A Wollongong agency has backed calls to provide further help for low income renters doing it tough.
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National housing campaign Everybody's Home has requested an urgent 30 per cent increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance, with a new Productivity Commission report showing 40 per cent of Australians receiving Rent Assistance still live in "chronic" housing stress.
Housing or rental stress occurs when more than 30 per cent of a household's income is spent on rent.
The 2020 Report into Government Services also indicates that one in eight are shelling out more than half their income just to keep a roof over their head.
Mandy Booker, manager of Wollongong Emergency Family Housing and the Wollongong Homeless Hub said the report "has again highlighted that there is an unacceptable amount of people living below the poverty line".
"Therefore, it is imperative that an increase in Rent Assistance be implemented to assist people to maintain a roof over their head and reduce the risk of homelessness," she said.
"Since the Going Home Staying Home reforms there has been a 38 per cent increase in clients accessing homeless services such as Wollongong Homeless Hub.
"In 2017/18 in NSW, the sector provided support to over 71,000 clients; 22 per cent more clients than the sector is funded to support.
"The social impact and cost of not increasing Rent Assistance will outweigh the increase that is being recommended."
Everybody's Home spokesperson Kate Colvin said the updated data shows the scale of the housing crisis across the nation, with Australians on low incomes being forced to pay rents they can't afford because there is nowhere else for them to go.
"Low income renters are doing it tougher than ever and need urgent relief," Ms Colvin said.
"Over the past 20 years rents have been rising faster than CPI, the rate at which CRA is indexed. Now the maximum rate for a family is $90 per week, but the median rent in Australia is $436.
"It means that even with Rent Assistance many Australians are having to make the really tough choice between paying for basics like food or medication or paying the rent."
Rent Assistance is payable at the rate of 75 cents for every dollar of rent payable above the rent threshold until the maximum rate of payment is reached.
Rent thresholds and maximum rates vary according to a customer's family situation and the number of children they have.
The commission's report also shows that the proportion of people finding social housing is dropping as a result of decades of under-investment in social housing by successive governments.