Today, Independents Senator David Pocock and Kylea Tink MP will introduce a private members’ bill into the Senate and House of Representatives that would require the Federal Government to treat adequate housing as a human right for every Australian, and make a 10-year plan to transform Australia’s “dysfunctional” housing system.

“The lack of a meaningful and well-informed national housing plan or strategy throughout Australia’s history has contributed significantly to the mounting housing problems the country has experienced since the millennium,” they argue.

The National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill would require the Housing Minister, Julie Collins MP, to develop a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, aimed at facilitating a human-rights based approach to housing, in a collaborative process and with expert advice. Housing Australia would assist the Minister to develop, implement and maintain the Plan. A National Housing Consumer Council would be established to advise on the National Housing and Homelessness Plan and represent tenants and homebuyers, and a National Housing and Homelessness Advocate would independently monitor the progress of the Plan, assess its outcomes, and investigate systemic housing issues.

The bill also seeks to streamline and better coordinate Commonwealth housing policy development and delivery, which the proponents say is fragmented across Treasury, the Department of Social Services, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, and Housing Australia.

“We need big ambition and bold action if we are to stand any chance of solving Australia’s crippling housing crisis,” Senator Pocock said.

“The complexity of this crisis requires a long-term strategy and commitment that endures beyond short-term political cycles. Legislating the ongoing requirement for a National Housing and Homelessness Plan can help deliver that.

“Having a transparent framework, with agreed national objectives embedded in legislation and greater accountability can help transform how we treat housing from being a vehicle of wealth creation to a fundamental human right.

“This bill seeks to build on and future proof the work currently underway, and responds to the calls from a huge cross section of stakeholders to enshrine a beefed-up National Housing and Homelessness Plan in legislation.”

The proposed legislation would utilise the Commonwealth Government’s constitutional authority on external affairs, and follows a similar model to Canada, which legislated its first-ever National Housing Strategy in 2019.

The proponents argue that the National Housing and Homelessness Plan aims to ensure that everyone in Australia has adequate housing; prevent and end homelessness; ensure the social housing system meets needs and drives wider housing system improvement; improve choice in the housing system, including between owning and renting; improve housing quality, including the quality of existing and newly constructed houses; improve housing affordability; improve housing supply; improve the contribution of the housing system to wider economic performance; improve the ability of people with disability to live in the community, with choices equal to others; and involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in developing, determining and administering housing programs affecting them.

“Every Australian deserves the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the right to adequate housing,” Ms Tink said. “Access to safe and secure housing is one of our most basic human rights and is fundamental to individuals, families, communities and our nation thriving. 

“For too long, our approach to housing policy has been piecemeal, short-term or simply put in the ‘too hard basket’ and the results have been disastrous.

“Amid a new wave of homelessness, worsening rental affordability and intergenerational inequity, and housing affordability surging to ‘impossible’ levels, we urgently need to come together to deliver a meaningful, legislated, national approach to ensure all Australians have adequate housing. One that recognises housing as a fundamental human right, not a commodity, and ensures bad politics cannot override what should be smart, essential policy ever again.”

Independent Member for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, will second the bill in the House of Representatives.

Some 117 individuals and organisations including leading academics, industry experts, economists, former politicians from both sides of politics, peak bodies, and advocates have signed an open letter calling on the Housing Minister to legislate such a Plan. 

The Federal Government is expected to release a National Housing and Homelessness Plan soon, but the letter-writers argue that the government’s work so far – an Issues Paper last year and a Consultation Summary this January – is inadequate, while the Plan’s omission from last year’s housing legislative package was “a missed opportunity to provide a robust framework for the venture, as well as to elevate its standing”.

They recommend that the government’s plan “should be treated as an interim output, with a more ambitious and more firmly founded iteration to be published in 2025 in conformity with the new legislation”.

“Australia requires a transformation in its approach to housing,” Dr Devin Bowles, CEO of the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), said.

“For too long the focus has been on seeing it as an investment vehicle instead of something that every Australian deserves. Housing is a human right, and Government policy should focus on how Australian society can better deliver this right. “Even in a relatively affluent city like Canberra, insecure housing affects far too many people. For people who are struggling, secure housing is often the first step in getting their lives back on track.”

Maria Edwards, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of the Australian Capital Territory (REIACT), said: “REIACT recognises that human rights are fundamental to all law-making in Australia, and recommends a long term National Housing and Homelessness plan should include collaboration with all stakeholders including those that deliver housing. Unlocking supply to increase affordability and provide more choice for the nations home buyers and renters remains key to a more secure and sustainable future for all including the most vulnerable in our society.”

Federal Labor response

Julie Collins MP, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, said: “The Albanese Labor Government is delivering the most significant housing reforms in a generation after a decade of little action from the former Liberal government.    

“Our comprehensive Homes for Australia plan is backed by $32 billion in new housing initiatives. 

“This includes the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the single biggest investment in social and affordable rental housing in more than a decade. 

“We’re delivering additional funding for the new $9.3 billion National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, which will begin on 1 July.  

“This includes a doubling of Commonwealth homelessness funding to $400 million every year, matched by states and territories.   

“The recent Budget also committed $1 billion directed towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and youth, through Housing Australia.     

“We are working with states and territories, and housing and homelessness organisations, on the development of the 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.” 

The development of the new National Housing and Homelessness Plan is informed by advice from a wide range of key stakeholders, including independent advice provided by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, 73 consultation events, involving 1,191 participants and 517 written submissions. 

For the Plan to be effective, it needs the full support of all tiers of government, and the Albanese Labor Government has been negotiating with our State and Territory counterparts on the final details, as well as the implementation plans.  

States and territories are primarily responsible for housing, and understand the communities’ needs and conditions at a local level. 

This means they can address issues in a way that is cognisant, but not constrained by, national priorities or legislation. 

Legislating the Plan could restrict future policy development and innovation in responses to changing circumstances, including at a local level. It is unlikely States and territories would agree to a 10-year Plan being imposed in legislation by the Commonwealth.  

While states and territories are primarily responsible for housing, the Albanese Labor Government’s $32 billion Homes for Australia plan will ensure more Australians have a secure and safe place to call home. 

In the recent Budget we added to our Homes for Australia plan which now includes:  

• Training more tradies to build the homes Australia needs with 20,000 Fee Free TAFE and pre‑apprenticeship places for the housing and construction industry.  
• Streamlining skills assessments for around 1,900 potential migrants from countries with comparable qualifications who want to work in Australia’s construction and housing sector, and prioritise the processing of around 2,600 Trades Recognition Australia skills assessments in targeted occupations. 
• Helping nearly 1 million Australian households with the cost of rent by delivering $1.9 billion for the first back‑to‑back increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance in more than 30 years.  
• The new $9.3 billion National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness which will begin on 1 July. This includes a doubling of Commonwealth homelessness funding to $400 million every year, matched by states and territories.  
• The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, to fund 30,000 social and affordable rental homes. The first tender round for the Fund has recently closed after receiving hundreds of applications to build tens of thousands of homes. The Fund was delayed in the Senate by six months by the Opposition and crossbenchers including the Greens. The Fund is also helping deliver the Veterans’ Acute Housing Program, with applications opening last week. 
• A National Housing Accord which includes federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024 (to be matched by up to another 10,000 by the states and territories).  
• A $3 billion New Homes Bonus, a package of performance-based funding for states and territories who achieve more than their Accord targets and undertake reforms to boost housing supply and improve housing affordability.   
• $1.5 billion boost for states and territories to build the roads, sewers, energy, water and community infrastructure that we need for new homes, and additional social housing.   

• $1 billion from Housing Australia towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children experiencing domestic violence, and youth.   
• Up to $575 million in funding already unlocked from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, with homes under construction across the country.     
• New incentives to boost the supply of rental housing by changing arrangements for investments in Build to Rent accommodation.  
• The development of a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan.     
• States and territories committing to A Better Deal for Renters and to planning reforms to make it easier to build new homes. 
• The new $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, which will deliver around 4,000 new social homes across Australia. There are already homes on the ground from this funding, with hundreds more announced by the Minister in the last week alone.  
• The introduction of the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee and the expansion of the overall Home Guarantee Scheme, which has now helped more than 110,000 Australians into a home since the election.   
• States and territories supporting the national roll out of the Help to Buy program, which will reduce the cost of buying a home, with Queensland already passing legislation.