Occupants

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Key findings

In 2022–23:

  • Around 824,000 occupants were living in Australia’s main social housing programs. The majority (67%) were in public housing.
  • Most social housing occupants resided in Australia’s three most populous states; over one-third lived in New South Wales, and almost one fifth lived in Victoria and Queensland respectively.
  • Over a third of occupants were aged 55 and over in public housing and community housing, but only around 1 in 7 occupants were in this age group in SOMIH.
  • Around 126,000 Indigenous Australians were living in public housing and SOMIH.

Occupants

Defined as people living in any housing provided by Australia’s four main social housing programs: public housing, state owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH), community housing and Indigenous community housing, within the reference year to 30 June (see data quality statements for exceptions).

Occupants in social housing

Around 824,000 occupants were living in Australia’s main social housing programs. The majority (67%) were in public housing.

Of the 824,000 social housing occupants in 2022–23 (Table OCCUPANTS.1):

  • 67% (547,000 people) were in public housing
  • 24% (194,000 people) were in community housing
  • 5.7% (47,400 people) were in SOMIH (There may be some non-Indigenous occupants within the SOMIH program).
  • 4.2% (around 34,700) were in Indigenous community housing.

State and territory

Most social housing occupants resided in Australia’s three most populous states; over one-third lived in New South Wales, and almost one fifth lived in Victoria and Queensland respectively.

The number of occupants in each social housing program generally reflected the housing options available within the respective states. In all states except for Tasmania and the Northern Territory, most occupants were in public housing, followed by community housing. In Tasmania, most occupants were in community housing, while in the Northern Territory, most were living in SOMIH (Table OCCUPANTS.1). Note that community housing and Indigenous community housing data were unavailable for the Northern Territory.

Age and sex of occupants

Over a third of occupants were aged 55 and over in public housing and community housing, but only around 1 in 7 occupants were in this age group in SOMIH.

Females made up 55% of the occupants in social housing programs, including public housing (303,000 occupants), SOMIH (26,100) and community housing (107,000). Data were not available for Indigenous community housing.

Occupants in public housing and community housing had a similar age profile. In 2022–23, the key similarities, and differences in the age profile of public housing and community housing occupants included (Figure OCCUPANTS.1; Table OCCUPANTS.2):

  • For public housing, 37% of occupants were aged 55 years and over, compared with 33% of occupants in community housing.
  • Around 1 in 3 occupants in both public housing (33%) and community housing (33%) were under the age of 25.

The age profile of SOMIH occupants was younger compared to public housing and community housing occupants. Almost half of the occupants (48%) were aged under 25 and about a third (28%) were aged 0–14. Note: this may reflect the relatively younger age structure of the First Nations population in general (AIHW 2023). In contrast, relatively few were aged 55 or over (15%) (Figure OCCUPANTS.1; Table OCCUPANTS.2).

Figure OCCUPANTS.1: Household members by social housing program, age, and sex, 2022–23

Household members, by social housing program, age, and sex, 2022–23. The butterfly graph shows the age profile of male and female household members in three social housing programs (public housing, community housing and SOMIH). In 2022–23, the highest number of females household members in public housing were aged 60–64 years (23,100) whereas the highest number of males were aged 10–14 years (23,400). For SOMIH, the highest number of female (2,900) and male (3,100) household members were aged 10–14 years. For community housing, the highest number of females were aged 60–64 (7,400) and the highest number of males were aged 10–14 (7,300).

Indigenous occupants in social housing

Around 126,000 Indigenous Australians were living in public housing and SOMIH.

Of the 126,000 Indigenous occupants in 2022–23 (Table OCCUPANTS.3):

  • 83,600 lived in public housing, and
  • 42,800 lived in SOMIH.

Changes over time

The total number of Indigenous occupants across public housing and SOMIH has grown since 2017–18, with increases in each successive year. The overall growth has mainly been driven by increases in the occupants of public housing, noting that the number of occupants with an unknown Indigenous status has declined over this time.

Occupants’ satisfaction with social housing

In the 2023 National Social Housing Survey, more than 2 in 3 (69%) of occupants reported that they were satisfied with the overall services provided by their social housing organisation (AIHW 2024), a decrease from 73% in the 2021 survey (AIHW 2022). In 2023, around 80% of tenants reported economic, health and social benefits from living in social housing.

More information about the analyses and occupants’ satisfaction with amenities, locations and services as well as the economic, health and social benefits of social housing, can be found in the National Social Housing Survey 2023.

Glossary

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