New research from Anglicare highlights a severe housing crisis across Western Australia, revealing that essential workers are increasingly locked out of the private rental market due to record rent inflation. The findings underscore widespread affordability pressures affecting regional communities from the state's south to its northern mining hubs.
The Reality for Regional Renters
In the regional city of Albany, located about 450 kilometres south of Perth, 61-year-old disability support worker Frances Thiele experienced the harsh reality of this market firsthand, moving seven times over an 18-month period. Despite working full-time, Ms Thiele struggled to secure an affordable solo property, noting that single-person rentals can consume half a weekly wage. To manage costs, she has relied on shared housing arrangements, splitting an $850-a-week rental with a housemate.
Anglicare’s rental affordability snapshot revealed that only one property across Western Australia’s two most populous regions—the Great Southern and the South West—was deemed affordable for key health and childcare sector workers.
Business Impacts in Western Australia's North
Further north in Karratha, accommodation shortages are actively restricting small businesses. Local mechanical workshop owner Clark Smith reported that a lack of housing prevents him from hiring additional staff. To keep operations running, employers have had to resort to alternative measures, including housing workers in caravans at workyards, utilizing mates' properties, or cramming multiple employees into staff houses.
Small business owners in the region face additional challenges competing for talent against major mining and energy corporations that frequently bundle housing and vehicles into employment packages.
