The rental crisis gripping Australia is escalating, with little hope of relief in sight.

According to property research firm Cotality, rental affordability is at a record low. The median household is forced to spend 33 percent of its income to rent a median-valued home. Cotality’s Quarterly Rental Review indicated that the median weekly rent rose from $200 to $665 in the past five years.

While rural communities are seeing a faster rate of increase, prices in the state capitals remain dangerously high. Sydney holds the highest median rent for a state capital, coming in at $792 per week. Hobart is the lowest at $580.

Meanwhile, rental vacancy rates sit at 1.6 percent, just a hairbreadth off the historic low of 1.5 percent recorded in early 2024.

These figures are great for those looking to rent out properties. But they are a nightmare for those looking to put a roof over their heads.

Unable to buy into an increasingly overpriced housing market, the average Aussie is being forced to find an additional $10,000 per year to keep off the streets. And it is highly unlikely that the nation will find help in the arms of the government. In fact, announcements out of Canberra this week are paving the way for rental prices to increase even further.

Government to the Rescue

This month the Australian government announced it will boost the amount of international student visas by 25,000 in 2026. According to the Bureau of Statistics, the number of international students has already more than tripled over the last 20 years. Last year there was a record 608,262 people in Australia living on student visas.

These students all need housing, and many come intending to stay after their studies. With net overseas arrivals increasing and rental vacancies dropping, rental prices are expected to keep rising.

Government rate cuts and first homeowner schemes designed to tempt more people into the overpriced housing market are not enough. And promises of building more government homes simply don’t match the realities of the available materials and tradesmen.

With mass migration, the demand is just too high. In Western Australia, for instance, 20,500 homes were built in 2024—the most in seven years. Yet there remains a shortfall of 7,700 rental homes. Rental prices are increasing five times faster than wages. The state government is promising more public housing. The current wait time is 151 weeks.

Other commonwealth nations have taken a different approach.

Canada put a freeze on immigration, which has helped slow rising prices. In New Zealand, the government of Jacinda Ardern banned the sale of existing properties to nonresidents (except Australians), which has also helped prices.

But when prices fall, the crisis hits homeowners. Many homeowners carry heavy mortgages. Some have portfolios with multiple homes. A drop in value would ruin many peoples’ nest egg.

So rental prices keep going up. Availability keeps dropping. Demand is not met, and homelessness increases.

Sicknesses and Cures

One thing is clear: The economy is sick. Society is sick. And our governments lack the cure.

So what is the rental remedy? Where can we find it? How about on some 2,000-year-old parchments? Incredible, but true! The biblical text of Isaiah is full of promises, warnings and prophecies—news in advance. It is an end-time book (Isaiah 30:8), meaning it is for our day today. It’s amazing that a description of our world is written on the Dead Sea Scrolls, penned in 200 b.c.

But can it help an Australian who is struggling to make ends meet, put food on the table, and keep a roof over his family’s head? You bet.

Notice Isaiah 1:5-6: “Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

Sadly, Isaiah’s prophecy gets even worse. Remember, this was written for the end time. Isaiah is describing a sickness that pervades our world.

Why does a blessed country like Australia have tens of thousands of homeless people? Why is the Aussie dream of owning a home evaporating before the eyes of the next generation? Isn’t it clear our society is sick?

The book of Isaiah doesn’t mention rent, government housing or tenancy agreements. What it does mention is far more important. Another translation gives a little more clarity: “Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? …” (New Living Translation).

Rebel against what? Against God and His laws. Throughout the Bible, God promises to bless us individually and nationally if we obey. He also promises to punish us if we forget Him. He wants a close and loving relationship with mankind and will do whatever it takes to bring back His wayward children. He will keep increasing the punishment until we listen.

Man will soon be made to listen, obey and be blessed, including financially.

In The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like, Herbert W. Armstrong described what society will be like when people keep God’s law. Instead of lives consumed with financial burdens, working paycheck to paycheck, sleeping in cars, and scrounging to get by, we will experience “vigorous, vibrant good health, filled with dynamic interest in life, enthusiastic interest in constructive activities bringing happiness and joy. There would be cleanliness, vigorous activity, real progress, no slums, no degenerate backward races or areas of Earth.”

And here is the kicker: Those blessings are on offer right now to those willing to listen. God lays out His desire in 3 John 1:2: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

If you want prosperity, health and many other blessings God offers, request a free subscription to the Trumpet magazine. There are no get-rich-quick schemes inside. Instead, you’ll find the Bible-based solutions to the varied crises afflicting the world today. You’ll find God’s clear and decisive instruction on how to avoid the problems of our society and how to live in peace and abundance.