Access to safe, secure, and affordable housing is a basic human right and yet almost all people earning a full-time minimum wage in Australia cannot afford a rental property writes Believe Housing Australia executive general manager Stacey Northover.

The recently released Believe Housing Australia Rental Affordability Snapshot 2025 paints a bleak picture in which further tightening of the supply-demand balance is locking renters out of the market at alarming rates.

Rental affordability for single people working full time on a minimum wage sits at a dire one per cent and drops to zero for those on Youth Allowance or JobSeeker Payment. While only 12 per cent of properties are affordable for couples with children, working full time on a minimum wage.

In South Australia, the housing affordability crisis is hitting particularly hard. In Adelaide, rents have increased 8.8 per cent year-on-year to a median price of $626 per week and housing affordability has declined 4.4 per cent for those on a low income.

Competition for limited listings remains fierce with low-income earners and income support recipients disproportionately disadvantaged and the housing crisis creep now also ensnaring young students working in part-time jobs. Those most in need, including singles, single parents and young people are routinely priced out of........

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