Housing Policy

It is important to recognize the emergence of a fourth major housing policy challenge: the generally inadequate energy performance of both new and existing housing stock that puts the achievement of official aspirations for ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050 seriously in doubt. One analyst of this crucial issue reports: ‘Four in five new houses are being built to the minimum [energy] standard and a negligible proportion to an optimal performance standard’ (Moore et al. 2019).

Looking across all these four dimensions of the housing situation, there is an arguable case that the problematic housing legacy of recent decades is at least partly due to the declining efficacy of housing policy which, in turn, partly reflects the emasculation of housing policymaking capacity within government. As argued elsewhere (Pawson et al. 2020), housing strongly exemplifies the wider tendency towards the so-called hollowing out of government in the neoliberal era (Jessop 2004; Tingle 2015).

The result is that Australia has seen a long-term trend of housing policymaking fragmentation and downgrading. Stand-alone housing departments have been merged with human services or other departmental mega-structures. Teams with accumulated housing domain knowledge have been disbanded. Specialist housing agencies and inter-governmental coordination mechanisms have been scrapped.

Also Read: Affordable Housing Practice Note Updated June 2023