This report, a companion piece to the Rental affordability snapshot: national report 2025, examines affordability of rental properties for Australians who earn the lowest incomes. It tests if it is possible for essential workers to rent a home in the private market. The snapshot surveyed 51,238 rental listings across the country and measured them against the maximum affordable rent for Australians on the minimum wage and Commonwealth income support payments.

The sixteen categories of essential workers covered in the report are: aged care worker, ambulance officer, childcare worker, cleaner, construction worker, delivery driver, dispatcher, firefighter, freight driver, hospitality worker, meat packer, nurse, postal worker, retail worker, school teacher, and social and community services worker.

The report calls for bolder action to tackle the housing crisis, including reforming tax handouts for investors, making real investment in new social housing and creating nationally consistent protections for renters.

Key findings

• Three of the sixteen worker types profiled could afford greater than 2% of the rental listings.
• Affordability was worst for early childhood educators, hospitality workers and meat packers, who could afford just 0.8% of the rental listings.
• 850 (1.7%) were affordable for an aged care worker.
• 575 rentals (1.1%) were affordable for a cleaner.
• 417 rentals (0.8%) were affordable for a hospitality worker.
• 1,672 rentals (3.3%) were affordable for a teacher.
• In most regional areas, less than 5% of rentals were affordable for a cleaner.