Housing policy framework

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A brief history of Government housing assistance

In 1943, the Commonwealth Housing Commission was appointed by the Commonwealth Government to evaluate the condition of Australia’s housing stock. Due to the combined impact of the Great Depression and the use of labour and building materials in supporting the war effort, appropriate and secure housing was incredibly scarce during this time (Dufty‑Jones 2018). In response to Australia’s sizable housing shortage, the government began to provide people with adequate housing, to foster economic development and replace the tenement housing present at the time (Troy 2012; Macintyre 2015).

In 1944, the Commonwealth Housing Commission reported a shortage of some 300,000 dwellings and advised the Commonwealth to provide housing to overcome this housing deficit (Pawson et al. 2020). This advice would later result in the establishment of the first Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement (CSHA) in 1945.

The CSHA was an agreement between the Commonwealth and states/territories to provide funds for the construction of new dwellings. As a result, social housing provision from governments became a more prominent aspect of the housing landscape. The original 1945 CSHA has been updated numerous times, with the 2003 CSHA being the final revision, before it was officially replaced by the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) in 2009 (Parliament of Australia 2017). The NAHA was later superseded by the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement in 2018 (DSS 2022a).

Historically, social housing was built to stimulate the economy, provide people with secure accommodation, and facilitate participation in the workforce (Pawson et al. 2020). As such, access to social housing was made available to predominantly working families on very low, low, and moderate incomes (Groenhart et al. 2014; Yates 2013). However, from 1956 to 1973, the Government’s housing strategy shifted towards encouraging home ownership and supporting low-income households in the private rental market. In 1973, income eligibility limits were introduced to social housing households, signifying the beginning of the shift towards the current policy where social housing are allocations partly based on need (Yates 2013).

By the 1999 CSHA, a greater emphasis was placed on helping families and individuals that could not be housed in the private market. Accordingly, a key feature of the 1999 CSHA was providing housing assistance according to need, classified by income, rather than security of tenure (DSS 2015).

With the introduction of the NAHA in 2009, provision of social housing focused on assisting households experiencing disadvantage, and more complex needs – or in other words, people who are in greatest need, especially people experiencing homelessness (Pawson et al. 2020).

Current policy landscape

National Housing and Homelessness Agreement

The National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA) contributes to improving access to affordable, safe, and sustainable housing across the housing spectrum, including to prevent and address homelessness, and to support social and economic participation. It is a mutual agreement between the Australian and state and territory governments (FFR 2018).

The NHHA came into effect on 1 July 2018, replacing previous funding agreements with states and territories including, the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) supported by the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH).

The new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness (the Agreement) was signed in May 2024. The Agreement will support the operation of Australia’s social housing and homelessness services sectors. The Agreement is underpinned by a new outcomes framework along with improvements to data and reporting.

The Australian Government will provide approximately $1.7 billion in 2023–24 to state and territory governments for housing and homelessness services (COA 2023).

In addition to the NHHA, the Australian Government will provide $187.5 million to state and territory governments through National Partnership payments for housing and essential services, and remote housing programs.

National Housing and Homelessness Plan

The Australian Government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan to identify steps that can be taken to address housing issues in Australia. The National Housing and Homelessness Plan (the Plan) is being developed in collaboration with key stakeholders including state and territory governments. It will be informed by advice provided by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council and the range of housing and homelessness issues heard through consultations and written submissions to the consultation process (DSS 2024).

National Housing Supply and Affordability Council

The Council provides independent, evidence-based expert advice to Government on housing supply and affordability matters (NHSAC 2024). The Council builds the evidence base for national housing policy through its research, housing supply and demand forecasts, and by working to improve data availability and quality. The Council also engages with, and learns from, the diverse perspectives of stakeholders who are equally committed to achieving real reform in the housing system. The Council reports annually to the Minister for Housing on its research and the state of the housing system.

National Housing Accord

The National Housing Accord (2022) brings together all levels of government, investors and the residential development, building and construction sector to unlock quality, affordable housing supply over the medium term. The Accord recognises the need for more housing to be provided by the market, with government playing a pivotal role in the investment of building affordable housing that is close to services and other amenities.

Australian Government funding of at least $72 million per year by 2028–29, indexed from 2029–30, will help support the delivery of 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024. Additionally, state and territory governments have committed to deliver up to 10,000 new affordable homes, supporting a total of up to 20,000 new affordable homes under the Accord (Treasury 2024).

There are a range of programs designed to help reach the Accord’s targets:

  • Housing Support Program
    • $500 million initiative to help kick start housing supply, including connecting essential services and amenities to support new housing development or building planning capability.
    • In the 2024-25 Budget, an expansion of this program was announced, with a further $1 billion being made available to states and territories to deliver new housing- including for connecting essential services. This brings the total funding for the Housing Support Program to $1.5 billion.

  • National Planning Reform Blueprint

    • Outlines planning, zoning, land release and other measures to improve housing supply and affordability.

  • New Home Bonus

    • $3 billion to help incentivise states and territories to build more than their share of the targets listed under the Accord.

Housing Australia

Housing Australia (formerly the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation) has primary responsibility for delivering key programs which form the Government’s housing agenda including increasing the supply of social and affordable housing and helping Australians realise homeownership sooner.

Housing Australia is responsible for delivering Australian Government commitments to fund 30,000 new social and affordable dwellings through the Housing Australia Future Fund (Department of Finance 2024), and an additional 10,000 affordable homes through the National Housing Accord (Treasury 2023).

Housing Australia Future Fund

The Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), a $10 Billion investment fund, was established in November 2023.

The Australian Government established the HAFF to provide a sustainable funding source to increase the supply of social and affordable housing.

The income generated by the HAFF will provide a minimum annual disbursement of $500 million per year, indexed from 2029-30, to support delivery of 20,000 new social and 10,000 new affordable homes over five years and to fund a range of acute housing needs.

Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator

The Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA) provides low-cost and longer-term loans to registered community housing providers, supporting more social and affordable housing. In the 2024-25 Budget, the Government is increasing the line of credit to Housing Australia by $3 billion, and increasing Housing Australia’s liability cap by $2.5 billion to $10 billion support ongoing delivery of the AHBA program.

National Housing Infrastructure Facility

The National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) was originally established as a $1 billion facility that provides finance for eligible infrastructure projects that will unlock new housing supply, particularly affordable housing.

The Government expanded the remit of the NHIF to allow for more flexible use of $575 million of existing funds to help unlock new social and affordable dwellings and attract more institutional capital to the sector.

The NHIF is also receiving an additional $1 billion in federal funding to support crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children experiencing domestic violence, and for youth. This funding will have a higher allocation to up-front grants to support states and territories and community housing providers to deliver more housing for these cohorts.

Capacity building for the social and affordable housing sector

The Government is providing $2.1 million from 2024-25 to build the capacity of community housing providers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled housing organisations, assisting these organisations to engage with the Government's housing financing programs and improve their delivery of housing.

Government housing assistance expenditure

In 2022–23, Australian Government funding for the NHHA and related agreements was $3.8 billion (of which $1.6 billion was for the NHHA). An additional $4.7 billion was spent on Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA). In 2020–21, this figure was $5.4 billion due to pandemic-related measures. In 2022–23, state and territory social housing net recurrent expenditure was $4.9 billion, an increase of $0.1 billion from the previous financial year. State and territory government social housing capital (non-recurrent) expenditure was $3.5 billion in 2022–23 (Productivity Commission 2024).

In the 2024–25 Budget, the Government increased the maximum rates of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by a further 10 per cent, at a cost of $1.9 billion. Subject to the passage of legislation, the 10 per cent increase will be implemented on 20 September 2024, with regular indexation to occur on top of this on the same day.

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