VULNERABLE Bacchus Marsh residents are being marginalised by the housing rental industry, according to a leading voice in community care.
Child and Family Services Moorabool manager Paul Huggett agreed with the findings of a Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report, which highlighted the struggles many people face when trying to rent private accommodation.
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It found some tenants were continually rejected due to nationality, sexuality, disability or for having children. From a survey of 165 people, 44per cent believed having children counted against them, 38per cent thought their age was a deterrent, 37per cent claimed to have been refused because of their nationality, 34per cent said their marital status was an issue, and 27per per cent said their disability was a factor.
“Anecdotally, we see this quite a lot, ” Mr Huggett said. “It usually comes down to a financial issue [in Moorabool], and you have to look at the reasons behind that.
“We see a lot of single parents with children who are rejected for housing and that’s in both the private and public sector.
“It really places them at a disadvantage and it can cause a great deal of stress.”
Acting Equal Opportunity commissioner Karen Toohey said such discrimination was unlawful, but the research suggested some real estate agents and landlords made stereotyped judgments about tenants.
“Landlords and real estate agents need to know that if they make decisions about who should be offered a property based on irrelevant personal characteristics such as race, marital or parental status, sexual orientation or disability, then they are breaking the law,” she said.
But Stockdale and Leggo Bacchus Marsh managing director Mark Shelly said that wasn’t the case in Moorabool.
“Approximately 18per cent of our tenants are single,” he said. “We rent properties to at least six different nationalities and at least 60per cent of our tenants have children.
“Our tenants’ ages range from 18-93 and 8-10per cent of them have a disability pension.”
Ms Toohey said research found people experienced anxiety and depression as a result of not being able to find a place to call home.
“It also means they have trouble finding and keeping a job and can’t provide a safe and secure environment for their children,”she said.
