The St Vincent de Paul Society is working to make homelessness and affordable housing a key issue of this year’s federal election in Australia according to a post in the Catholic Leader of Australia.

The society’s national chief executive officer Dr John Falzon called for that as he welcomed the Federal Government’s recent announcement that it would establish a working group to improve and increase Australia’s stock of social and affordable housing.

“It is good to see the Government engaging on the vital issue of social and affordable housing,” Dr Falzon said.

“The St Vincent de Paul Society has been calling for an increase in the stock of social and affordable housing to address the significant waiting lists that exist across Australia.”

Dr Falzon said the society would like to see a broader working group to include community organisations such as the St Vincent de Paul Society “who work on the ground helping the people who are affected by the systemic lack of social and affordable housing”.

“The society believes this is an excellent opportunity to focus on housing and homelessness as a key issue for the 2016 election,” he said.

“Each party must have a policy to address the homelessness and affordable housing crisis that many Australians deal with on a day-to-day basis.

“The society looks forward to the opportunity to contribute to this process in order to find real and lasting solutions.”