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The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) and the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) have called on the federal Parliament to support Senator David Pocock and member for North Sydney Kylea Tink’s National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill.
This bill was first introduced into Parliament in June of this year, and aims to enshrine legislation that would require the federal government to produce a 10-year long-term plan aimed at overhauling Australia’s housing system.
The work of the two independent politicians, it pre-empts the federal government’s own National Housing and Homelessness Plan, which was a key election promise heading in the 2022 vote. With that plan yet to materialise, key housing figures have now urged politicians to get on board with the proposal that is currently before Parliament.
When introducing the bill earlier this year, Pocock explained his reasoning for moving on the legislation himself, stating his believe that it is essential that the nation has “a transparent framework, with agreed national objectives embedded in legislation and greater accountability,” for its housing goals.
The aim, he added, is to “transform how we treat housing from being a vehicle of wealth creation to a fundamental human right”.
REIA and CHIA have both thrown their weight behind the bill, and stressed the need for it to “remain in place over multiple election cycles”. In REIA’s view, it’s the legislation’s focus on coordinating national efforts that can make a material difference to the housing equation.
“Currently, the fragmentation of responsibilities across multiple government portfolios is causing inefficiency and delay,” explained REIA interim CEO Maria Edwards.
“This bill presents the chance to centralise efforts under one well-resourced entity to ensure a coordinated, streamlined approach to addressing both the immediate housing crisis and longer-term needs,” she added.
This sentiment was echoed by CHIA CEO, Wendy Hayhurst, who said that “fixing Australia’s housing crisis absolutely requires a concerted, strategic and nationally led approach”.
In its submission to Parliament, the REIA highlighted that roles and responsibilities around housing policy are spread across several government bodies, including the Department of Social Services, the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, and Housing Australia, which have led to a “lack of consistency and a central authority”.
The REIA stated that coordination between federal, state and local governments would be “essential for streamlining planning processes and funding mechanisms” around housing policy, and recommended that all housing policies be “housed into a central delivery unit that is appropriately resourced and coordinated”.
Recent findings from the newly established National Housing Supply and Affordability Council also revealed that over the six-year period from July 2023 to June 2029, there would be an “estimated shortfall of 40,000 new homes relative to increasing demand”.
The institute noted that this shortage in housing would exacerbate homelessness and further strain communities and individuals in need of housing support, and highlighted that private sector involvement in the National Housing Plan would be “imperative for driving construction and development forward”.
Moving forward, the REIA also opposed moves to reduce consultation with housing and construction bodies, emphasising that this communication between industry bodies and all levels of government is “necessary to ensure a greater degree of policy and administrative stability at the federal level”.
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