HOMELESSNESS WEEK – CONSTITUENT STATEMENT - WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST 2026

This month, we mark Homelessness Week.

Every night, more than 122,000 Australians do not have a place to call home.

This is a national tragedy.

A tragedy too long ignored by the Liberal and National parties.

A decade of Coalition Government. A decade of inaction on housing.

Because housing is not just a roof over your head.

Housing is the key to improved health, education and financial outcomes.

A life of independence, confidence and belonging.

A life every Australian deserves.

I recently attended the 10-year anniversary of Bennett Street Lodge in East Perth.

Bennett Street Lodge is a social and affordable housing complex run by the excellent community housing provider, Foundation Housing.

I met Robert.

Robert is one of 328 people who have called Bennett Street Lodge home over the past decade.

For 20 years, Robert struggled with addiction and homelessness.

He was one of the Lodge’s first residents.

And now, ten years later, it is still his home.

But more than that.

He has found community. Opportunity. Aspiration.

Robert is now studying a Master of Science and Mathematics.

His story shows what is possible when someone has a safe and secure place to call home.

Housing changes lives.

And when the Albanese Labor Government came to government in 2022, we chose to act.

We chose real delivery.