MF Everybody's Home Submission

Homelessness is a violaon of the Internaonal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convenon on the Rights of the Child and Convenon on the Eliminaon of All Forms of Discriminaon against Women.i Housing is essenal to protect against increasing challenges posed by climate change, natural disasters, environmental degradaon and more recently disease such as COVID-19. [...] The result is insecure, unstable, unaffordable housing and homelessness, and the lowest income groups are bearing the costs of the failure of our housing system to meet the needs of the populaon. [...] The recommenda(on is to increase the rate of Jobseeker, Youth Allowance, Paren(ng Payment, Austudy, Abstudy and Special Benefit to at least $78 per day.v 3.2 Increase housing supply The Mercy Foundaon commends the Commonwealth Government for its efforts to address housing and homelessness parcularly with the Housing Australia measures. [...] The most significant challenges were linked to their lack of reliable income, insecure migraon status and the ongoing effects of trauma.xiii The evaluaon of the Forced Marriage Stream Trial highlighted the inappropriate housing available to survivors of forced marriage, parcularly the lack of emergency and short-term accommodaon. [...] i Many internaonal legal instruments protect the right to adequate housing, including: • the Universal Declaraon of Human Rights (Arcle 25); • the Internaonal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Arcle 11); • the Convenon on the Rights of the Child (Arcle 27); • the Convenon on the Eliminaon of All Forms of Racial Discriminaon ( Arcle 5); and • the Convenon on the Eliminaon of All For.