Jamie Durie in town for multimillion-dollar Adelaide housing call
The federal government is spending tens of millions to build new homes in Adelaide – read why pollies invited a much-loved TV presenter to the announcement.
The federal government today pledged $50.8 million for crisis and transitional housing across South Australia, receiving the backing of TV presenter, best-selling author and designer Jamie Durie.
Under the commitment, 101 homes would be built by social and affordable housing group Junction Australia and other providers to support 2160 women and children escaping family and domestic violence, as well as young people at risk of homelessness.
Federal Housing and Homelessness Minister Clare O’Neil announced the new funding today at Junction’s Marltarra Tiny Homes campus in southern Adelaide, where there are currently 10 transportable homes for young people leaving out-of-home care without family support.
She stood alongside South Australian Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion and Durie, who is host of popular lifestyle show The Outdoor Room.
O’Neil said that amid a housing shortage, what particularly worries her is whether Australia has enough crisis accommodation for at-risk populations.
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“Every single one of these homes changes the lives of many people, and for many Australians who will use this housing, it will actually save their lives,” she said
“Modern construction means we can get these homes built in months, not years. These projects show exactly what building smarter and faster looks like on the ground.”
Champion said the state government would work alongside their federal counterparts to build homes for vulnerable South Australians.
“Whether it’s a young person leaving care or a woman and her children escaping violence, everyone deserves a safe place to call home and the foundation that stable housing gives people rebuild their life from there,” he said.
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O’Neill said New South Wales-based Durie was invited along to the launch because of his commitment to tackling Australia’s housing crisis, including as host of the Channel Nine show Future House.
Durie has hosted more than 52 primetime shows in more than 90 countries, including The Outdoor Room, Green Home TV, Outback Nation and Growing Home, as well as spending four years as a guest designer on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He is also a horticulturist, landscape designer and furniture designer.
He said the Marltarra campus was an “incredible initiative” but “just the beginning of what’s needed here for the housing crisis”.
“We’ve got 1.2 million homes to build in the next five years – we’re about 300 trades short of achieving that target. We’ve got to get more tradesmen out there educated, and I think we’ve got to start developing more education in the sustainability field,” he said.
According to the South Australian government’s Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, in Australia, one in four women and one in seven men have experienced violence or abuse from a partner. One woman is killed by her partner every 11 days.
Data from the 2021 census showed there were 122,494 people experiencing homelessness across the country, with those aged 12 to 24 years of age making up 23 per cent or 28,174 of those.
It comes on top of the federal government’s $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, with $13.4 million going to social and affordable housing provider Junction to expand its Marltarra campus.
Junction Australia CEO Maria Palumbo said the campus was a “game changer”.
“These are kids without family support or strong connections”, she said, adding that for teenagers to “have their own space to navigate what it’s like to have a house of their own, but in such a space that keeps them safe”.
Of the 55,000 social and affordable homes the federal government has pledged to build across Australia, 7200 are complete, with another 23,000 at the planning or construction stage.
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