Chapter 1Introduction
1.1Australia depends on Northern Australia. Its natural resources underpin vitally‑important sectors, such as mining, agriculture, and pastoral industries, which make up a significant portion of our exports. Tourists are drawn to the wild beauty of the region and its rich cultural heritage.
1.2However, Northern Australia faces a raft of social and economic challenges. These issues have been documented at length with inquiries looking into the development of Northern Australia commencing as far back as 1937. Many of these inquiries acknowledge that a skilled and available workforce is key to the region’s development.
1.3Multiple factors have contributed to the long-standing problems with workforce development (defined below) in Northern Australia. Many of these have been reiterated in evidence to this inquiry as being either unresolved or only partly addressed. They include, for example, a lack of social infrastructure (in areas like education, childcare and healthcare); the effectiveness of tax exemptions; limited telecommunications infrastructure; a lack of community infrastructure; and access to transport.
1.4The committee received extensive evidence to suggest that housing is the number one issue affecting workforce development across Northern Australia. Furthermore, that a lack of appropriate, affordable housing is leading to younger people and families leaving Northern Australia, people from outside the region turning down job offers, and issues with attracting migrants to fill skills shortages.
1.5The housing that does exist in many parts of Northern Australia is not sufficient for existing residents, let alone the additional workforce needed to fill skills shortages.Severe overcrowding is affecting the ability of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to engage in employment opportunities and education.
1.6However, issues relating to housing affordability and availability are not unique to Northern Australia. It is a national, and to some extent an international, issue. There has been significant movement at the federal level in recent years to address housing issues, particularly coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. To some extent, national factors impacting housing are exacerbated in Northern Australia due to its remoteness, climate and existing skills shortages.
1.7Nevertheless, some of the factors affecting housing affordability and availability in Northern Australia are specific to that part of the country and therefore require tailored solutions. Without investment to address housing shortages in Northern Australia, more and more people will leave the region, contributing to increased demand for housing in cities and exacerbating skills shortages across the region. Tackling Northern Australia's housing issues is therefore integral to furthering workforce development in the region. But, as discussed further in Chapter 4, opportunities exist to ease labour shortages whilst also addressing issues of overcrowding and housing shortages.
Referral of the inquiry
1.8Following a referral on 12 October 2022 from the Minister for Northern Australia, the Hon. Madeleine King MP, the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia commenced an inquiry into workforce development in Northern Australia.
1.9The terms of reference for the inquiry are as follows:
The Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia shall inquire into and report on workforce development in Northern Australia, considering the impediments to building the economic and social infrastructure and workforce needed to support economic development, with particular reference to:
(a)trends in Northern Australia that influence economic development and industry investment including population growth, economic and business growth, workforce development, infrastructure development, and Indigenous economic participation;
(b)impediments to building the economic and social infrastructure required to support industry and business to expand and create regional jobs;
(c)challenges to attracting and retaining a skilled workforce across Northern Australia; and
(d)empowering and upskilling the local Indigenous population.
The committee will consider evidence from other relevant inquiries including any inquiry into the Northern Australia Cyclone Reinsurance Pool.
Note on terminology
1.10Northern Australia is defined as all of the Northern Territory and those parts of Queensland and Western Australia that intersect with the Tropic of Capricorn, including the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas, Cocos and Keeling Islands.
1.11Workforce development in the context of this report describes the process of building, attracting, and retaining an effective and sustainable workforce with the skills required to meet the needs of Northern Australia. It may include policies and programmes that result in training, development opportunities, or education activities. Workforce development may also involve broader economic initiatives that address organisational and structural factors related to staff recruitment and retention, tax settings, funding, business incentives, and other matters.
The committee’s workplan
1.12As outlined in the Issues Paper (see below), inquiries have examined the development of Northern Australia since 1937. This is the fifth parliamentary committee on Northern Australia to be established since 2013. Ministers and assistant ministers for Northern Australia have been appointed on and off in different iterations since 1975, and a Northern Australia Ministerial Forum existed in 2010–2019 and has been in place since 2022.
1.13Workforce development starts with housing workers already in Northern Australia as well as those wishing to move there. Without adequate housing, it is impossible to retain a local workforce, attract a workforce from elsewhere in Australia, or take foreign migrants to fill skills shortages, no matter the salary packages on offer or the incentives provided by government. But workforce development is by no means confined to this issue. The committee has developed a targeted workplan based around three key thematic areas that the evidence has indicated are the most significant factors impeding workforce development in Northern Australia.
1.14This first report examines the key issues raised in public hearings that the committee has heard are affecting workforce development in Northern Australia, before focusing particularly on housing.The committee intends to table further reports that focus on the key areas affecting workforce development in Northern Australia, including:
social infrastructure, including health, childcare and education; and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce participation.
1.15The committee plans to hold targeted hearings throughout Northern Australia in 2024 to identify solutions to issues raised related to these two themes.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.16The committee set 9 December 2022 as an initial submission closing date, and wrote to a range of key stakeholder groups, organisations and individuals, drawing their attention to the inquiry and inviting them to make a written submission.
1.17The committee published an Issues Paper in June 2023, focusing on seven key issues raised by submitters in the initial tranche of submissions, and inviting responses to questions about those issues, which included:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment participation;
housing;
social infrastructure, including:
- health;
- childcare; and
- education and skills training;
physical infrastructure; and
connectivity.
1.18Submissions were reopened on 30 June 2023 and invitations were sent to submitters to respond to the questions posed in the Issues Paper. Submissions remained open at the time of tabling this report.
1.19To date, the committee has received 75 submissions, which are available on the committee's webpage and listed at Appendix 2.
1.20The committee has held one hearing in Canberra and six hearings across Northern Australia as of November 2023:
Canberra, on 31 March 2023;
Alice Springs, on 27 June 2023;
Katherine, on 28 June 2023;
Darwin, on 29 June 2023;
Weipa, on 14 August 2023;
Broome, on 22 August 2023; and
Kununurra, on 24 August 2023.
1.21A list of witnesses who gave evidence at the hearings is available at Appendix 3 of this report.
1.22The committee has also conducted site visits in:
Lockhart River, Queensland, 15 August 2023; and
the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia, 21 August 2023.
1.23Site visit reports for both of these trips can be found at Appendix 1.
1.24Written questions on notice were sent to, and received from, Commonwealth departments and agencies that work on policy related to Northern Australia, along with state and territory governments. These have been published on the committee's website.
1.25The committee thanks all those who have contributed to the inquiry by making submissions, giving evidence at public hearings, facilitating and attending site visits, and responding to questions on notice.
Structure of this report
1.26This report on housing is divided into four chapters:
this chapter provides an overview of the inquiry and the committee’s workplan, and broadly outlines Australian Government housing policies and initiatives;
Chapter 2 sets out some of the key issues the committee has heard in hearings that are affecting workforce development in Northern Australia, and the committee's views and recommendations on these matters;
Chapter 3 presents data on housing and provides an overview of housing availability and affordability internationally, nationally, and within Northern Australia, specifically; and
Chapter 4 discusses the evidence the inquiry has received on housing issues in Northern Australia, and includes the committee's views and recommendations on housing as it relates to workforce development.
Government responsibility for housing policy
1.27The main forms of housing in Australia are:
social housing, which includes:
- public housing, which is owned and managed by state and territory governments;
- community housing, which is owned or managed by not-for-profit community sector organisations;
- state-owned and managed Indigenous housing; and
- Indigenous community housing;
private rentals; and
home ownership, whether through a mortgage or outright.
1.28Most of the above types of housing involve different levels of government, which set housing policies, partly fund certain types of housing, offer incentives for home buyers and investors, and are responsible for setting building standards and development approvals.
1.29The federal government has no specific head of constitutional power to legislate on housing, which is primary the responsibility of state and territory governments. However, the federal government is involved in housing policies and regulations in the following areas:
producing and coordinating national housing and homelessness policy;
setting financial sector regulations that affect, for example, borrowing capacity for potential mortgage holders;
taxation settings and incentives intended to encourage investment – for example, negative gearing and capital gains tax, and tax incentives to encourage build-to-rent projects;
various incentives for home buyers, such as the First Home Guarantee and the First Home Super Saver Scheme;
with representatives from the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, the Australian Local Government Association and industry, producing nationally consistent construction requirements prescribed in the National Construction Code; and
partially investing in states and territories to increase public housing and homelessness services.
1.30 State and territory governments are responsible for:
providing public housing and state-owned and managed Indigenous housing;
land use and supply policies;
urban planning and development policies;
housing-related taxes, such as stamp duty and land tax;
residential tenancy legislation and regulation;
tax incentives through land tax discounts to encourage build-to-rent housing projects;
governing the local councils that assess most development applications; and
setting building codes, standards and regulations that can affect building costs.
1.31Local governments are largely responsible for:
development and building approvals;
urban planning; and
rates charges for home-owners.
Australian Government policies and initiatives
1.32The supply and provision of housing has typically been viewed as a state/territory and local government issue, in recent decades. However, successive Australian governments have implemented various initiatives intended to improve housing stock and affordability for particular groups of the population, including:
initiatives to help first home buyers enter the market, including:
- the First Home Super Saver Scheme; and
- the First Home Guarantee and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee;
initiatives aimed to improve rental affordability, such as:
- the National Rental Affordability Scheme; and
- the Housing Australia Future Fund, intended to fund social and affordable rental housing;
initiatives to bring together government, industry and/or investors to discuss how to improve issues with housing affordability and availability, such as the National Housing Accord;
government advisory bodies established to provide advice on the supply and affordability of Australia's housing stock, such as the Interim National Housing Supply and Affordability Council;
initiatives intended to improve social and/or affordable housing, such as:
- payments to state and territory governments to improve social housing and homelessness rates, such as the Social Housing Accelerator;
- development of a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, in collaboration with state and territory governments;
- the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, which provides financing for infrastructure projects (e.g. electricity/gas and water, sewerage and stormwater infrastructure) intended to unlock new housing supply; and
- the National Housing and Homeless Agreement, which provides funding to states and territories intended to improve access to secure and affordable housing;
initiatives to address issues with remote Indigenous housing, including:
- the former National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing (2008–18), which aimed to address overcrowding, homelessness, poor housing condition and severe housing shortages; and
- the National Partnership for Remote Housing Northern Territory (2018–23), which also aimed to reduce overcrowding, as well as increase transparency about how money is spent and ensure that work is delivered by local Indigenous Territorians and businesses to the maximum extent possible;
- the Housing Policy Partnership under Priority Reform One of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which provides a forum for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to contribute to the design and delivery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing services; and
- recent investments in remote housing in the Northern Territory to address urgent housing and essential infrastructure needs; and
tax incentives, such as those announced in the 2023 Budget, to encourage build-to-rent developments.
Recent Australian Government and parliamentary reports on housing
1.33Reflecting ongoing and increasing interest in housing affordability and availability, recent reports on housing at the federal level include:
a report from the Senate Economics References Committee into housing affordability, tabled in May 2015;
a report from the House Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue into housing affordability and supply in Australia, tabled March 2022;
research and analysis from Housing Australia, the independent national housing authority, including the State of the Nation's Housing Report 2022–23;and
ongoing research reports and analysis by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute into, for example:
- housing policies and practices for precariously housed older Australians;
- homelessness;
- financing first home ownership; and
- crisis accommodation.
- The above is only a small fraction of recent reports and inquiries specifically into housing in Australia.