The last time an Australian government made housing the homeless a priority was 15 years ago. The Albanese government’s promised plan is a second chance to get it right.
The strategy’s core mission should be to ensure everyone in Australia has adequate housing. That requires 950,000 social and affordable rental dwellings to be built by 2041, dwarfing current targets.
The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
While the Productivity Commission’s critique of the national housing agreement is justified, its faith in the market is not. The Albanese government is right to invest in building social housing.
In Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, housing cooperatives help both renters and those wanting to own a secure, high-quality home. Better housing options for Australia are waiting in plain sight.
