<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Millions of essential workers are at risk of being squeezed out of Australia's rental market without vital housing reforms, a new report argues.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hospitality workers earning the average wage for the job would only be able to afford 0.8 per cent of rentals on the market, according to data from the </span><a href="https://www.anglicare.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rental-Affordability-Snapshot-Essential-Workers-Report-2025.pdf" rel="" target="_blank" title="Rental Affordability Snapshot"><span>Rental Affordability Snapshot</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Only 80 rentals in Victoria were affordable under the average salary of a hospitality worker, and none in the ACT.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sydney-weather-hottest-october-on-record-could-happen/54f06329-d148-4eae-99a5-a5c30a1b1d1d" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussie city set to shatter blistering 37-year heat record</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The report, which analysed the price of over 51,000 rentals compared to the average wages of several occupations in Australia, also found that firefighters could only afford 3.2 per cent of rentals around Australia, and paramedics, on average, are only able to afford 2.3 per cent, or 1117 properties.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is a national disgrace that the people we all rely on – nurses, teachers, care workers, cleaners – cannot afford a secure place to live," Kasy Chambers from Anglicare, the publishers of the report, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This report shows that even full-time workers in critical jobs are locked out of most rentals. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/australia-rental-affordability-cost-of-living-crisis/69ad6381-5dcd-4190-be08-6a5a049dabea" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In many parts of the country, affordability has gone backwards."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A common assumption is the problem is largely caused by a lack of supply; essentially, there are too many people renting but not enough houses on the rental market.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, the report argues this year's figures highlight this isn't necessarily the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/israel-hamas-ceasefire-two-more-bodies-returned-to-israel-after-one-not-a-hostage/b3778ac5-eea7-4345-8642-27fd863baaf2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Israel, Hamas swap bodies after 'hostage' error threatens peace</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This year saw an increase in the number of rental listings surveyed for the first time in three years, and yet there was no notable or significant increase in affordability for any essential worker category," it said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The theory of trickle-down housing would assume that a thirteen per cent increase in total listings across the country would yield some notable increases in affordability."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chambers argues urgent reform is required across the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need tax reform to stop pushing up the cost of housing," she said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to build at least 25,000 new public and community homes each year, rentals that essential workers can actually afford."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She believes the responsibility falls at the feet of state and federal governments: "The housing crisis is not an accident. It is the result of choices.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These results are shocking, but they are also an opportunity for governments to change course and ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable home."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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