Housing crisis needs solution, not a scapegoat

Housing crisis needs solution, not a scapegoat

On Thursday night, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor sought to use his budget reply speech to link housing supply to migration levels. The attempt was sadly predictable, divisive, and misguided.

“The Opposition Leader has found a scapegoat, not a solution,” said Elijah Buol OAM, Chief Executive Officer of the Asylum Seekers Centre.

“Housing is a human right, and everyone in Australia should have access to safe, secure shelter – regardless of their visa status,” he said.

Right now, many people seeking asylum are denied income support, shut out of crisis accommodation, and left with no path to stability.

According to the City of Sydney’s “A City For All” plan to address homelessness, this burden sits especially heavily on people with temporary visas, such as those seeking asylum.

By one estimate, nearly 20 percent of people sleeping rough are non-residents on uncertain visas, including people seeking asylum.

Data from the Asylum Seekers Centre (ASC) backs this up. Most casework at the ASC concerns people who have experienced homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.

Mr Buol said political leaders must stop misdirecting the housing crisis towards migration for short‑term political gain.

“Blaming people seeking asylum or migrants for structural housing shortages is not only misleading, it distracts from the real policy solutions we urgently need.

“The consequences are severe and predictable: people who have fled persecution and trauma are pushed into homelessness, exploitation, and ongoing harm.”

Migration, he said, has strengthened Australia’s economy, supported essential industries, and contributed to national prosperity for decades.

“Excluding people from housing is blatant discrimination and counter to the values we cherish,” Mr Buol said. “It does nothing to fix the housing crisis and everything to harm those already at the margins.”

He warned that further restricting access to housing, welfare, or other basic supports for people seeking asylum would only worsen hardship and increase homelessness.

(This post has been edited to correct an estimate of ASC cases involving homelessness.)

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Established in 1993, the Asylum Seekers Centre is Australia’s oldest organisation dedicated to helping people who seek asylum. In the last financial year, we supported approximately 4,600 people from more than 90 countries.

Media contact:
For more information or to request an interview, contact Conrad Walters on comms@asylumseekerscentre.org.au.