What is the right to housing?

The right to housing in Australia is the principle that everyone should have access to safe, secure, and affordable accommodation. Australia does not have a constitutional right to housing, but is a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognises the right to adequate housing in article 11. The right is delivered in practice through private rental, home ownership, public and community housing, and homelessness services.

About 66 per cent of Australian households own their home with or without a mortgage, about 30 per cent rent privately, and about 4 per cent rent in public or community housing or other arrangements. Home ownership rates have fallen since the 1990 peak of about 70 per cent, particularly among under-35s, as housing affordability has worsened. Median Sydney house prices passed 1.5 million dollars in 2024 and Melbourne passed 1 million dollars, raising deposit requirements for first-time buyers and pushing ownership lower among younger Australians.

Public and community housing supports low-income households. About 320,000 public housing dwellings and 110,000 community housing dwellings operate across Australia, with rents typically set at 25 to 30 per cent of household income. Waiting lists are substantial: more than 50,000 applicants are on the general NSW list with typical waits of 5 to 10 years. Homes Australia (the federal agency from October 2023) administers the Housing Australia Future Fund, the Help to Buy shared-equity scheme, and other national housing investments. The National Housing Accord targets 1.2 million new well-located homes by 2029.

Homelessness support is delivered by state-based specialist homelessness services, often in partnership with charities like Mission Australia, Anglicare, the Salvation Army, and St Vincent de Paul. About 122,000 Australians were homeless on Census night 2021, including people sleeping rough, in temporary shelters, in boarding houses, and in severely crowded dwellings. The federal National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, agreed in 2024, sets the funding framework. Specialist responses include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander homelessness programmes, the Specialist Homelessness Services programme for young people and families, and specific responses to family violence-related homelessness.