Australia’s social housing sector is falling behind

Australia’s social housing sector is falling behind

Much of the public housing debate focuses on property values and mortgage affordability. New RMIT-led research highlights another declining area of the housing system that needs urgent policy attention – the long-term decline of social housing.

Dr Jago Dodson, Professor of Urban Policy:

“Australian social housing comprises of just under four per cent of the national dwelling stock, down from approximately five per cent in 1997. This reflects decades of underinvestment and irregular funding rounds that have failed to keep pace with the growth of Australia’s housing system.  

“As a result, growing numbers of low-income households remain dependent on the lower end of the private rental market, where they face high rents, insecure tenancies and variable housing quality.  

“The scale of unmet need extends well beyond official waiting lists. Australia needs more than 435,000 additional dwellings for very-low-income households and over 600,000 for very-low and low-income households combined.  

“There is an urgent need for steady government investment in social and affordable rental housing. Our report recommends a national cost-rental framework where rents are based on the actual costs of building, running and maintaining homes – rather than the ups and downs of the private market.”  

Jago Dodson is Professor of Urban Policy at RMIT University and works in the Research and Innovation Portfolio as the Director of the Urban Futures Enabling Impact Platform. 

Dr Julie Lawson, Adjunct Professor, Centre for Urban Research and Director, Just Cities: 

“International examples show affordable rental housing grows at scale when public investment stays within the housing system, rather than exhausted through subsidies or lost through asset sales. 

“Drawing on established cost-rental systems in Austria, Denmark and Finland, our report shows how these principles could be adapted to Australia’s housing system. 

“Public land, capital investment and long-term low-cost finance reduce the underlying cost of housing. Where very-low-income households can’t afford the cost of rent, transparent and targeted rent assistance is still required. 

“Loan repayments and operating surpluses can then be reinvested to upgrade existing housing and build additional homes. This ensures public investment creates permanently affordable housing assets that retain value for future generations.” 

Dr Julie Lawson is an international housing researcher specialising in comparative housing policy and system design, social and affordable housing investment, land policy, infrastructure economics and public-value modelling. 

Read the report: Growing affordable rental housing: a cost-based approach here [https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.33170924] 

12 August 2026

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