Housing assistance in Australia

Quick facts

• At June 2021, of all the households with known suitability of dwelling size:
  • The majority (79%) of social housing households were residing in dwellings that were considered to be meeting the standards for their household composition.
  • 4% of public housing, 25% of state owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH) and 4% of community housing households were residing in dwellings that were considered to be overcrowded.
  • 17% of public housing, 27% of SOMIH and 11% of community housing households were residing in dwellings considered to be underutilised dwellings.
• Indigenous households were over-represented among the households that were living in overcrowded dwellings. In public housing, 4% of all households were living in overcrowded dwellings, while 9% of all Indigenous households were living in overcrowded dwellings.
• For public housing, the highest number of overcrowded dwellings were in Major Cities (over 8,700 households) and the highest proportion of overcrowded dwellings were in Very remote areas (9%).

Ensuring the best fit between a social housing dwelling and household requirements is not a straightforward process. It is influenced by the availability of dwellings and dwelling configuration, as well as the age, condition, and location of the property. The availability of options and specific household requirements (such as disability modifications), and the cost to relocate existing tenants, as well as their willingness to relocate also influence whether a dwelling is appropriated for a household.

The Canadian National Occupancy Standard (CNOS) is a generally accepted standard by which the dwelling size requirements of a given household are measured in Australia. CNOS, however, is not necessarily used by all states/territories in the assessment of social housing dwelling suitability.

Whilst the CNOS is a useful guide to estimate the proportion of dwellings that may be underutilised or overcrowded, there are some cases where a dwelling may not match a household size for good reason. For example, where custody of children is shared; where tenants may have live-in care arrangements; or to take into consideration future needs of children who may need separate bedrooms in years to come.

CNOS also does not take into consideration cultural norms, with evidence suggesting that, the approach is particularly problematic for Aboriginal and Torres Strait households (Memmott et al 2003, Memmott et al 2011, Pholeros 2010). Regardless of the appropriateness of the measure, overcrowding based on CNOS has been found to adversely affect the physical and mental health of residents (AIHW 2014, Booth & Carroll 2005, SCRGSP 2016).

Housing suitability data were not available for Indigenous community housing.

Housing suitability

At June 2021, the vast majority (79% or 224,300) of social housing households were living in dwellings that met the standard for occupancy. There were 5% of social housing households living in overcrowded dwellings and 15% in underutilised dwellings. (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Table SUITABILTY.1).

SUITABILITY.1: Households by suitability of dwelling size and social housing program, at 30 June 2014 to 2021

Key characteristics of households

Key characteristics on the suitability of social housing dwellings for households in social housing at June 2021 (Table SUITABILITY.4):

• More than half of households living in overcrowded dwellings (57% or 6,800 households for public housing, 56% or 1,900 households for SOMIH) were those where the main tenant was aged 35 to 54 years old.
• The majority of households living in underutilized dwellings (70% or 33,900 for public housing, 56% or 1,300 households for SOMIH) were those where the main tenant was aged over 55 years old.
• Most households living in overcrowded dwellings comprised of a group and mixed composition (56% or 6,800 households for public housing, 79% or 2,700 households for SOMIH) and sole parents with dependent children (23% or 2,800 households for public housing, 12% or 400 households for SOMIH).
• Most social housing households living in underutilized dwellings comprised of a single adult (72% or 34,600 households for public housing, 70% or 1,700 households for SOMIH) or couple (19% for public housing, 12% for SOMIH).

Demographic data on dwelling suitability were not available for community housing.

Overcrowding

Overcrowding occurs when a dwelling is too small for the size and composition of the household living in it. Consistent with the CNOS standard, a dwelling is generally considered to be overcrowded if it requires at least 1 additional bedroom.

At June 2021, 12,000 (or 4%) public housing households and 3,700 (or 4%) community housing households were living in overcrowded dwellings. About 1 in 4 (25% or 3,400) SOMIH households were living in overcrowded dwellings (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Table SUITABILITY.1).

In spite of differing levels of housing stock availability across both the public housing and community housing programs between 2014 and 2021, the proportion of overcrowded households has remained stable at around 4–5% for both programs (Table SUITABILITY.1). See the Social housing dwellings section for further information on the stock changes between the housing programs.

Nationally, the proportion of overcrowded households in SOMIH was between 9–10% from 2014 to 2016. However, the addition of over 5,000 remote public housing dwellings to the Northern Territory SOMIH data collection in 2017 resulted in an increase in the overcrowding counts and proportions. Since 2017, overcrowding levels for SOMIH have been stable at around one quarter (24–25 %) of all SOMIH households (Table SUITABILITY.1).

Location

The proportion of social housing households in overcrowded dwellings varied across the states and territories and remoteness area. At June 2021 (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Table SUITABILITY.1 and 2):

• For public housing, Northern Territory had the highest proportion (8% or almost 400 households), whereas Victoria had the highest number (over 3,200 or 6%) of households living in overcrowded dwellings.
• For SOMIH, Northern Territory had the highest proportion (52%) and highest number (almost 2,600) of households living in overcrowded dwellings. Note that nationally, Northern Territory also had the highest total number of SOMIH households.
• For community housing, Tasmania had the highest proportion (7% or over 400 households), while NSW had the highest number (over 2,000 or 4%) of households in overcrowded dwellings.
• For public housing, across different levels of remoteness, Major Cities had the highest number of households (over 8,700 or 4%) and Very remote areas had the highest proportion (9% or over 200) of households living in overcrowded dwellings.
• For SOMIH, across different levels of remoteness, Very remote areas had the highest number and highest proportion (almost 2,100 or 48%) of households living in overcrowded dwellings.

Overcrowding data by remoteness were not available for community housing.

Overcrowding in Indigenous households

At June 2021, Indigenous households were overrepresented among the households living in overcrowded dwellings. For public housing, 9% of all Indigenous households were living in overcrowded dwellings while only 4% of all households were living in overcrowded dwellings. For community housing 4% of all households were living in overcrowded dwellings and 5% of all Indigenous households were living in overcrowded dwellings (Table SUITABILITY.2).

Underutilisation

A dwelling is said to be underutilised when it contains 2 or more bedrooms surplus to the household requirements as determined by the CNOS measure.

Underutilisation can arise as a household ages and children leave the family home. Interpretation of underutilisation data needs to consider the circumstances of tenants. For example, tenants may have been living in a home for several years and their economic, social and community life is centred around that location. There may be no suitable location based alternatives when household composition changes to move tenants from a dwelling that is considered to have surplus space for their needs.

At June 2021, 48,200 (or 17%) public housing households and 10,400 (or 11%) community housing households were living in underutilised dwellings. Social housing targeted towards Indigenous households had the highest proportion of underutilisation with 27% (or 2,400) of SOMIH households living in underutilised dwellings. However, underutilisation data were not available for the Northern Territory for SOMIH or community housing (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Table SUITABILITY.1).

Between 2017 and 2021, the proportion of underutilised dwellings in each social housing program has remained stable, with public housing at 17%, community housing around 10–11% and SOMIH around 26–27% (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Table SUITABILITY.1).

Location

The proportion of households in underutilised dwellings varied by state and territory and remoteness area across the social housing programs. At June 2021 (Figure SUITABILITY.1; Tables SUITABILITY.1 and 3):

• Across the social housing programs, South Australia had the highest proportion of households living in underutilised dwellings (25%), while New South Wales had the highest number of households living in underutilised dwellings (21,800 households.
• For public housing, the highest number of households living in underutilised dwellings were in Major Cities (34,700 households or 16%) whereas the highest proportion of households living in underutilised dwellings were in Outer regional areas (20% or 4,900 households).
• For SOMIH, Major cities had both the highest number (over 900) and highest proportion (30%) of households living in underutilised dwellings, followed by Inner regional areas (600 households and 27%).

Glossary