00:00Our members stack the shelves, they serve the meals and they pack the parcels.
00:06We keep Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Hunter running.
00:10But too many of us can't afford to live in the communities which we work in.
00:15More than half of our members are renters and nearly 7 out of 10 have either taken on a second
00:21job or have downsized just to stay afloat.
00:25Home ownership feels increasingly out of reach and one in three of our members are cutting back on essentials just
00:33to afford the rent.
00:34This is a system in crisis.
00:38I'm a site manager. I work in the petrol inconvenience sector.
00:42About 75% of my wage goes just to paying our rent.
00:46You can't save money. You just worry.
00:48You have to then pick and choose what bill you're not paying this week.
00:51And the rent is always going to come first because you've got to have a roof over your head, but
00:55you're probably not going to eat as well as you'd like.
00:57You're working to survive. You're not working to live.
01:01It's an existence. It's not a life.
01:04Home ownership is just never going to happen for us.
01:07There's no way we can support a mortgage.
01:09It's depressing.
01:12If I'm spending at least 30 to 40% of my income on rent, for some of my staff I
01:18know it's been substantially more than that.
01:20I spent about three months couch surfing while running a business.
01:25I've had staff actually have to leave Newcastle for not being able to find affordable housing.
01:31You shouldn't have to move hours away from your job just to pay the rent.
01:36We were being called essential during the pandemic, but now we're being priced out.
01:43I've actually lost really good employees.
01:46One of my team members, she was living in a rather substandard house that had a lot of damp and
01:52mold.
01:53When the owner decided to sell it, she had nowhere to go.
01:56She's a single mother.
01:57She's back living with her elderly parents because she can't afford a house.
02:01She doesn't make enough money, but she makes too much money to qualify for public housing.
02:06So we're the working poor.
02:09I guess you could call us.
02:13Any day I could get that notice to vacate, and that stresses me out enormously.
02:19Those are the things that keep a person up at night.
02:21I have a lot of customers who are homeless because they lost their houses.
02:27People live in their cars, and they can't find anywhere to live around here.
02:32Nobody wants to live in their car.
02:34Nobody.
02:35And nobody should be forced into that situation.
02:38Something has to change.
02:40So my time couch surfing was a little bit destabilizing.
02:44It was definitely not something that I hoped for anyone.
02:51The SDA is calling for action on the investment in social and affordable housing in Newcastle,
02:58the Hunter, and the Central Coast, including major developments like Broadmeadow.
03:03The development in the area, it seems not to be catering towards those of us who need that affordability.
03:11Those of us who work at retail, in hospitality.
03:14You know, we're out there.
03:16We're there when you need us.
03:17We need our wages to also work for us.
03:22So that we don't have to worry about starving to death or being homeless.
03:26If there was more affordable housing, things would be a lot more equitable for everybody.
03:32Housing is, it should be, a basic human right.
03:37The New South Wales government has committed $6.6 billion to tackling the housing crisis.
03:45It's time our community got its fair share.
03:48We don't just want announcements.
03:50We need delivery.
03:52If you work here, you should be able to live here.
04:01We'll be right back to the future.
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