Addressing the Housing Crisis: Unlocking Local Government’s Contribution
Summary
Australia is experiencing a housing crisis. There are insufficient homes available in locations that people wish to live, at prices people can afford to rent or buy.
To address this challenge, governments at all levels have made major new commitments to boost and accelerate the supply of housing, with a commitment to delivering 1.2 million houses over five years from 2024.
The housing target is a 40% increase in the number of houses to be delivered per year for the next five years. If achieved, the boost in housing supply will increase economic activity by around $30 billion per year, or 1% of GDP, a major boost to our national economy and critical investment in our local communities.
Findings
The report was informed by engagements with the Australian Local Government Association and local government state and territory peak bodies, and a survey open to all local governments.
The survey found that of the 130 respondents:
Insufficient infrastructure funding was the highest ranked challenge in delivering increased housing supply. This was followed by the lack of control over market decisions (e.g. where, when and how developers want to invest).
80% of responding local governments cannot cover trunk infrastructure expenses. Only 5% of respondents have current annual revenues (from developer contributions and infrastructure-specific grants) that can cover their total annual expenses for trunk infrastructure.
40% of respondents indicated that their local government had cut back on new infrastructure developments because of inadequate trunk infrastructure funding. 32% also identified infrastructure maintenance as another area that had funding diverted.
There is a housing and homelessness crisis for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, undermining efforts across all areas to close the gap in life outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians.
Since 2020, through the initiative of the newly formed Coalition of Peaks, there has been a renewed focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing needs and the responsibility of the Australian Government.
Existing data collection demonstrates the significant need for additional investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social housing, particularly in remote areas.
Read the full report
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