MELBOURNE, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Rental affordability in Melbourne has hit an all-time low, according to a government report released on Friday.
The report, compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS), found that 5.7 percent of rental properties that hit the market in the first quarter of 2017 were deemed affordable, the lowest figure in the 17-year history of the report.
In comparison, more than 16 percent of new rentals were affordable when the report was first compiled in 2000.
The DHHS defines affordable as costing less than 30 percent of government assistance.
The median weekly rent in the Victoria State has increased 75.7 percent since 2007 while household income grew just 38.8 percent during the same time.
Adrian Pisarski, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of housing affordability advocacy firm National Shelter, said slow wage growth was responsible for the lack of affordable housing.
He said recently introduced government incentives such as tax breaks for investors in public would not have an impact for three to five years.
"In the meantime, I would suspect that these numbers (would) keep deteriorating," Piskari told Australian media on Friday.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data obtained via the 2016 census found that social housing in Australia had dropped to the lowest level in 60 years.
Dandenong, in Melbourne's south-east, experienced the biggest drop in affordable housing from 58.1 percent in the first quarter of 2000 to 8.5 17 years later.
Kate Colvin, policy and communications manager for Council to Homeless Persons, said rental affordability was the main driver of rising homelessness in Victoria.
"It's just indicative of broader government policy failure," Colvin said.
"The way the tax incentives are structured means there are more incentives to invest at the more expensive end of the market."
