Pilot study of housing stress and poverty indicators amongst tertiary students in the ACT

G E E
1

BY CL AI R E LLOYD-JON E S A N D JE R E MY HALCROW

JUNE

2013

AMONGST TE RTIARY STU DENTS I N TH E ACT

JUNE 2013

Summary of ndings
10% of Canberras population are full-time or part-time students at a technical, further education or university institution. Half live independently in private rental, college or share housing.

87%
OF RESPONDENTS WHO LIVED OUT OF HOME INDICATED AT LEAST MILD HOUSING STRESS

Housing stress
87% of respondents who lived out of home indicated at least mild housing stress 13% indicated serious housing stress such as falling behind in paying rent 47% had to ask for help to pay their rent from parents or family 11% moved back home because living independently was too expensive

Homelessness
15% of students had at some point been unable to nd a suitable place to live while studying in Canberra 22% of respondents had experienced a time when they had nowhere permanent to stay, most frequently in a couch surng situation (7% of all respondents) 3 students (1% of respondents) had slept in their cars (primary homelessness)

Financial stress
16% reduced their study load from full time to part time 16% considered discontinuing study because they couldnt afford it 28% of independently living students experienced some level of food insecurity, every month or more often 31% of respondents unable to afford medical or dental care they should have, every few months or more often 17% of respondents unable to pay bills on time, every few months or more often 50% of the students who were food insecure every fortnight or more had experienced some level of homelessness 50% of the students who were food insecure every fortnight or more were unable to access medical or dental care they needed on an ongoing basis Of the 7% of students unable to pay bills on time monthly or more often, more than 90% experienced food insecurity every few months or more often and more than 90% went without medical or dental care every few months or more often.
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50%
OF THE STUDENTS WHO WERE FOOD INSECURE EVERY FORTNIGHT OR MORE HAD EXPERIENCED SOME LEVEL OF HOMELESSNESS

Introduction and aims of the study

It is well documented that the ACT has a lack of affordable rental properties, with very few appropriate rental properties available to lowincome households. Over the past two years the Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) has found virtually no affordable housing for any low income household. These households did not only include people reliant on Government benets, but a range of families relying on the pay packet of one worker. As a result this research has been developed as an extension of Anglicare Rental Affordability Snapshot (RAS) with a number of particular aims: nd out more about students actual solutions to the unaffordable rental situation in Canberra, considering that the Snapshot found next to nothing that this signicant population group in the Territory could affordably rent discover the extent and range of share housing among students in the ACT. This is an important missing piece of the puzzle given that Anglicares RAS looked at formally advertised rental properties. There is a tendency for share house vacancies to be lled through word of mouth and other informal mechanisms when compared to other private rental properties. determine the appropriateness of the standard 30/40 test of rental affordability for students, given their particular nancial situation
AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY FOUND THAT IF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ARE CONTROLLED FOR IN MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOUSING STRESS AND FINANCIAL STRESS BECOMES INSIGNIFICANT
(ROWLEY & ONG 2012: 29).

In this paper housing stress is measured in two ways. Primarily it is the traditional 30/40 test, a benchmark which states that a household in the lower 40% of incomes will be in stress if it is spending 30% or more of its income on housing. This is commonly used by the housing sector, real estate sector and in some cases by mortgage brokers, and has been shown to be a robust and conservative measure of what a lower income household can afford to spend on housing (Yates, 2007:4). Housing stress is also measured using a group of indicators of housing and nancial stress, from less severe indicators such as worry, up to experiences of being unable to pay rent and homelessness. Interestingly, an Australian study found that if socio-demographic factors are controlled for in multivariate analysis, the relationship between housing stress and nancial stress becomes insignicant (Rowley & Ong 2012: 29). Therefore, while housing stress and nancial stress are associated by common causes, one is not necessarily a predictor of the other. Housing stress is a complicated matter, and some households may, for example, be paying less for housing by living in a cheaper area, but more for transport costs as a result, perhaps keeping the household out of housing stress but not solving the nancial stress problems. This may be the case in some cities, but it would appear that in Canberra the level of rental stress is so high that it will inevitably contribute to nancial stress through the simple lack of money left after spending half a low income on rent alone. Public transport infrastructure in Canberra is not sufcient for those living in cheaper, outer suburbs to avoid owning and running a car which is a major extra expense.
AMONGST TE RTIARY STU DENTS I N TH E ACT | JUNE 2013

Issues raised by Anglicares previous Rental Affordability research

Over recent years the RAS has consistently shown that only full time minimum wage earners can afford most shared housing options in Canberra. Those households whose incomes derive from Newstart, Youth Allowance or Austudy, even with Rent Assistance, are unable to afford even shared accommodation in the ACT (Anglicare, 2012; Anglicare, 2013). While the Anglicare Snapshot consistently measures affordability of private rental properties, share housing options are much harder to accurately quantify. Since share housing is traditionally a less formal arrangement than private rental housing, it is much more difcult to ensure that advertisements are accurate, unique, and that the place is still available at the time of the Snapshot. However, shared housing is a common solution to unaffordable rent for young low income earners such as students, and therefore of particular interest in understanding the extent of rental stress amongst low income households in Canberra. Despite being the solution for low income earners, it has been shown that group households have the highest incidence of housing stress (Yates & Gabriel, 2006:vi). It was important for Anglicare in Canberra to examine shared housing, and the intersections with housing stress amongst tertiary students, in more detail.

IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ANGLICARE IN CANBERRA TO EXAMINE SHARED HOUSING, AND THE INTERSECTIONS WITH HOUSING STRESS AMONGST TERTIARY STUDENTS, IN MORE DETAIL.

Canberras Student Population

Canberra has a very large student population for a city of its size. There are a number of tertiary institutions in the ACT including three major Canberra-based universities, as well as campuses of institutions based elsewhere and also a number of Canberra Institute of Technology campuses. The 2011 Census listed 37,520 people in the ACT as studying either full-time or part-time at a technical institution or university. Out of the ACTs 356,586 residents listed in that Census, this represents just over 10% of the population. The Census found that 6% of the ACT population are full-time students. The vast majority of Canberras university students attend either the Australian National University (ANU) or the University of Canberra (UC); 97% of the ACTs 28,532 students in 2008 (ABS 2010, report 1308.8). The major vocational institution is Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), which had 22,981 students last year, although the Technical/Further Ed Inst. Full time Age: ACT 15-24 1622 25+ 1066 Part time 15-24 2331 25+ 4099 64 Not stated University/other Tertiary Full time 15-24 13980 25+ 4555 Part time 15-24 1627 25+ 8083 93 37520 Not stated Total

Data Source: 2011 Census of Population and Housing. 4

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course types they offer mean that not all of these enrolments would occur simultaneously. The ABS listed just over 9000 people enrolled at a technical or further education institution on Census night in 2011 the vast majority of whom would attend CIT. Respondents to the pilot represented the institutions as follows:

1% 4% 21%

2% 72%
Australian National University University of Canberra Canberra Institute of Technology Australian Catholic University Other

Overall it is unlikely the mix of institutions in the survey sample will have signicantly impacted the results. An ideal breakdown of institutions would have had close to half ANU students and close to a quarter each of UC and CIT students. On one hand, the overrepresentation of ANU students means that the issues associated with attending university in the city centre may be overstated; UC students may have easier access to cheaper suburbs within reasonable distance of their university. On the other hand the underrepresentation of CIT students means that housing issues faced by disadvantaged groups such as new migrants and refugees, those who left school without a Year 10 or Year 12 Certicate, and those retraining in the hope of re-entering the workforce, may not have been properly shown. If anything it is likely the sample has produced conservative results for housing stress and the poverty indicators. International students, due to a lack of family support close to hand and uctuations in the Australian dollar, could be at greater risk. They accounted for 21% of all higher education students in the ACT in 2008, but are only 7% of the respondents in this survey. None of the respondents identied as having an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background. Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents were studying full time, compared to about 70% ACT-wide (ABS 2010, report 1308.8); 68% of respondents were female, compared to 54% ACT-wide. Most of the respondents to the survey were studying at Bachelors degree level; 6.5% were studying at Masters level and a small proportion covered other qualication types from Certicate III through to Doctorate level. The largest age group in the survey was 18-21-year-olds, who made up 52% of the sample, followed by 22-25-year-olds who made up a further 36%.
AMONGST TE RTIARY STU DENTS I N TH E ACT | JUNE 2013

52%
LARGEST AGE GROUP OF THE SURVEY THAT COMPRISED OF 18-21-YEAR-OLDS.

Methodology
Students were asked via social media to participate in a brief survey asking about their study commitments, spending on accommodation and income, and experiences of nancial and housing stress (see Appendix 1: Questionnaire). The survey was incentivized with a lucky draw for a $100 voucher to a local restaurant. The majority of the survey was qualitative in nature, however students were prompted for comment on certain questions such as thoughts on housing, and experiences of nancial stress and homelessness.
WHILE SUPPORT FROM STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND HIGHLY VALUED, WE WOULD NEED TO GAIN SUPPORT FROM TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS THEMSELVES IN ORDER TO CAPTURE A WIDER AND MORE REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH.

Methodological Issues
The demographic distribution of respondents in comparison to actual student numbers at the various institutions highlights the difculty in reaching certain groups, some of which represent signicant components of the student population. In particular, international students were signicantly under-represented in this study, as were CIT students. Considering the distribution of institutions attended given by the ABS, the under-representation of CIT students was regrettable, and future studies will need to undertake more aggressive methods to recruit respondents from this group. The incentive to complete the survey assisted with the balance of respondents between those living independently and those living with parents or other supporting family. However as noted below there was still an underrepresentation of students living at home; it is possible that they didnt think the survey was relevant to their situation. While support from student associations was extremely helpful and highly valued, we would need to gain support from tertiary institutions themselves in order to capture a wider and more representative sample for future research.

Results
A total of 212 responses were recorded. 7 were immediately disqualied since they recorded that they were not currently studying. ANU students were over-represented. Unsolicited promotion of the survey by the ANU Housing Co-op, a group of students with a particular interest in housing policy and knowledge of difcult situations students have faced, might have potentially skewed the results to appear more severe than might be the case for the broader student population. However, since these students listed their housing type as Other, the gures for students living independently were not affected. This indicator included only those respondents who recorded that they lived in private rental, shared rental, paying a mortgage, or in college, or a privately run student accommodation facility.

Type of housing
Respondents most frequently lived in a shared property (28%) followed by their family home (21%). A dozen of the 20 people who responded other lived at the Canberra Student Housing Co-op.
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Housing arrangements of respondents

1% 11% 10% 28%
Renting in a shared property In your family/parents home In a college run by the institution you attend

11%

In Unilodge/Uni Gardens or similar Renting privately by yourself or with your partner In a property you are paying a mortgage on (yourself or with others)

18%

21%

Other

In comparison, the 2011 Census considered nearly 50% of full time students in the ACT to be Natural or adopted dependent students or Dependent student step child, and 9% to be Group household members. Only 2% of full time students in the ACT were in Lone person households. 17% were considered Not applicable, presumably because they lived not in a private household but in a college or similar. Since students living at their family home are much less likely to have signicant rental costs, it is likely that the students surveyed in this pilot were in some ways at greater risk of nancial and housing stress than the total Canberra tertiary student cohort. 83% of students who were living in their parents or family home cited the cost of housing as an inuencing factor in their choice of accommodation.

83%
OF STUDENTS WHO WERE LIVING IN THEIR PARENTS OR FAMILY HOME CITED THE COST OF HOUSING AS AN INFLUENCING FACTOR IN THEIR CHOICE OF ACCOMMODATION.

Satisfaction with housing arrangements

Most students reported satisfaction with their housing arrangements. Students living at home and in college had a slightly higher incidence of being very satised. Meanwhile those in a privately run student accommodation facility had a much lower incidence of being very satised, with more than a quarter dissatised with their current accommodation. Those in share houses or renting privately had high levels of satisfaction overall but low levels of very satised responses.
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Chart 3: How satisfied are you with your current accommodation?

11% 12%

2% 30%

Very satised Satised Neither satised nor dissatised Dissatised Very dissatised

18%

45%

Housing Costs
As shown below, most students were spending between $150 and $200 on their accommodation. However a signicant number were spending more than that.

Chart 4: Distribution of weekly accommodation costs - all respondents

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Number of students
8

<$0)

<$50)

<$100)

<$150)

<$200)

<$250) <$300) <$350)

<$400)

<$450)

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Income
Very few students had an income of more than $500 per week, with most earning $200-$500 per week.

Chart 5: Distribution of weekly income brackets - all respondents

70 60 50

Number of students

40 30 20 10 0

The most common income source was part-time or casual work, from which nearly 70% of students earned money. Nearly 30% received Youth Allowance from Centrelink, which may represent a part or full payment depending on their other income. 25% of students received regular nancial support from family to cover their expenses.

Chart 6: Income sources for students

Work - part time/casual Work - full time Number of students Youth Allowance Austudy Rent Assistance Scholarship Allowance from parents/family Other

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Other sources of income included savings, other Centrelink benets, a farm and a sole trading business. 72% of students derived income from working part time, casually or full time, and over 30% derived at least part of their income from Austudy or Youth Allowance. Notably, 25% received regular nancial assistance from their parents or family.
AMONGST TE RTIARY STU DENTS I N TH E ACT | JUNE 2013

Problem Housing costs were taking up too much of my budget. I was worried about where I was going to live. I wanted to move somewhere cheaper but there was nowhere available. I was working more hours than I wanted to in order to afford housing. The number of hours I needed to work was affecting my ability to study. I dropped back from full time study to part time so I could work more. I fell behind in my rent because I didnt have enough money to pay. I moved back home because living independently was too expensive. I had to ask my parents or family for money to help pay my rent. I thought about discontinuing study because I couldnt afford it. None of these Total Respondents:

All 56 43

All out of home 68 51 38

Private rent 71 52

Share 81 67 52

Home 22 15

College/ Unilodge 53 34

36

24

24

28

38

44

48

54

24

32

53

52

57

59

54

43

16

16 13

29 24

18

17

8 13

12

5 39

11

3 56 16 13 128

6 65 17 2 54

0 53 11 25 53

47 16 16 189

43 29 10 21

15 17 29 41

Where groups have a higher than average incidence, it is highlighted.

56%
OF ALL RESPONDENTS FELT THAT HOUSING COSTS WERE TAKING UP TOO MUCH OF THEIR BUDGET

Only 16% of respondents answered that they had experienced none of the above indicators of housing stress. In comparison, only 2% of respondents who lived in shared housing had not experienced any of the above. While 56% of all respondents felt that housing costs were taking up too much of their budget, 81% of share housed students felt this way. Respondents who were renting by themselves or with their partner were in even greater stress, with 29% considering giving up study, 29% changing their study load to part time to accommodate extra work hours, and 24% falling behind in rent. It is important to consider the 47% of students needing to ask for nancial help from their parents, as well as the 11% who moved back home; this indicates a high chance of difculty for young people without access to a family support safety net such as young people aging out of foster care.
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Financial stress
A large number of students indicated some level of nancial stress on a regular or semi-regular basis. These ndings suggest that more research should be conducted on the nancial stress experienced by students and to what extent it is related to the high cost of living in Canberra.

Chart 7: Indicators of financial stress - all respondents

Unable to pay a bill on time Unable to afford the kind of food you should have Unable to afford the medical or dental care you should have Unable to afford the clothing you should have Unable to afford the leisure activities you want 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Every fortnight or more often Every month or so Every few months Once or twice never

Discussion
Apart from those students living at their family home, respondents were spending a very large proportion of their income on housing costs alone. Students in shared housing spent a median of $169 per week on housing, with a median income of $397.50. They were spending a median of 46% of their income on rent, with some paying up to 7080%. Students who reported that their rent costs included utilities other than water were not included in this calculation. This puts the average share-housing student in severe rental stress (more than 45% of income on rent). Students renting privately or with a partner were spending a median of $232.50 per week on rent, out of a median income of $490 per week. Students in this living situation spent a median of 54% of their income on housing costs, and only one respondent reported spending less than 30% of their income. In some cases, respondents reported their rental costs as higher than their income; these cases were excluded since it was not clear how these costs were being covered (partners income unknown, savings etc). In both cases where students were living independently, students were in rental stress in the classical sense to a severe extent. However, some have questioned whether students with few major nancial commitments may be able to withstand devoting a higher proportion of their income to rent without entering serious nancial stress. The following analysis will show that there is little evidence to support this possibility in the Canberra-based data we have collected.
AMONGST TE RTIARY STU DENTS I N TH E ACT | JUNE 2013

$169
THE MEDIAN AMOUNT SPENT PER WEEK BY STUDENTS IN SHARED HOUSING WITH A MEDIAN INCOME OF $397.50

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Financial stress
The survey asked students about how often they had been unable to pay a bill on time, afford the kind of food they should have, afford the leisure activities they want, afford the medical or dental care they should have, and afford the clothing they should have. These questions were adapted from Elo et al (2009) and cover the rst two of the four types of objective material needs identied by the OECD, the absence of which indicates material deprivation1. The results and associated comments showed that students were in some cases experiencing serious nancial issues. While overall monthly bill stress was just 8%, 15% of respondents who were renting on their own or with a partner had difculty paying bills on a monthly or more frequent basis, as did 15% of share house residents.

The OECD identies four types of material needs:

1. Satisfaction of basic needs refers to those items (e.g. food, clothes, ability to keep the home warm during winter, etc.) whose availability is essential for physical survival. 2 Capacity to afford basic leisure and social activities (e.g. having a week of holiday away from home at least once per year, or occasionally inviting friends and relatives at home for drinks or meals) refers to items that, while not essential for physical survival, are critical for enjoying a decent quality of life. 3. Availability of consumer durables refers to items that are essential to perform every-day life activities (e.g. having a telephone) or that signicantly ease housework and other domestic tasks (e.g. having a microwave oven). 4. Housing conditions relate to both the physical characteristics of the dwelling (e.g. availability of electricity, water supply, or indoor ushing toilet, or whether parts of the dwelling are deteriorated or damaged) and to the broader environmental characteristics of the areas where dwellings are located (e.g. exposure to noise, indoor pollution etc.). (Boarini & dErcole, 2006:15)

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Students living independently, whether in shared accommodation, college or their own place, were predictably at greater risk of nancial stress, as shown below:

Chart 8: Indicators of financial stress - independent living respondents

Unable to pay a bill on time Unable to afford the kind of food you should have Unable to afford the medical or dental care you should have Unable to afford the clothing you should have Unable to afford the leisure activities you want 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Every fortnight or more often Every month or so Every few months Once or twice never

An extremely concerning revelation was the number of students apparently experiencing food insecurity, with 21% of respondents unable to afford the kind of food they should have, every month or more often. For those renting by themselves or with a partner, or paying a mortgage, this gure was 43%, and for those in shared housing it was 33%. Several respondents referred to food insecurity in an open ended question about experience of nancial stress: My health was compromised at the end of last year (as conrmed by a GP) due to poor diet/nutrition. I was/am grateful to friends who feed me. I received my rst meal vouchers and a grocery card from the ANU student union last week before I started getting [my Centrelink payment] I was struggling and always worried about how much money I had to spend on food near constant stress about bills and food. It is lucky I have a family and friends that I can have dinner with regularly to ensure that I get enough food. I was eating frozen dimsims every night for weeks because I wasnt getting enough casual hours at the part time job I had not being able to eat properly is a massive problem. It affects every element of your life stressing about going to buy food because you dont have the food is awful as well Not being able to buy nice fruit and vegetables

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Food insecurity was also correlated with housing insecurity, with 50% of students who were unable to afford the kind of food they should have, every fortnight or more often, having an experience of insecure housing or homelessness.

100% Had experienced housing insecurity (%) Had not experienced housing insecurity (%)

Chart 8: Experience of housing insecurity, by frequency of food insecurity

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Never food insecure

Food insecure once or twice

Food insecure every few months

Food insecure every month or so

Food insecure every fortnight or more often

48%
OF STUDENTS RENTING THEIR OWN PLACE REPORTED NOT BEING ABLE TO AFFORD MEDICAL OR DENTAL CARE THAT THEY NEEDED EVERY MONTH OR MORE OFTEN

Nearly 20% of respondents reported not being able to afford medical or dental care that they needed every month or more often; for students renting their own place this jumped to 48%, and for those in shared housing, 28%. Some had experienced serious health problems and been unable to access adequate care because of the cost; in some cases this was compounded by the food insecurity they were also experiencing. Have experienced a number of health issues whilst studying but between the combined nutritional and medication maintenance mostly cant afford to visit the doctor when sick so keep going to uni when really ill, or have failed subjects because I cant afford medical care. I currently have a dental problem but am unable to afford to do anything about it. I have a permanent disability it was becoming difcult to study. I started intensive physio treatment had to ask my parents for nancial assistance (something I personally nd degrading) I have not gone to the dentist despite chipping a tooth, and not gone to see a doctor on the basis that I cant afford the visit. Medical paying for rehabilitation from neck surgery anything that cant be somehow subsidized by my Medicare I simply cannot get A sizable majority (62%) of students who were renting on their own or with a partner were unable to afford the leisure activities they wanted every fortnight or more often; while this question likely depends on the

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nature of leisure activities students wanted, such a high percentage at the most frequent option nevertheless suggests a possible elevated risk of social exclusion for this group. 41% of shared accommodation residents reported this frequency, and overall 49% of respondents were foregoing leisure activities every fortnight or more often.

Housing stress and homelessness

A signicant percentage (21%) of respondents answered Yes to the question Have you ever had to stay at a friends place, motel, campus building open overnight, or somewhere else you couldnt live permanently, because you didnt have somewhere permanent to stay? However, it should be noted that their experiences in relation to this question ranged from less than a week as their student housing arrangements were claried to far more serious experiences of homelessness. Nevertheless it was important to phrase the question to cast a wide net in capturing the experience of student homelessness. It has been shown that couch surfers and young people experiencing periods of homelessness often do not identify as homeless, since it is stigmatized and they may not be aware of the breadth of situations the term is used to describe (Hallett, 2010:16). There are three levels of homelessness: primary homelessness, where the person is sleeping outside, in a car or other improvised dwelling; secondary homelessness, where the person is moving between various forms of temporary shelter such as friends, hostels, and emergency accommodation; and tertiary homelessness, where the person is living in a single room in a private boarding house without security of tenure. (ABS 2011). Examples of all three types of homelessness were seen in responses to this question, with the most common being secondary homelessness. Typically those respondents reported spending up to three months staying temporarily in friends houses while unable to nd a suitable and affordable place to live. spent two and a half weeks on a oor of a friends college bedroom while trying to nd a place lease ran out and spent 3 months sleeping in a mates loungeroom before I could nd somewhere suitable / affordable Another relatively frequent issue was experiencing difculty nding accommodation when rst arriving in Canberra. This occurred at different levels of severity; for example for one woman aged 22-25 it was only a few days until I found a spot on the student accommodation of CIT. However for a female rst-year aged 18-21 from Malaysia the experience was very stressful: [it was] daunting because it was my rst time living away from my family and I didnt have the leisure of having a car to go around and do house inspections. I thought once my family had to leave, I would have to stay at backpackers and look for accommodation on my own and it was just scary... These difculties should be taken into consideration by policymakers encouraging large increases in student numbers.
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62%
OF STUDENTS WHO WERE RENTING ON THEIR OWN OR WITH A PARTNER WERE UNABLE TO AFFORD THE LEISURE ACTIVITIES THEY WANTED EVERY FORTNIGHT OR MORE OFTEN

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WE RENTED THROUGH A PRIVATE LANDLORD WHO STARTED BEHAVING IN A THREATENING AND INTIMIDATING MANNER. WE HAD TO MOVE OUT QUICKLY, WITH NO ALTERNATIVE ARRANGEMENTS.

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Two people appeared, from their responses, to be currently experiencing secondary homelessness. I am living where I am currently with a neighbour who took me in Unfortunately the house is being sold so I am moving out again in another fortnight. I rely on friends and other students to offer me a place to stay. At one house I can sleep on an airbed on the oor which is much better than having to camp at the caravan park which would be the alternative as I dont feel comfortable relying on people all the time. We considered the distinguishing factor between staying in a hostel until ones booked accommodation becomes available, and staying in a hostel while looking for accommodation for example, to be the insecurity involved. It is the not knowing when more secure accommodation would be available, or how long the person would need to continue paying per night or imposing on friends, which distinguishes this situation from the less problematic instances where students have simply been waiting for a known period of time for their arranged house to become available. Perhaps most disturbing were the reports of primary homelessness, given by three of the respondents. I have slept in my car at uni on more than one occasion Have slept in cars Lived in a car for a while, was homeless for a while longer. Stayed on couches when I was lucky Its frightening, because you never know how long you can last. As well as describing the situation they experienced, a number of respondents described the emotional experience of fear and insecurity associated with not having somewhere to live. Respondents used words such as disruptive, stressful, bad for mental health, unsettling, disheartening, destabilizing, and described feelings of vulnerability and anxiety. Really awful... I felt so incapable and anxious. Some respondents alluded to the potentially risky power relationship between landlords and young, low-income tenants, for example: We rented through a private landlord who started behaving in a threatening and intimidating manner. We had to move out quickly, with no alternative arrangements. One respondent said that when unable to nd a suitable place to live while studying, she moved in with junkies. Although to an extent it is inevitable that some people will need to make risky arrangements such as moving into an unsafe place or leaving an unsafe situation without a backup plan, the lack of affordable other options in Canberra clearly compounds these issues and prolongs the period between secure housing that these young people experience. LIVED IN A CAR FOR A WHILE, WAS HOMELESS FOR A WHILE LONGER. STAYED ON COUCHES WHEN I WAS LUCKY ITS FRIGHTENING, BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW HOW LONG YOU CAN LAST.

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Finding a place to live was so hard...I was so worried I would be living on the street,
Casey, university student

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Case Study
Casey, 18, could be considered a typical young Canberra university student. She loves spending time with her friends, and has worked at many places including a newsagency and is planning to care for older people at a nursing home. However, after a family breakdown, Casey experienced the tough reality of homelessness. Finding a place to live was so hard. I then went to Centrelink but it took so long to get anything done. I was so worried I would be living on the street, said Casey. I had so much trouble trying to get enough money just to pay rent. Centrelink didnt listen to anything I said and removed my side of the story from my report. It took about 3 to 4 months to get my independent youth allowance nalised and even though they paid me back for the time Id lost, my grades were signicantly impacted by the extra time I had spent at work, said Casey. Whilst waiting for her applications to be processed at Centrelink, Casey moved between a number of houses. She struggled with nding places to live especially due to her age and high rental costs. Casey utilised private rental accommodation for approximately 11 months. I couch surfed for a bit, then boarded at different places for a while. I found these through people at my church. They let me pay them back at a later stage if I didnt have the money. If it wasnt for these people, I would have been living on the street. After struggling for over a year to nd affordable and stable housing, Casey approached The Junction, an Anglicare-run Youth Health Service in Civic for help. The Junction recommended her to Our Place a partnership project of Anglicare and Barnados who provide supported accommodation for young people who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness and who are engaged in full time education. Due to Caseys university enrolment, she was accepted. I am so thankful to Anglicare and Our Place. They have given me a lovely place to live. It was so great to be able to move in and have my own place. They helped with the initial set up such as with sheets and towels so I didnt have to worry about that nancially, said Casey. Due to her newfound housing stability, Casey is now able to focus on her studies and is looking for a new part time job. It is wonderful being able to focus on my studies without worrying about nding a place to live. Our Place has really allowed that to happen, said Casey.
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Policy Implications
Policies to encourage more students to the ACT need to consider affordable housing needs of students. Expensive privately run student accommodation providers are not an adequate solution. Part of this issue is the denition of affordable as 75% of market rent, where major institutions are located in central and consequently expensive areas and even 75% of market rent is unaffordable to low income earners. Considering the ACT Governments wish to encourage more people to study in Canberra, it is important to take into account that many of these students are teenagers and it will be their rst time living away from home. Many rst-year undergraduate students are still emotionally and in some cases legally children, and therefore experience higher stress levels than those in later years (Ramsay et al, 2007:248). We must not set up a situation where young people with limited life experience are arriving in Canberra without appropriate supports to nd somewhere to live.
OF PARTICULAR CONCERN ARE THE FINDINGS IN THE 2011 CENSUS, WHICH FOUND THAT

Of particular concern are the ndings in the 2011 Census, which found that 70 in every 10,000 19-24 year olds in the ACT were homeless, up from 44 in 10,000 in 2006. This is double the rate of increase Australiawide. (ABS 2012, article 2049.0) One solution recommended by respondents in the survey was the Student Housing Co-Op model, which provides an affordable and pleasant environment for students to live without the signicant costs of constructing new college-style accommodation. On a national level, income support payments and in particular Commonwealth Rent Assistance payments are sadly inadequate, especially for students moving to cities with high rental costs such as Canberra. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute reported in 2002 that 70% of students who received at least $1 of Commonwealth Rent Assistance per fortnight felt that its availability had been a factor in their decision to study (Burke et. al., 2002). However, for illustrative purposes, the current maximum fortnightly rental assistance would be barely enough to rent a campsite for a fortnight in the ACT. While recipients are appreciative of all assistance they receive, in the context of the Canberra rental market, CRA is simply not sufcient to keep students out of poverty.

IN EVERY 10,000 19-24 YEAR OLDS IN THE ACT WERE HOMELESS, UP FROM

70

IN 10,000 IN 2006.

44

Future research needed

As a pilot study, this survey has revealed a range of very concerning results that deserve deeper and broader-scale investigation. It is clear that further research is needed to paint a more accurate picture of the current situation of Canberras tertiary students and the intersection between high rental costs, food insecurity, nancial stress and the lack of accessible public transport options. Further research should look at the inter-relationship of student housing and transport costs, including the pressure to own and run a private vehicle in Canberra. The food insecurity and nancial stress measures allude to some potentially serious underlying issues for health and well-being, so some more in-depth qualitative research into these poverty indicators is needed to esh-out this picture.
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Additionally, a larger sample is required to adequately capture certain groups, including CIT students, international students, Indigenous students, and to obtain a more representative gender balance among respondents. Furthermore, Anglicare in partnership with Barnados and the ACT Government, is delivering supported accommodation to students in full time study . It is appears this model is assisting in stabilising the lives of students who have experienced homelessness, ensuring they successfully complete their studies and enter the workforce. Further research could look at whether an expansion of this model is the best model for helping reduce the extent of tertiary student homelessness and associated impacts.

Conclusion
Given the large student population in the region, this pilot study into Housing Stress and Poverty Indicators amongst Tertiary Students in the ACT points to a concerning level of housing and financial stress. The extremely tight rental market both for standard rental and share houses means students are living in arrangements they can not afford, and taking significant time away from their studies in order to work and support themselves. It is clear that further research is needed to clarify the extent of these problems, particularly in light of government intentions to increase the number of people studying in the ACT. In order to preserve Canberras reputation as a city which welcomes tertiary students, the issues affecting their well-being and ability to study must be addressed. As a result of the findings of this pilot report, in additional to its annual Rental Affordability Snapshot, Anglicare recommends the following actions: Recommendations 1. ACT Government to look at expanding the Foyer Model of supported accommodations for tertiary students at high risk of homelessness THE EXTREMELY TIGHT RENTAL MARKET BOTH FOR STANDARD RENTAL AND SHARE HOUSES MEANS STUDENTS ARE LIVING IN ARRANGEMENTS THEY CAN NOT AFFORD, AND TAKING SIGNIFICANT TIME AWAY FROM THEIR STUDIES IN ORDER TO WORK AND SUPPORT THEMSELVES.

2. Adjusting Commonwealth Rent Assistance for tertiary students so that it takes into account regional factors such as the high cost of rent close to Canberra universities 3. Anglicare encourages governments to address structural issues in the tax regime discouraging affordable rental. The Federal Government needs to rethink negative gearing to ensure a social element is required for claiming. In other words, negative gearing may only be claimed on properties in which the tenant is a lowincome earner. 4. Encourage greater resourcing of bulk billing on-campus medical services including greater partnering with specialist health services for youth-at-risk such as Anglicares The Junction. 5. Ensure tertiary students can access existing emergency food and financial relief services and housing assistance.

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References
ABS (2011) 2050.0 Position Paper ABS Review of Counting the Homeless Methodology found at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@. nsf/0/90db868e528d3eebca2578df00228cee?opendocument ABS (2012) 2049.0 Estimating homelessness, 2011 found at http:// www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/2049.02011?OpenDocu ment#Data ABS (2010) 1308.8 In fACT Statistical information on the ACT and region, Dec 2010 found at http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/ Products/E148C4EFA043D699CA2577EE000C8884?opendocument Anglicare Australia (2012) Anglicare Australia Rental Affordability Snapshot, Canberra Anglicare Australia (2013), Anglicare Australia Rental Affordability Snapshot, Canberra. Boarini, R. & dErcole, M. (2006) Measures of Material Deprivation in OECD Countries OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Paper 37. Burke, T., Pinkney, S. & Ewing, S. (2002) Rent Assistance and Young Peoples Decision Making. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Swinburne-Monash Research Centre. Elo, I. et al (2009) Perceptions of Neighborhood Disorder: The Role of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics Soc Sci Q. 90(5), pp 1298-1320 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822409/#FN3 Hallett, R. (2010) Homeless: how residential instability complicates students lives, About Campus 15(3), pp. 11-16. Nepal, B., Tanton, R. & Harding, A. (2010) Measuring housing stress: how much do denitions matter? Urban Policy and Research 28(2), pp. 211-224. Rowley, S. & Ong, R. (2012) Housing affordability, housing stress and household wellbeing in Australia. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Western Australian Research Centre. Yates, J. & Gabriel, M. (2006) Housing affordability in Australia: National Research Venture 3: Housing Affordability for Lower Income Australians Research Paper 3. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Sydney Research Centre.
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Notes

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LIVING ON THE EDGE

Pilot study of housing stress and pover ty indicators amongst ter tiary students in the ACT