By Yasemin Talat
Melton is the only suburb in Melbourne that women fleeing violence can afford, new data shows.
The Council to Homeless Persons has compared the average weekly female wage for Victoria with median weekly rents by suburb.
It found that, on the average wage of $842 per week (including both part-time and full-time workers), Melton is the only suburb where a woman can rent a two-bedroom home and not be in housing stress, meaning more than 30 per cent of income goes on housing.
With a median weekly rent of $245 for a two-bedroom house, Melton was a cheaper alternative to neighbouring suburbs, including Werribee, St Albans and Sunshine, which have median rents of between $270 and $280 a week. The median weekly rent for a two-bed apartment at Melton is $235 compared to $260 at Sunshine.
James Bennett, of the Tenants Union of Victoria, said the lack of affordable housing and low vacancy rates highlighted the dire prospects faced by women experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. “The lack of affordable housing is an ongoing problem and causes stress for many tenants in the private rental market,” Mr Bennett said. “There are around 300,000 low-income rental households in Victoria. Almost half of those are estimated to be in rental stress, where they are paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs,” he said. “Combined with a low vacancy rate of
about three per cent, it does create an environment where women fleeing from violent situations face the very real prospect of homelessness.”
The data looks at working women and, with about two-thirds of those experiencing family violence holding down jobs, women who are only on income support find it much more difficult to cope, the council study found.
– with
The Age
