Chapter 1Introduction

1.1The National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2) (bill) is a private senator’s bill that was introduced by Senator David Pocock on 25June 2024.[1]

1.2The bill seeks to improve the governance and accountability of national housing policy.[2] In particular, the bill proposes a process for the Australian Government to develop, implement and maintain a 10-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan (NHHP).

1.3On4 July 2024, the Senate referred the bill to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee (committee) for inquiry and report.[3]

Purpose of the bill

1.4Key features of the bill include:

a requirement for the NHHP to be developed in collaboration with independent experts and people with experience of housing insecurity;

a requirement for Housing Australia to assist in developing, implementing and maintaining the NHHP;

the establishment of a National Housing Consumer Council to provide advice on the NHHP from the perspective of a range of consumers; and

the establishment of a National Housing and Homelessness Advocate to monitor the NHHP and undertake reviews into systemic housing issues.[4]

1.5The objects of the bill centre on facilitating a human rights-based approach to housing, supporting improved housing outcomes for Australians and the ‘progressive realisation of Indigenous self-determination in housing policy’.[5] Additionally, the bill provides that the content of the NHHP must be ‘directed towards’ certain areas, including ensuring Australians have access to adequate housing, ending homelessness and improving housing quality.[6]

Background

1.6Australia faces serious housing affordability challenges. Young people, older Australians and those living in regional, rural and remote areas can be particularly impacted by unaffordable housing costs.[7] Australians with social and economic vulnerabilities also face significant impacts. For example:

Inadequate housing creates barriers for women and children leaving family and domestic violence. Overcrowding remains a significant issue in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. People with disability can struggle to find affordable housing and are more likely to live in social housing compared to people without disability. People who have recently transitioned from the Australian Defence Force to civilian life have a higher risk of experiencing homelessness.[8]

1.7The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council (NHSAC), the Australian Government’s independent expert advisor on housing, recently reported that the ‘longstanding crisis’ in Australia’s housing system has been ‘fundamentally driven by the failure to deliver enough housing of all types – from social housing through to market home ownership.’[9] Further, the NHSAC outlined the challenges in Australia’s housing system as follows:

At its heart, this crisis is about insufficient supply, but many contributing factors are making it more acute – the resumption of migration at pace, rising interest rates, skills shortages, elevated construction company insolvencies, weak consumer confidence and cost inflation to name just a few. These all combine to create an environment in which prices and rents are growing faster than wages, rental vacancies are near all-time lows, 169,000 households are on public housing waiting lists, 122,000 people are experiencing homelessness and projected housing supply is very low. Australia’s housing market is far from healthy.[10]

1.8Australia’s housing affordability declined further in 2023. The NHSAC reported the decline was ‘widespread, occurring across states and territories, cities and regions, income levels, age groups and tenure types’.[11] For example:

mortgage holders­ experienced interested rate rises of, on average, 125basis points and repayment increases of up to 60 per cent;

aspiring homeowners experienced a ‘decline in their ability to purchase a home,’ with it taking around ten years for the average prospective homeowner to save a 20per cent deposit;

renters experienced ‘sharp rises’ in rents of eight per cent and a near record low national vacancy rate of 1.6 per cent; and

people seeking non-market housing experienced additional demand, including a 2.4 per cent increase in ‘greatest needs’ households on public housing waiting lists.[12]

1.9Additionally, the NHSAC reported households were making ‘difficult trade-offs’ due to rising housing costs. For instance, households were reducing spending on essential goods, living further from places of work or study, living in overcrowded dwellings or living in houses with inadequate heating.[13]

Policy context to the bill

1.10The Explanatory Memorandum reflects many of the housing system issues reported by the NHSAC. For instance, the Explanatory Memorandum notes that ‘sharply rising’ rents and mortgage payments have ‘come to the fore’ post-COVID. The Explanatory Memorandum also highlights several long-term problems in Australia’s housing system, including:

a protracted decline in housing affordability, particularly among young adults aged between 25-34 years for whom there has been a six per cent decline in homeownership from 2006 to 2021;

a rental market increasingly unable to accommodate low-income households, noting analysis suggests the national deficit of rental homes affordable for income quintile one households grew from 48 000 dwellings to 255 000 dwellings in the 25 years to 2021;

a social housing system which has provided an almost static level of housing since the 1990s, noting social housing comprises four per cent of Australia’s housing stock which is just over half the OECD average; and

a ‘generally inadequate energy performance of both new and existing housing stock that seriously jeopardises official aspirations for net zero carbon emissions by 2025’.[14]

1.11The Explanatory Memorandum also highlighted that housing and homelessness problems can ‘rarely be solved in isolation’ given the complexity involved and the cross over those problems have with different areas of policy and different levels of government.[15] While state and territory governments are primarily responsible for housing matters, the Australian Government retains ‘key housing-related powers’ including responsibility for tax, social security and migration.[16] As such, the Explanatory Memorandum argued that ‘[o]nly a Plan led and owned by the higher level of government can commit to actions related to these powers can co-ordinate nationally consistent approaches to housing provision’.[17]

1.12Further, the Explanatory Memorandum suggests that Australia has never had a nation-wide housing plan.[18] This is despite there being:

a ‘long series of housing-related financial agreements between the Australian Government and the states and territories’, such as the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness; and

a number of other OECD countries having national housing plans, such as Canada’s National Housing Strategy on which the bill is modelled.[19]

The Australian Government’s National Housing and Homelessness Plan

1.13Separate to the bill, the Australian Government is working with state and territory governments to develop a ten-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan (the Australian Government’s NHHP) to:

…help set out a shared national vision on tackling the country’s housing challenges across the responsibilities of different levels of government, and how best to support those experiencing housing stress and homelessness.[20]

1.14In 2023, the Department of Social Services (DSS) released an issues paper to facilitate the development of the Australian Government’s NHHP. The issues paper recognised the ‘long-standing calls from the states and territories and non-government organisations for a national plan to identify the key short, medium and longer-term reforms needed to improve outcomes across the housing spectrum and address homelessness’.[21] Further, the issues paper states that the Australian Government’s NHHP would ‘set a national vision’ and provide:

a better understanding of the current state of housing and homelessness in Australia and what is contributing to homelessness and housing insecurity

a clear, long-term vision for the future of housing and homelessness policy in Australia

insights about specific housing and homelessness needs in urban, regional, rural and remote Australia

ways to improve the collection and use of disaggregated data to design more effective policy approaches and improve monitoring and evaluation

lessons from other countries and jurisdictions about policies which have led to a decline in rates of homelessness and how these could be adopted in Australia

strategies for how all levels of government can work together and with the private and community sectors to better support people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity

national goals and objectives for housing and homelessness, including how these will be achieved.[22]

1.15The issues paper supported a public consultation by DSS which ran from7August 2023 to 30 November 2023. Following the consultation, DSS released a summary report which sought to collate submitters’ views on what should be included in the Australian Government’s NHHP, including the plan’s objectives, guiding principles, common themes on housing challenges and prospective solutions.[23][24]

1.16At a public hearing into the bill in October 2024, DSS provided an update on work being undertaken to progress the Australian Government’s NHHP. DSS told the committee that while the process was ongoing, there had been ‘strong collaboration between the Commonwealth and jurisdiction in the development of the plan’, including discussion of the plan at housing ministers’ meetings.[25]

Provisions of the bill

1.17This section outlines the key provisions of the bill. The bill contains 61 clauses in the following five parts:

Part 1—Preliminary;

Part 2—National Housing and Homelessness Plan;

Part 3—National Housing and Consumer Council;

Part 4—National Housing and Homelessness Advocate; and

Part 5—Miscellaneous.

Part 1—Preliminary

1.18Part 1 of the bill (Clauses 1 to 5) contains provisions for the bill’s title, commencement, objects, simplified outline and key definitions.[26]

1.19Clause 3 provides that the objects of the bill are to:

(a)recognise that the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law;

(b)recognise that housing is essential to the inherent dignity and well being of the person and to building sustainable and inclusive communities;

(c)support improved housing outcomes for the people of Australia;

(d)further the progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing, as recognised in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and

(e)further the progressive realisation of Indigenous self determination in housing policy in compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.[27]

Part 2—National Housing and Homelessness Plan

1.20Part 2 of the bill (Clauses 6 to 13) seeks to establish the process for the Australian Government to prepare, implement and review the NHHP.

Preparation of the NHHP

1.21Clause 7 provides that the Minister would be required to prepare and publish a NHHP which promotes the objects of the bill. The NHHP would be required to be prepared within a year of the bill’s commencement. Following that, the Minister would be required to prepare subsequent NHHPs within ten years of the previous plan being made.[28]

1.22Clause 8 stipulates several areas that the NHHP ‘must be directed towards’, including:

ensuring Australians have adequate housing, including preventing and ending homelessness;

improving choice in the housing system;

improving housing affordability and housing supply;

improving the ability of people with disability to live in the community; and

involving Aboriginal and Tores Strait Islander Peoples in developing, determining and administering housing programs affecting them.[29]

1.23Clause 9 outlines the process that the Minister must following in preparing the NHHP. Key provisions include:

that the Minister must consult with certain groups, including civil society organisations and people with lived experience of housing need; and

that the Minister must request advice on the plan from NHSAC and have regard to any advice provided by NHSAC or the Consumer Council.

Implementation of the NHHP

1.24Clause 10 provides the Minister ‘must have regard to the desirability’ of implementing the NHHP in a manner that ‘involves the ongoing inclusion and engagement’ of certain groups, including people who face special disadvantage in the housing system.[30]

Housing Australia as the lead agency

1.25Clause 11 specifies that it is a function of Housing Australia to assist the Minister in the preparation, implementation and review of the NHHP.[31]

NHHP review provisions

1.26Clause 12 provides that the Minister must prepare reports on the effectiveness of the NHHP on a triennial basis—that is, at three, six and nine years after the NHHP is published.[32]

1.27Clause 13 provides that the Minister must conduct a review of each NHHP to assist in the preparation of a new plan. As part of the review, Housing Australia would be required to call for public submissions on the review, with a submissions period of at least eight weeks, and publish any submissions on its website unless a submitter requests confidentiality. Housing Australia would then be required to prepare a report on the review for the Minister and publish the review on its website.[33]

1.28The Minister would be required to table a copy of each triennial report and final report in Parliament within 15 sitting days of the report being prepared.[34]

Part 3—National Housing and Consumer Council

1.29Part 3 of the bill (Clauses 14 to 30) seeks to establish the National Housing and Consumer Council (Consumer Council), including its functions and membership.

1.30Clauses 15 and 16 provide for the establishment of the Consumer Council, comprised of a Chair and at least nine, but no more than 15, members.[35]

Functions of the Consumer Council

1.31Clause 17 stipulates the functions of the Consumer Council, particularly to advise the Minister on housing related matters. For instance, the Consumer Council would be responsible for advising the Minister on the effectiveness of the NHHP and issues relating to housing and homelessness from the perspective of a range of consumers, including homeowners, renters, people with lived experience of housing need and homelessness, Indigenous persons, people with disability and youth.

1.32Additionally, Clause 18 provides that the Minister may request advice from the Consumer Council. Clause 19 provides for the independence of the Consumer Council in performing its functions.[36]

Appointment and governance arrangements

1.33Clauses 20 to 30 make administrative provisions for the appointment and functioning of the Consumer Council.

1.34Under Clause 20, the Minister would be responsible for appointing members of the Consumer Council, on a part time basis, and the Minister must ensure members include an Indigenous person and people that have lived experience of housing need, homelessness or disability.[37] Members of the Consumer Council would be appointed for a specified period of no longer than three years and, if reappointed, could not hold office for more than six years.[38]

1.35Clause 22 provides that Consumer Council members’ remuneration would be determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. If the Remuneration Tribunal has not made a relevant determination, then Consumer Council members would be paid in accordance with regulations prescribed under the bill.

1.36Clauses 24 and 25 provide that a Consumer Council member would be required to declare any conflicts of interest to the Minister and to the wide Consumer Council membership.[39]

1.37Further, Clause 29 stipulates that regulations may prescribe procedures to be followed by the Consumer Council in relation to its meetings. For instance, in relation to convening meetings, quorum requirements and invitations to third-party experts to attend meetings.[40]

Part 4—National Housing and Homelessness Advocate

1.38Part 4 of the bill (Clauses 31 to 57) seeks to establish the National Housing and Homelessness Advocate (Housing Advocate).

Functions of the Housing Advocate

1.39Clause 33 stipulates the Housing Advocates’ functions, including:

monitoring the implementation of the NHHP;

conducting reviews, and receiving submissions, regarding systemic housing issues;

providing advice to the Minister and submitting reports to the Minister regarding the above matters; and

raising awareness of housing issues.[41]

1.40Provisions are also made for the Housing Advocate’s powers and independence. Clause 33 provides that the Housing Advocate would have the ‘power to do all things necessary or convenient’ in fulfilling the Advocate’s function. However, the Housing Advocate ‘may not investigate, or resolve complaints concerning, housing issues raised in a submission received by the Advocate that relate only to the person that made the submission’.[42] Clause 34 proposes that the Housing Advocate would have ‘complete discretion’ in exercising its functions and powers, and would not be subject to direction from anyone while doing so.[43]

Establishment of the Office of the Housing Advocate

1.41The bill proposes the establishment of the Office of the National Housing and Homelessness Advocate to assist the Housing Advocate in the performance of its functions.[44] The Housing Advocate would be the accountable authority of the office under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.[45]

1.42Additionally, the bill proposes administrative provisions for the appointment of staff to the Office of the National Housing and Homelessness Advocate and for other persons to assist the office, including consultants.[46]

Reviews of systemic housing issues

1.43Division 3 of Part 4 provides that the Housing Advocate may undertake reviews of systemic housing issues that are raised in a submission to the Advocate, or on the Advocate’s own initiative.[47]

1.44If the Housing Advocate decides to undertake a review, the bill provides that the Advocate may invite submissions and to request advice from the NHSAC and the Consumer Council.[48] Following a review, the Advocate would be required to provide a report on the review to the Minister.[49]

Other reports and response requirements

1.45The bill specifies that the Advocate would be required to provide the Minister with an annual report which ‘…contains the Advocate’s assessment of the progress that is being made towards meeting the goals and timelines, and in achieving the desired outcomes, set out in the National Housing and Homelessness Plan’.[50]

1.46For the Advocate’s annual reports and reports on systemic housing issues, the bill provides that the Minister must table a copy of the report in Parliament within 15 sitting days.[51] If the Housing Advocate’s report makes recommendations to the Australian Government, then the Minister must prepare a response to the recommendations and the response must tabled in Parliament within six months after receiving the report.[52]

Appointment of the Housing Advocate

1.47The bill makes a range of administrative provisions regarding the appointment of the Housing Advocate. Key provisions include:

that the Housing Advocate be appointed by the Governor-General, on a full-time basis, for a period no longer than three years;

that the Housing Advocate be paid a remuneration determined by the Remuneration Tribunal;

that the Housing Advocate must not engage in any other paid work without the Minister’s prior approval; and

that the Housing Advocate’s appointment may be terminated by the Governor-General in specified circumstances.[53]

Part 5—Miscellaneous

1.48Part 5 of the bill (Clauses 58 to 61) contains miscellaneous provisions to support the operation of the bill. Key provisions of Part 5 include:

that the Housing Advocate may delegate functions or powers to staff at the senior executive service in the Housing Advocate’s office;

that the expenditure for the purposes of the bill be made from funds appropriated by the Parliament; and

that the Governor-General may make regulations under the bill, or as necessary, to give effect to the bill.[54]

Commencement

1.49The bill would commence on the day after it receives Royal Assent.[55]

Financial and regulatory impact

1.50The Explanatory Memorandum does not detail the financial impact of the bill, nor does it include a regulatory impact statement.[56]

Legislative scrutiny

1.51The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights respectively reported that they had no comment on the bill.[57]

Human rights implications

1.52The Explanatory Memorandum states that the bill is ‘compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.’[58]

1.53Further, the Explanatory Memorandum states that the bill:

…actively and positively seeks to advance human rights through providing a framework for improving housing provision in Australia, given that the ability to secure adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law. Specifically, the Bill seeks to give effect to the nation’s legal responsibilities under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, to which Australia is a signatory.[59]

1.54The Explanatory Memorandum concludes that the bill is ‘compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues’.[60]

Conduct of the inquiry

1.55The committee advertised the inquiry on its webpage and wrote to relevant stakeholders to invite them to make a submission by 9 August 2024. The committee received 81 submissions, as listed at Appendix 1.

1.56The committee held a public hearing in Canberra on Tuesday, 29 October 2024. The witnesses who appeared at the hearing are listed at Appendix 2.

Acknowledgements

1.57The committee thanks the individuals and organisations who contributed to the committee’s inquiry, particularly those who made written submissions or gave evidence at the committee’s public hearing.

Footnotes

[1]Journals of the Senate, No. 113, 25 June 2024, p. 3481. The day prior, Ms Kylea Tink MP introduced a near-identical bill in the House of Representatives. House of Representatives, Votes and Proceedings, No. 127, 24 June 2024, p. 1629.

[2]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [1].

[3]Journals of the Senate, No. 119, 4 July 2024, pp. 3636–3638. The Senate set 10October 2024 as the due date for the committee’s report. The Senate subsequently agreed to extend the reporting date to 15November 2024. Journals of the Senate, No. 134, 18 September 2024, p. 4060.

[4]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [1].

[5]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 3.

[6]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 8.

[7]See, Department of Social Services, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper, August 2023, p. 5.

[8]DSS, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper, August 2023, p. 5.

[9]National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the housing system, May 2024, p. 1.

[10]National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the housing system, May 2024, p. 1.

[11]National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the housing system, May 2024, p. 3.

[12]National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the housing system, May 2024, p. 3.

[13]National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, State of the housing system, May 2024, p. 3.

[14]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [3].

[15]See, Explanatory Memorandum, p. [3].

[16]See, Explanatory Memorandum, p. [3].

[17]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [3].

[18]See, Explanatory Memorandum, p. [4].

[19]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [4].

[20]See, the Hon Julie Collins MP, Minister for Housing and Homelessness, ‘Shaping Australia’s National Housing and Homelessness Plan’, Media release, 7 August 2023.

[21]DSS, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper, August 2023, p. 9.

[22]DSS, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper, August 2023, pp. 10–11.

[23]See, DSS, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper, August 2023, pp. 3–12.

[24]Note, many of the submitters to this inquiry also made submissions to the DSS consultation.

[25]Mr Matt Flavel, Deputy Secretary, Social Security Stream, DSS, Proof Committee Hansard, 29October2024, p. 19.

[26]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 1–4.

[27]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 2.

[28]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 5–6.

[29]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 6.

[30]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 7–8.

[31]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 8.

[32]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 8.

[33]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 9–10.

[34]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 12(3) and 13(6).

[35]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 11.

[36]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 12–13.

[37]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 13–14.

[38]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), Subclauses 20(5) and 20(6).

[39]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 16.

[40]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 18.

[41]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 20–21.

[42]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), subclauses 33(2) and 33(3).

[43]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), p. 21.

[44]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), clauses 35–38.

[45]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 35–36.

[46]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 55–57.

[47]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 39.

[48]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 40–41.

[49]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 42.

[50]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 43.

[51]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 44.

[52]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 45.

[53]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 41–54.

[54]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 59–61.

[55]National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), cl. 2.

[56]See, National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2), pp. 1–30.

[57]See, Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny Digest 8 of 2024, July 20–24, p. 18; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, Report 6 of 2024, July 2024, pp. 2–3. The scrutiny committees also had no comment on Ms Tink’s near-identical bill before the House of Representatives (that bill is referred to in footnote 1 of this chapter).

[58]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [13].

[59]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [13].

[60]Explanatory Memorandum, p. [13].