2021 FEDERAL BUDGET AND PUBLIC HOUSING 

The latest budget confirms the Liberal and National Parties’ total opposition to increasing public housing provision and its disregard to dealing with the rising number of people who are homeless or are in precarious housing, fearing eviction. 

Instead, they have chosen to continue to boost private housing prices with subsidies under their version of an economic recovery from COVID-19. 

In Victoria, the Housing Register (waiting list) is currently estimated by SPHC to be 110,000 adults and children and is growing. There are 10s of thousands more who haven’t registered because of the time it takes to finally get public housing- sometimes 10 years or more and often never. 

These same households do not have $50,000 in their superannuation funds to withdraw to pay a deposit on a home. Most would not have this amount of money from personal contributions to their superannuation accounts. Single parents on very low to low incomes aren’t able repay housing loans for highly priced housing, even if they only have to pay a 2% deposit. 

The previously scheduled funding cuts to homelessness services for next financial year have been reversed in this budget. However, without a commitment to fund a ‘housing first’ plan for ending homelessness that is based on building more public housing and dramatically increasing funding for support services, the crisis will continue. 

We call on the federal Labor Party, Greens and independent MPs to respond to this budget by committing to the following in their next election campaigns: 

1. Throw out the policy position of replacing public housing with community housing and restore investment in public housing’s retention, maintenance and increased supply. 

2. Commit to ending all states and territories’ public housing waiting lists within 4 years, through a new federal government program of grants –not loans–for a massive build of public housing. 

3. Adopt a ‘housing first’ approach to ending homelessness in Australia. 

4. Provide no public subsidies to the latest class of private profiteers- Build to Rent developers. 

5. Abolish the favorable tax treatment of private housing investors’ capital gains and put in place progressive tax policies across the economy to help fund public housing expenditure. 

For more information and comment: Libby Porter 0487 177 859