Migrants and refugees feel they are copping the brunt of Australia's housing ... trends now
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Migrants and refugees are finding it harder to put a roof over their heads while copping blame for Australia's housing crunch as rental vacancy rates plummet.
An Essential Research poll conducted for Settlement Services International (SSI) found 43 per cent of those with a migrant and refugee background were more likely to have experienced difficulty securing affordable housing in the past 12 months.
More than 1160 people were surveyed, including people of a migrant or refugee background as well as those born in Australia speaking English only.
The survey for the agency, tasked with resettling thousands of newly arrived refugees each year, also found more than a quarter (26 per cent) had been forced to leave a property due to rising housing costs in the past year.
Ariet Oko Agwa, an Ethiopian refugee who came to Australia about six years ago, was close to sleeping in her car in between Brisbane and the Gold Coast with her five-year-old son.
Ariet Oko Agwa was close to being homeless because of the lack of affordable housing.
They were saved at the last minute by members of her community, sleeping the night in a friend's garage.
'I almost became homeless and then one of the ladies (from the Ethiopian community) told me instead of
