The Federal Government’s new Housing Support Program must be increased to $750 million to empower local governments to help deliver the Commonwealth’s ambitious housing targets and enable vital infrastructure investment in new housing developments.

The competitive program – which has been welcomed by local government – will provide funding for connecting essential services, amenities to support new housing development, and building planning capability.

ALGA President Cr Linda Scott said the peak body for Australia’s 537 councils was a proud signatory of the National Housing Accord, which has set a target of 1.2 million new, well-located homes over the next five years.

However, under the current $500 million housing program, this only equates to about $400 per home, based on the 1.2 million homes target.  Given the costs of civil and essential services infrastructure in greenfield or infill development, the program funding is vastly insufficient.

Full media release, issued by National Growth Areas Alliance, ALGA and CHIA, is here

CHIA is a member of the Home Time Campaign. Further information below.

A coalition of over 80 organisations, including peak bodies, homelessness services, housing providers, unions and others, has written to Federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness Minister Julie Collins seeking urgent action to ‘unlock Australia’s housing system for 16-24-year-olds who are homeless and unable to access housing.

This follows an analysis of the most recent Specialist Homelessness Services data, which revealed that 37,872 children and young people approached homelessness services alone for assistance in 2022/23, including 9,232 children aged 15-17. Over 30% of the total number were First Nations children and young people.

The highest numbers were in New South Wales (12,854), Victoria (11,026), Queensland (5,654), South Australia (3,082) and Western Australia (2,514).

The most alarming finding was that even after assistance from homelessness services, 44% of children and young people 15-24 were still homeless.

These figures confirm what frontline services already know – that Australia’s housing and homelessness system is fundamentally broken when it comes to assisting unaccompanied children and young people with the housing and support they need.

Children who lose their homes before the age of 18 have often experienced violence and/or abuse in their family home and frequently have been through state/territory child protection systems before becoming homeless. The harm and trauma they experience after losing their homes has a lifelong impact throughout their lives.

Over 80 organisations across every state and territory have signed on to support this call, including Homelessness Australia, Community Housing Industry Association, Australian Council of Social Service, National Shelter, Australian Services Union, The Salvation Army, Melbourne City Mission, YFoundations, Anglicare Australia, VincentCare Australia, Brotherhood of St Laurence and many others. See www.hometime.org.au/supporters for a complete list.

Full media release here

Key figures in the housing, property, and finance sectors will come together to tackle the country’s
pressing housing challenges at the ninth Affordable Housing Development & Investment Summit, hosted
in Naarm/Melbourne from February 26-28, 2024.

Organised by the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), the event provides a platform to
share innovative solutions and strategies in social and affordable housing design, investment, place
making, and tenancy/asset management.

Among the keynote speakers at the conference are CBUS Chair and former Australian Treasurer, Wayne
Swan, Housing Australia CEO Nathan Del Bon, CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith, and international
housing expert Alexandra Notay. A range of experts from the public, private, community and research
sector will also speak.

CHIA CEO Wendy Hayhurst said the summit came at a critical juncture. “The scale of Australia’s housing
challenge is significant, particularly for households on low and moderate incomes,” Hayhurst noted.
“Many Australians on decent incomes now find themselves part of the working poor, due to escalating
rents and mortgages.”

Full media release here

The community housing sector is urging the federal government to double the Housing
Australia Future Fund to at least $20 billion to combat the halving of low-income housing
supply since the early 1990s.

A new Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) analysis of Productivity Commission
government services data also reveals total social housing stock has grown at just a third of
the rate of Australia’s population in the decade to 2022-23. Public and community housing
stock numbers increased by just 21,744 or 5.2 per cent since 2012-13, far slower than
overall population growth of 15.1 per cent.

The result, as confirmed by the recent census, is that public and community housing has
dwindled to only 4 per cent of all housing.

Full media release here

Housing Australia opens first funding round today to support delivery of 40,000 more social and affordable homes via the Federal Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord.

From today, the Call for Applications is open for funding from the Federal Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF) and National Housing Accord Facility (NHAF) for eligible social and affordable housing projects. 

Over a five-year period, the HAFFF is expected to support the delivery of 30,000 social and affordable homes and the NHAF is expected to support the delivery of 10,000 affordable homes around the nation, including in regional, rural and remote areas. 

Housing Australia is administering the programs and has opened the first funding round today. The programs have been designed to encourage participation by eligible entities for diverse housing projects of all sizes and across all of Australia. 

Full media release here

As 2023 ends, CHIA would like to take a moment to recognise the incredible work of its members, alongside their support and government partners, to provide accommodation and services to some of the most vulnerable people in the community. 

We acknowledge that the past year hasn’t been easy for many, with the cost and availability of housing becoming increasingly out of reach.  Now more than ever the need for safe, secure and affordable housing has never been greater, particularly with the massive shortfalls that we see across the country.

We recognise that the Government has made a series of policy and funding commitments that, together, provide a foundation for relieving high and growing levels of homelessness and rental stress across Australia. In combination, the 40,000 social and affordable rental housing to be supported by the HAFF and the National Housing Accord together with those generated via the Social Housing Accelerator and additional investment in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) represent a significant first step in remediating a decade of national housing policy neglect. However much more needs to be done.

In 2024 CHIA will continue to work with all levels of Government and all ‘sides’ of politics to ensure that more social and affordable housing is programmed and that community housing organisations are recognised as the ideal partners to support the delivery.  

We wish you all the very best for a safe, enjoyable and restful holiday season. Thank you for your support this year. 

Best wishes,
CHIA     

CHIA will be closed from Friday 22nd December and will reopen on Monday 8th January 2024.

Bridge Housing have recently released an online impact report, available to view here.

As well as being at the forefront of online impact reporting, Bridge are one of the first, if not the first, CHOs to publish their scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions in their impact report, in line with the CHIA ESG standard.

Michelle Tjondro, Associate at SGS Economics and Planning who are leading the work around the standard with CHIA commented ‘Since launching in March 2023, 20 Adopters and 8 Supporters have now signed up to the ESG Reporting Standard for Australian community housing. We’re proud to witness the Standard driving a collective effort to transform the way sector value is celebrated by stakeholders and centred in investment decisions.’

The Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) has strongly endorsed the
Commonwealth’s latest steps to deliver new social and affordable homes across Australia with
the announcement applications will soon open for funding under the Housing Australia Future
Fund (HAFF) and the National Housing Accord.

Wendy Hayhurst, Chief Executive of CHIA, said: “This is a significant first step. The
Commonwealth’s commitment to fund 40,000 new rental homes through the HAFF and the
Accord will make a tangible improvement for those who need affordable housing.”

The HAFF and the Accord are integral to tackling the housing crisis. Working through Housing
Australia, community housing providers can access long-term concessional loans and
availability payments, and in some cases upfront capital grants.

Full media release here

The new and improved community housing benchmarking service, House Keys 2.0, is now live and fully operational!

House Keys helps CHOs provide better services for tenants by understanding in detail where your services are working well and where there’s room for improvement, compared to similar organisations.  It also helps demonstrate the performance of the sector overall and supports more effective advocacy.

The wide array of data sources used in House Keys 2.0 means more detailed analyses, with greater granularity available in both reporting and visualisations.

CHIA held its 2023 AGM on Friday 24 November, via Zoom and with an in person option at CHC in Canberra. Thank you to all members who attended.

CHIA’s 2022/23 Annual Report can be downloaded here.

The following members were appointed to the board. At the board meeting following the AGM, the CHIA board elected Chris Smith as Chair and Rebecca Oelkers as Deputy Chair.

National Directors:

Steve Bevington, MD, Community Housing Ltd

Rebecca Oelkers, CEO, BHC

Chris Smith, CEO Foundation Housing

Region Directors:

ACT

Megan Ward, COO, CHC

NSW

Charles Northcote, CEO, BlueCHP (nominated by CHIA NSW)

NT

Karen Walsh, CEO, Venture Housing

QLD

Andrew Elvin, CEO Coast2Bay (nominated by CHIA QLD)

South Australia

Geoff Slack, CEO, YourPlace Housing (nominated by CHIA SA)

TAS- TBC

VIC

James King, CEO, Unison (nominated by CHIA Victoria)

The full results including regional committees can be accessed here.

The community sector is launching a final campaign push for the Voice to
Parliament, with more than 80 leading community groups across housing, health,
legal, disability, financial aid and social welfare today releasing a joint statement
urging Australians to vote Yes to ensure First Nations voices are heard.

ACOSS, State and Territory Council of Social Service (COSS) bodies, Brotherhood of
St Laurence, Oxfam, Save the Children, Sacred Heart Mission, Mission Australia, Life
without Barriers, Community Housing Industry Association, Economic Justice
Australia are among groups urging people to vote Yes on October 14.

Full media release here

The compelling value of social and affordable housing can now be quantified, thanks to an Australian
first calculator that estimates its wider social, economic and environmental benefit.

According to the SIGMAH calculator (Social Infrastructure and Green Measures for Affordable Housing)
the 40,000 social and affordable homes to be supported under the Commonwealth’s National Housing
Accord and Housing Australia Future Fund over the next five years will create an additional $4.4 billion
worth of wider benefit over the next four decades.

That is over and above the appreciating value of the underlying assets. Once constructed, the dwellings
built under the Housing Accord and Housing Australia Future Fund will deliver around $16.2 billion in
cost of living relief, primarily through lower rental costs compared to equivalent rentals in the private
sector.

The SIGMAH calculator provides government, community housing organisations and the broader social
and affordable housing sector with a robust tool to estimate Wider Social and Economic Benefits
(WSEB). This allows decision makers to understand how much less public expenditure a government will
incur from areas such as health, policing, and community services by making homes available to those
who need them. The calculator also estimates private benefits such as higher consumption, income and
educational attainment.

Full media release here