Acknowledgments omitted.
This important body of work lays bare the challenges in Australia’s housing system.
And for most Australians it won’t come as a surprise.
Too many Australians are sadly living the Report’s findings.
Australians finding it difficult to find an affordable rental.
Australians doing everything they can to save for a house but seeing home ownership slip out of reach.
Australians who need a safe place for the night but don’t have a place to turn.
These Australians have been let down by a housing system that has failed our nation for too long.
In cities and towns across the country we see the signs of these challenges.
Rental inspection lines snaking around the block.
Disappointed first home buyers leaving another auction where they’ve missed out on their dream home.
And as this Report confirms, this situation has been a long time in the making.
Given the scale of the challenges the Report reveals, it would be easy to simply ignore the findings.
To put the Report on the shelf and let it collect dust.
And this was certainly the attitude of the former federal government.
A government that didn’t hold a meeting of Housing Ministers for almost 5 years.
That said housing was just an issue for the states to deal with.
That wasted almost a decade in government while housing challenges only grew worse.
Consider this.
Under the former government the number of homeless Australians grew to be about 122,500 in 2021.
But in that same year social housing made up just 3.8 per cent of the national housing stock – down from 5.6 per cent in 1991.
The former government was sleepwalking into this situation.
But things have changed.
Our government does not accept the status quo.
We know it is hard work to turn things around.
But we don’t accept that these challenges are insurmountable.
And we know that we cannot just wish it away or turn back the clock.
As I said, this Report lays bare the challenges in Australia’s housing system.
But our government understands this challenge also provides us all with an opportunity – to change our housing system.
To change direction.
An opportunity because we know what it means to have a safe and secure place to call home.
A safe and secure place to call home is the foundation for a better life.
And a fairer housing system that works for Australians is critical to ensuring that opportunity is shared equally in this country.
This is exactly what I’ve heard from Australians who have already been helped by our government.
In Victoria I had the pleasure of helping to open more than 400 new homes in Prahran that our government has supported.
This development included 228 brand new, energy efficient and modern social housing homes.
In one of these homes I heard from a new resident M‑R who had just moved in with her cat Boodie.
M‑R told me:
“I’m so happy to be here ... all I can do is say to everybody, anyone who sees any of this, thank you.”
In New South Wales, not too far from where we are today, I recently heard from Tanya who is a resident at a new development in Macquarie Park.
The development, backed by our government, will feature 3,300 new homes including more than 1,000 new social and affordable homes.
Tanya had just moved into one of the new social homes and said:
“I was one of the first tenants to move in ... and I've had a goofy smile on my face ever since. Because being here has brought me so much joy ... I'm very excited about the future and what it means to be here.”
In Tasmania last year I heard from Laurie who had just moved into a new home in Burnie.
Laurie had been homeless for 2 years before she moved in, and she told me during this period all she could focus on was where she was going to sleep that night.
Laurie was excited because moving into a secure new home meant she could go back to school.
This is what it means to have a home.
Joining a new community.
Having a sense of belonging.
Starting school.
The keys to a new home are so often the ticket to a better life.
I never forget this.
Because I know what it meant for me, and what it means for Australians.
It’s what drives me every day.
And it’s why the Albanese Labor government has made housing a priority from day one.
After 10 years of very little action under the Liberal and Nationals, the Albanese Labor government is taking action.
As the Report I’m launching today makes crystal clear, Australia simply doesn’t have enough homes.
We have less homes than the OECD average and this has been the case for too long.
The forecast of new home building in the Report illustrates the cost of doing nothing.
That’s why our government has committed more than $25 billion in new housing initiatives over the next decade to help build the homes Australia needs.
At the center of this new investment is an ambitious target to build 1.2 million well‑located homes across the country from 1 July this year.
We are working with the states and territories, the construction sector and industry to meet this shared national target.
Getting to 1.2 million homes will be a challenge as the Report highlights, but it’s a challenge we are up for.
Our national target is ambitious because it has to be.
We need to be ambitious.
More homes means more affordable options for everyone – whether they’re buying, renting or needing a safe space for the night.
We have a plan to build more homes.
To slash red tape at the local level.
To support home buyers, renters and help those who need a home the most.
We want to build more homes, more quickly and closer to where Australians want to live and work.
Our housing plan will create jobs, support our construction industry and – most importantly – help more Australians find an affordable place to call home.
We know the housing challenges we are facing as a nation.
And we know that no tier of government is going to be able to solve this on their own.
The task of ensuring more Australians have a place to call home is a job for all of us.
That’s why collaboration is a key part of our housing agenda.
It’s collaboration with the states and territories, with local governments and industry representatives and stakeholders that led to the creation of the National Housing Accord.
This landmark agreement will see these groups work hand in hand to help deliver more homes for Australians.
And it’s supported with $350 million of additional funding from the Albanese Labor government to deliver 10,000 affordable rental homes over the next 5 years.
These 10,000 homes will be matched by the states and territories.
It’s collaboration that saw National Cabinet reach an historic agreement last year, with Premiers and Chief Ministers committing to a Better Deal for Renters and pledging to tackle planning hurdles to boost housing supply.
And we’re backing in this commitment too, with $3 billion through the New Homes Bonus to help incentivise states and territories to build more homes where people need them.
We’re also investing $500 million in our Housing Support Program, to fund the infrastructure required to support new homes.
It’s collaboration too that has already seen people move into new social homes thanks to the Albanese Labor government’s $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator.
The states and territories are already investing that funding, and it is expected to deliver around 4,000 new social homes across the country.
And collaboration with states and territories, and housing and homelessness organisations, is also at the heart of our development of a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan.
The Plan will help set out a shared national vision on tackling the country’s housing challenges across the responsibilities of different levels of government.
It’s this close work with the states and territories that will help deliver more homes for home buyers, more homes for renters and more homes for Australians who need them most.
And it’s this teamwork that complements our broad and ambitious housing agenda.
An agenda which has already seen us deliver on our commitment to establish the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund.
As I told parliament when it passed, the Housing Australia Future Fund is the start of an enduring promise from the Australian Government – that more Australians should have a safe and affordable place to call home.
The HAFF will support 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes over its first 5 years, and will provide:
- $100 million for crisis and transitional housing options for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence, and older women at risk of homelessness.
- $200 million for repair, maintenance, and improvements of housing in remote Indigenous communities.
- $30 million for more housing for veterans who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness.
The Housing Australia Future Fund will go on funding social and affordable rental homes into the future.
We also have homes already under construction as a result of our swift action in unlocking up to $575 million in funding from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support social and affordable homes.
We’ve committed an additional $1 billion in this Facility to support even more homes.
We’ve increased Housing Australia’s liability cap by $2 billion to provide lower cost and longer‑term finance to community housing providers through the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator.
These measures mark a turnaround in the decline of social and affordable homes that we have witnessed over the last decade.
We’ve announced new incentives to boost the supply of rental housing by changing arrangements for investments in Build to Rent accommodation.
We’re also helping renters by boosting Commonwealth Rent Assistance – the largest increase in more than 30 years.
And we’re helping home buyers through our expansion to the Home Guarantee Scheme.
Since 1 July 2023, the Albanese Labor government's expanded Home Guarantee Scheme has helped more than 46,000 people into home ownership.
On average this is more than 1,000 a week.
Since the election the Albanese Labor government has helped more than 110,000 people into home ownership.
That includes more than 18,000 through the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee.
Our government’s changes have helped to bring home ownership back into reach for thousands of Australians.
And we want to help tens of thousands more through our Help to Buy shared equity scheme, which has already passed the House of Representatives.
Being part of a Labor government means our ambition today is matched by our party’s proud history of reform.
Medicare.
Compulsory Superannuation.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The NDIS.
Just some of the Labor achievements that have helped to transform Australia.
So often these reforms were opposed because they were ambitious.
Our opponents said they were too much, too soon.
That the reforms were not possible.
But our party has never been afraid of a challenge.
And we won’t shy away from the challenge we are facing today.
Because we know Australia needs to build more homes, sooner.
The State of the Housing System Report 2024 makes that clear.
After a wasted decade, we know there’s not a day to waste.
This is a national challenge that needs national action and everyone working together.
That’s why as a government we’re laser focused on working with states and territories, with local government and the construction sector to get more homes on the ground.
We’re not pretending this isn’t going to be hard – addressing challenges that have developed over decades are.
But we’re putting in the work.
We’re backing it with record funding.
Because we know that this is what Australians need.
They need a safe and affordable place to call home.
Somewhere secure where they can start a family, create a community, and build a life.
This is what we’ve been able to give people like M‑R, Tanya and Laurie.
And it’s what we want to give to more people right across Australia.