roleof Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics Soc Sci Q. 90(5), pp1298-1320http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822409/#FN3

Hallett, R. (2010) Homeless: how residential instability complicatesstudents lives, About Campus 15(3), pp. 11-16.

Nepal, B., Tanton, R. & Harding, A. (2010) Measuring housing stress:how much do denitions matter? Urban Policy and Research 28(2),pp. 211-224.

Rowley, S. & Ong, R. (2012) Housing affordability, housing stress andhousehold wellbeing in Australia. Australian Housing and UrbanResearch Institute, Western Australian Research Centre.

Yates, J. & Gabriel, M. (2006) Housing affordability in Australia:National Research Venture 3: Housing Affordability for Lower IncomeAustralians Research Paper 3. Australian Housing and UrbanResearch Institute, Sydney Research Centre.


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Notes


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LIVING ON THE EDGE

act student housing pilot study

Documents