Housing and health care: what Nicholls wants from next government

The second Social Justice Stocktake, released on February 20, highlights that Nicholls residents overwhelmingly identified housing affordability and homelessness as the most critical issues affecting their community’s wellbeing.

On par with the statewide statistics, 68.9 per cent of Nicholls voters saw housing affordability and homelessness as an issue, a figure that increased from 51 per cent in 2022, hinting at growing hunger for more affordable housing.

The report painted a stark picture: 704 individuals in Nicholls were homeless and desperately seeking shelter, while the community faced a shortfall of 3700 homes to meet housing demands.

Major Warren Elliott said the spike in concern about housing stemmed from a larger awareness.

“We’re all very aware of the cause of rising interest rates, and everyone talks about increase of interest rates more and the cost of rentals that have just skyrocketed over the last little while,” he said.

Mr Elliott said the housing crisis was pushing people, more than ever, to put their hands up for help.

“(The housing crisis) is pushing people to come and see us, or people hear more about neighbours or friends or family that are having to reach out to charities such as ourselves,” he said.

“Many of us who are reaching out to charities for help are doing it for the first time, many of whom are still working.

“(People) are still getting an income from a job — but because the cost of living has gone up so much, they’ve been being pushed into having to reach out for assistance for the first time, and we’re certainly seeing our numbers spiking in people that are coming to us for the first time.”

Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell said housing affordability came down to availability, renters being priced out and the government not being able to keep up with a need.

“Cost of living it makes it very difficult for people to afford housing when they’ve got so many other challenges like energy bills (and) food prices going up, and it’s all contributing to what I would acknowledge is a very difficult thing for people to deal with,” he said.

Access to health care was the second most pressing issue for people in Nicholls, the first appearance of the issue in the survey, and it was a concern shared across most of Australia’s electorates.

In Nicholls, 61.3 per cent identified it as an issue in the community, and 36.8 per cent when thinking about their own lives.

Of those surveyed, 45.6 per cent who saw a GP for urgent medical care waited for 24 hours or more, and seven per cent of people said cost was a reason for delaying a visit or not using a GP — a statistic up from 3.5 per cent from the previous survey.

Mr Birrell identified the root cause of the healthcare access issue in Nicholls as being a critical shortage of health professionals in regional areas.

This shortage has led to longer wait times and reduced availability of medical services for residents.

“Suburbs like Wollongong and Newcastle are being classified as regional areas, and we don’t think they are regional,” he said.

“I’ve heard stories of clinics losing three GPs overnight because they could go and make more money in Newcastle than part of the Goulburn Valley.”

The report highlights a shortage of bulk-billing options, with just one-third of clinics offering this service.

This scarcity is likely a key reason why many residents, particularly those managing family health needs, view healthcare access as a pressing concern in Nicholls.

However, Mr Birrell said “social justice” could not be achieved without economic prosperity.

“If we don’t have private businesses that are out there doing well, whether they’re in agriculture, mining or whatever it is, who are paying these taxes, then we don’t have money to care for the vulnerable, which is what we all want to do,” he said.

Mr Elliott said he hoped this report could be used as a “conversation starter” before the election.

“People can get a better sense of what’s happening in their community, and take away a sense that there is something that they can do and be involved in and do something about it,” he said.