Essential workers unable to afford to rent alone almost anywhere in Australia, report shows

Protesters at an aged care workers’ strike in Brisbane last year. In the past three years, typical rents across the country have gone up by more than $100 a week. That means essential workers have lost an average of six hours from their weekly income - an average of 37 days each year - on rent increases. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Soaring rents have made living alone impossible for Australia’s essential workers: new research shows some would have to spend around two-thirds of their income to afford a place on their own.

Comparing the average weekly unit rents against award wages for 15 essential jobs, the national housing campaign Everybody’s Home found there were virtually no regions of Australia where a single full-time essential worker, such as those in aged care, early childhood or nursing, could afford to rent by themselves.