Rob Stokes, Anglicare Sydney Chief Advocacy Officer comments on RBA decision to lift rates to 15 year high

Commenting to the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia today to lift interest rates to a 15 year high to 4.6 per cent, Dr Rob Stokes, Chief Advocacy Officer, Anglicare Sydney said:

“This rate rise will be felt hardest by people already living on the edge because an unwelcome consequence of falling property prices is increasing rents.

“The banks pass on rate rises. Landlords pass on higher costs. Developers pass up new housing opportunities. But people on low incomes have nobody left to pass the burden onto.

“Anglicare Sydney’s housing research found only 1% of rentals across Greater Sydney were affordable for people on low incomes. All of this means that the cost-of-living squeeze on middle Australia has a vice-like grip on those on the margins.

“The Reserve Bank has a job to do on inflation, but governments can make sure the people with the least are protected. The surest way to do that is to keep building social and affordable housing."

-ENDS-

Media Contact:
Dylan Malloch
Anglicare Sydney
Head of Media & Communications
M: 0492 044 981
E: dylan.malloch@anglicare.org.au

About Anglicare Sydney:
Anglicare Sydney is a Christian non-for-profit providing care to older people and community services throughout Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra, Southern Highlands, New England North West, Central West and Norfolk Island.

Anglicare has been serving those in need for more than 160 years, employing more than 5,000 staff and serving alongside 1,300 volunteers.

Anglicare provides a diverse range of services including providing care through residential aged care homes, at home care services, retirement living communities, affordable homes for people over 55, community services for children, families and those experiencing social isolation, disaster recovery in times of crisis and helping effecting change through research and advocacy.