On waiting for a social housing tenancy in Australia

A recently released Working Paper by Professor Hal Pawson and David Lilley from UNSW City Futures Research Centre, Managing Access to Social Housing in Australia: Unpacking policy frameworks and service provision outcomes, highlights some sobering statistics and information about social housing in Australia. A few points from the Executive Summary:

• In 2020-2021, less than 30,000 applicants were granted a social housing tenancy in Australia, compared to 52,000 in 1991.
• The national population is now 41% higher than in 1996, yet social housing has expanded by 3% over that period.
• From 2018 – 2021, social housing wait list numbered grew by 16% to 164,000 households, and the annual number of greatest-need applications grew by 48%
• The large cohort of applicants newly registering for social housing each year is accompanied by substantial numbers exiting lists without being allocated a social housing tenancy.
• Some states have not changed income limits for social housing, effectively tightening the eligibility criteria over time.
• Between the states there significant variations in waiting list eligibility.

To find out more about the policies and quantitative data associated with the management of social housing in Australia, the Working Paper can be downloaded here.

An article about the report in The Conversation can be read here.