The Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) congratulates Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party on Saturday’s election victory. “We look forward to working with an Albanese Government over the next term to tackle systemic housing unaffordability across Australia” said Wendy Hayhurst, CHIA’s CEO.

CHIA fully supports the new Government’s pre-election housing commitments, including establishing an Australian Housing Future Fund to invest in 30,000 new social and affordable dwellings.

Ms Hayhurst noted, “The Fund is a great start. We also know there’s a lot more to do; social housing has reduced to less than one in twenty homes across Australia. That’s because public and community housing has grown by only 4% over the past 25 years while our population has increased by 30%. Only 1-2% of housing built each year is social and affordable housing – far short of the 16% we managed in 1950s and 1960s”.

The Fund is a great start. We also know there’s a lot more to do; social housing has reduced to less than one in twenty homes across Australia. That’s because public and community housing has grown by only 4% over the past 25 years while our population has increased by 30%.

Only 1-2% of housing built each year is social and affordable housing – far short of the 16% we managed in 1950s and 1960s”.

She went on to say, “That’s why we also strongly welcome the institutional reforms in the ALP’s housing platform. The housing plan, the proposed Housing Supply and Affordability Council and the new national housing agency – Housing Australia – aren’t made for a media sound bite. But together they should provide the necessary foundation for a serious effort to tackle our national housing affordability problem. This is a long term project that requires a non-partisan approach to delivery”

Full media release here