The nation’s broken rental assistance support program is failing older South Australians, with many to be plunged into homelessness if action is not taken as the number of Australians over 75 accelerates at nearly twice the rate of population growth.
They are the findings of a new study by the Retirement Living Council (RLC), which has renewed its call for reform to the Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) program.
Fresh data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the number of Australians over 75 who receive CRA but remain in rental stress has risen nationally by 116 per cent since 2013.
Older South Australians are doing it tough.
Where there were 25,485 across the nation in this category in 2013, in 2025 there were a whopping 55,030 – an increase of 29,545.
This 116 per cent jump compares to a population increase in this age bracket of just 59 per cent.
In SA, that number has risen 85 per cent from 1610 in 2013 to 2985 in 2025 – an increase of 1375 people.
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Were they not to be receive CRA, the number of people over 75 who would be in rental stress would total 125,185 across the nation – and 8210 would be from SA.
RLC executive director Daniel Gannon said this was not a red flag – “it’s a siren”.
He said CRA reform was needed to ensure vulnerable Australians did not slip through the cracks.
Daniel Gannon, Executive Director of the Retirement Living Council. Photo: Jeremy Piper /New Romans
“Rent assistance is broken, outdated and miles behind reality, and every delay is pushing more older Australians towards homelessness,” Mr Gannon said.
“This is no longer a marginal issue – it’s a national housing and care challenge that demands immediate federal action to prevent more older Australians falling into homelessness.”
ACT independent senator David Pocock backed the RLC’s calls for reform, saying Australians of all ages were experiencing severe rates of rental stress and needing more affordable and appropriate housing.
Senator for the ACT David Pocock. Photo by Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
“Every single report of the economic inclusion advisory committee that I got the government to legislate has recommended a substantial increase in CRA,” he said.
While a household is considered to be in rental stress if it is spending 30 per cent of its income on paying the lease, many aged tenants are paying from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of their income towards keeping a roof over their head.
With compulsory superannuation payments not made law until 1992, many retirees were not benefiting from this.
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Even those who had saved for their retirement faced rising cost of living eroding their funds.
Deanne Bock moved into her Parkside retirement village with her husband in December 2012, dropping back from a double pension to a single pension when he died the following November.
She said she did not qualify for CRA, but said it would ease her financial pressure of trying to get by week to week.
Deanne Bock is calling on the government to commit to CRA reform. Picture: Tim Joy
“Thirty-five years ago they set the standards, but it’s not relevant today – you’ve only got to look at the how the price of home ownership and everything else has escalated,” she said. “And women of my circumstances are out on a limb.”
– with Nathan Mawby
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