Essential workers being priced out of rental market, report shows

Essential workers are being priced out of Australia's private rental market as affordability plummets, new research shows.

Anglicare's annual Rental Affordability Snapshot has revealed key occupations, including retail workers, social workers and cleaners, can afford fewer than 1 per cent of rental listings.

Other essential jobs, such as nursing and teaching, are not faring much better, with just 1.1 and 3.3 per cent of listings deemed affordable, respectively.

Social worker Allie Thompson is about to move into a new rental in inner north Brisbane for $740 per week, which will take up about half of her income.

The single mother has chosen to stop taking some of her medications to be able to afford the shift.

"I just avoid going to the doctor's as much as I can unless it's absolutely urgent, and I haven't been to the dentist in probably 10 years," she said.

"My son is the priority, so he gets the dentist, he gets the medical appointments and the mental health appointments.

"I'll choose that any day, but that means I've had to cut back on those other things that are still important."

Silvia Laing has worked as a nurse for more than 40 years, and now supports cancer patients living at home.

The 64-year-old pays $550 a week for rent in Albany, WA, which she splits with her partner.

Ms Laing said that constitutes about a third of her income.

"Holidays are one thing that I've had pretty much cut, and going out for meals has reduced considerably," she said.

"Accommodation and health are on the top priority list, and everything that's somewhat luxury is just not going to be afforded."

Anglicare's own staff are not immune to the impact of rental prices in the north west of WA.

Meenaaz Adams is the organisation's new Pilbara Service Manager and has only just found a rental, eight weeks after moving to the town of Karratha.

Ms Adams was provided with a month of accommodation but did not realise how difficult securing a long-term home would be.

"We thought that 'oh we'll secure something in four weeks'," she said.

"No, we were declined three times, something I've never experienced."

Increased demand from resource companies had put pressure on the local market, with the average weekly rent sitting at around $1,700.

Wages not keeping up with rent

The Anglicare report surveyed 48,776 rental listings across Australia, measuring each property against the full-time minimum wage for workers in 16 essential occupations.

Of the jobs included in the research, only three saw an increase in affordability compared to 2025, while the other 13 either decreased or remained stagnant.

For a hospitality worker in the Northern Territory, there are no affordable rentals available in the state.

Elsewhere, only 338 listings remained.

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said wage growth had not kept up with rent increases in recent years.

"We would have had a social contract or an understanding some years ago that if you worked full-time, if you trained for these kinds of jobs, you would be able to find affordable housing," she said.

"You would be able to live a decent, if not opulent, lifestyle. That's no longer the case."

Data from real estate analyst Cotality showed unit rents have increased by 44.3 per cent in the last five years, while house rents have gone up by 36.6 per cent.

Ms Chambers said wages have increased by less than half that rate in the same period.

"For those who are paying in the private rental market, sadly, most of that increase has just been swallowed up by rents."

Calls for more social housing

Ms Chambers said the growing disparity between wages and rental affordability was due to an over-reliance on the private market to deliver housing.

"Over the last 40 years in Australia, consecutive governments have stopped building and funding housing," she said.

"We don't necessarily need to build more houses, but what we need to do is build more social housing or shift some pre-existing housing into social housing.

"That's what we need in order to enable these people on these wages to rent affordably."

The federal housing minister was contacted for comment.

Ms Thompson said it was sometimes difficult to justify staying in her profession when money is tight.

"There have been times where I've felt like I'm giving to the community and I'm trying to support our community and the government doesn't care.

"I want to show up and do this job, but why am I in this job if it's not paying as well as it needs to be paying for me to actually have access to those other things I require as well?"