ACT students doing it tough and sleeping rough

ACT Shelter executive officer Leigh Watson says high rental prices in Canberra, coupled with housing shortages, is making it hard for students to find accommodation.

“Once upon a time, students would get together and have a group house,” she said. “That is increasingly expensive and increasingly difficult. Because it's a tight market, as well as an expensive market, landlords are more inclined to rent out to people who they believe are more stable, like families.”

Not only did this make students vulnerable to exploitation, Ms Watson said, it also meant they sometimes took drastic measures to find shelter.

“We've heard from a few sources there are students, mostly international students, who are sleeping around campuses at the universities in the 24-hour areas, like the computer labs and the libraries,” she said.

Ms Watson said student welfare groups had avoided raising the issue with university authorities, fearing that campus security guards would “kick people out”.

“So they [welfare groups] have gone about it in another way, to try and control the problem at that level,” she said.

ANU Students' Association president Aleks Sladojevic said her organisation had “not received any official reports” of students sleeping in 24-hour areas.

“We have nevertheless engaged in a poster campaign to raise awareness about the supports available to students who might be sleeping in 24-hour areas such as libraries and computer labs,” she said.

ANUSA was “acutely aware” of the challenges facing students living in Canberra, Ms Sladojevic said, and undertook initiatives to distribute food and financial aid to students in need.

“Earlier this month, Universities Australia released survey results which indicated that in 2012, more than 80 per cent of full-time undergraduate students had to find a job to support themselves,” she said.

“Seventeen per cent of those surveyed said they regularly went without food or other necessities.”

Ms Sladojevic said the issue of homelessness could be addressed by ensuring there were adequate financial supports in place for students.

“It is also important to ensure that there are affordable accommodation options available,” she said. “We should be encouraging initiatives such as the Canberra Student Housing Co-Op [which] provide affordable living arrangements for students.”

Founded in October 2011, the Canberra Student Housing Co-Op at Havelock House in Turner offers 29 rooms to students in a share-house style communal set-up.

Co-op co-director Georgia Ginnivan said the scheme was a much more affordable solution than ANU-affiliated options such as UniLodge, which cost upwards of $230 per week.

“Even though [UniLodge] expanded and there's a lot more rooms now, because it's so expensive, they're not getting filled…[so] they've totally missed the market on what actually needs to occur,” she said.

The co-op hoped to eventually expand outside Havelock House, according to co-director Meg Thomas-Richards.

“The thing that's really holding us back is property,” she said. “As soon as we have property, it would be easier to expand, but we don't really have the capacity to buy property ourselves, it would have to be provided by the ACT government or ANU.”

An education committee report into student housing in August 2012 had recommended that “the ACT government explore developing student co-operative models…with ANU or UC and report to the Legislative Assembly”.

Ms Watson said the report's recommendations were good, but added “there needs to be action”.

“We feel the government's response in accepting the recommendations is a little bit watered down,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ms Ginnivan said there “has been signs” that the ANU would support an expansion of the co-op.

“But in what capacity is still to be figured out…the most secure way of getting that done is getting that capital to invest for the long term, rather than cannibalising other groups,” she said.

“That's just a matter of constant negotiation, and so far the ANU hasn't really been formally interested in engaging with us. But that's not to say it's not going to happen.”