The proportion of overcrowded households in public housing has remained stable at around 4–5% between 2014 and 2019. Overcrowding in community housing has remained at around 4% over the same time period, during a period of considerable growth in overall stock levels (Supplementary table SUITABILITY.2). See Social housing dwellings section for further information.
Nationally, the proportion of overcrowded households in SOMIH decreased from 10% in 2014 to 9% in 2016. The addition of over 5,000 remote public housing dwellings in the Northern Territory to the SOMIH data collection from 2017 increased the overcrowding counts and proportions (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.2). This is reflected in the most recent data which show that overcrowding levels for SOMIH in Australia have been stable for the last three reporting periods, at around one-quarter (24–25%) of SOMIH households.
Location
The proportion of households in overcrowded dwellings varied across social housing programs, states and territories and remoteness areas. At 30 June 2019:
- In the Northern Territory, 7% of public housing households were living in overcrowded dwellings, as were 5% of those in the Australian Capital Territory.
- The number of overcrowded households in public housing dwellings in NSW decreased from 5,100 to 3,300 over the years 2014 to 2019.
- Over half of SOMIH households in the Northern Territory experienced overcrowding (54%), down from 56% in 2017.
- For community housing, 4% of households in New South Wales were experiencing overcrowding, down from 6% in 2014 (Supplementary table SUITABILITY.3).
Overcrowding in Indigenous households
Generally, the CNOS model is a useful tool for assessing overcrowding and it allows comparison between different population groups using the same standard. However, as noted earlier, this method may not be appropriate for measuring overcrowding within the Indigenous context. The measure may not reflect the specific cultural and behavioural factors that influence household size such as a strong connection to family and a culture of sharing accommodation. It may also not reflect that Indigenous household sizes can fluctuate due to temporary or semi-permanent visitors (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a focus report on housing and homelessness) (AIHW 2019).
At 30 June 2019, there were 2,600 overcrowded Indigenous households living in public housing, representing almost 1 in 12 (8%) total Indigenous public housing households (Supplementary table SUITABILITY.4). From 2014 to 2018, there was a decline in the proportion of overcrowded Indigenous households in public housing (from 10% to 8%); with 200 fewer Indigenous households in overcrowded housing. This decrease was over a time when the number of Indigenous households in public housing increased by 4,200, from 28,700 to 32,800 respectively.
There has been little change in the distribution of overcrowded Indigenous public housing households across remoteness areas. Similar to previous years, at 30 June 2019 Indigenous households in public housing dwellings in Very remote (10%) and Remote areas (10%) were more likely be in overcrowded housing compared with Major cities (8%) (Figure SUITABILITY.3).
At 30 June 2019, 1 in 4 Indigenous SOMIH households were living in overcrowded conditions (25%, or 3,400). The proportion of overcrowded SOMIH Indigenous households generally increased with increasing remoteness. Half of households in Very remote (50%) and 31% of those in Remote areas were living in overcrowded conditions, compared with 8% of those living in Major cities. This is consistent with 2018, when remoteness area data for SOMIH included the Northern Territory for the first time (for further information, please see Data quality statements).