Sad reality of renting in Australia
'I was young so I didn't know these weren't things that were not OK to have as a condition,' Ms Preston said.
After escaping an unsafe home as a teenager, Ms Preston, now 22 and studying at university in Canberra, has moved nine times in just three years, spending part of that time in shelters and on the streets.
Despite finally landing in a stable home, the cost of rent has left her making impossible choices just to stay afloat.
'I usually skip lunch or breakfast, I went to the chemist for cold and flu tablets this week and I could afford it this time but I never know about next time,' she said.
'I always have in the back of my mind, will I have to drop out of uni again and go back to full-time work?
'The worst thing is, my story isn't uncommon.' Cities once considered affordable have been hit the hardest according to a new report. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia
Ms Preston is far from alone.
A new report by national housing campaign Everybody's Home lays bare the worsening rental crisis in Australia.
The Out of Reach report, released on Wednesday, reveals average weekly rents in capital cities have surged 57 per cent from $473 in 2015 to $742 in 2025.
The sharpest increases came just in the past three years with a rise of 34 per cent.
Meanwhile, the proportion of social housing has plummeted to a record low of 4.1 per cent, down from 4.7 per cent in 2013.
In cities once considered affordable, the situation is even more dire.
Rents in Adelaide have jumped 81 per cent over the last 10 years, with Hobart not far behind at 76 per cent.
'This is a national crisis that is now pricing out everyday people right across the country. This report paints a clear picture of the damage that has been done, and without change it will only get worse,' Everybody's Home spokeswoman Maiy Azize said.
'As the federal government has walked away from providing housing, more and more people are being forced into an already strained private rental market which then pushes up rents right across the board.
'With more Australians renting than ever before and being priced out of the private housing market, the need for more low-cost rentals is essential.' Everybody's Home spokeswoman Maiy Azize says more people are being forced into an already strained rental market. Credit: Supplied
Ms Preston has fought for years to remain housed while juggling studies and scraping by on Centrelink payments of just under $900 a fortnight, less than her $1000 rent.
'The worst thing is it's also not just rents increasing, it's the cost of moving multiple times,' she said.
Ms Preston has fought back, starting petitions to change the dispute handling process, and facing landlords at the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
But the system, she says, is stacked against renters.
'Sometimes tenants need to know their rights better than agents,' she said.
'If you have a concession card you get your fees covered but just because someone doesn't have a concession card doesn't mean they can afford to go to the tribunal.
'And even if the landlord pays the fine, they can just kick you out at the end of the lease so no one wants to face that.' Ms Preston said the dispute handling process is stacked against renters. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia
She believes many Australians underestimate how widespread housing insecurity has become.
'People look down on those on Centrelink, but most of us don't want to be on it.'
Everybody's Home is calling on the federal government to act decisively to set ambitious social housing targets and make proper investments to fix the crisis.
'If we want one in ten homes to be social housing, we need to build an extra 54,000 social homes every year for 20 years,' Ms Azize said.
'We need government action that matches the scale of the housing crisis. Australian governments have stepped up and mobilised during other emergencies, from Covid-19 to natural disasters,
'Housing should be no different.'
For Ms Preston, the solution is clear.
'We need rent caps Australia wide … we need proper investment in social housing.'
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