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

Share

Return to RMIT News
12 August 2026

Share

Engage

Related News

social-housing-thumbnail.-1220x732jpg.jpg

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.

super-health-1220px.jpg

Superannuation shock: Why death benefit wishes may not be legally enforced

New findings from Super Consumers Australia show an estimated 15.7 million Australians may not have a binding death benefit nomination. An RMIT expert explains why this exposes a major gap between what people think they are doing with their retirement savings and what the law actually allows them to control.

quantum computers

Q-Day is coming, and we need to be prepared

Governments and technology companies are preparing for Q-Day – the future point at which a powerful quantum computer can break the encryption systems that secure much of today's internet and digital communications - by moving toward post-quantum cryptography. An RMIT expert explains the urgency for Australia to prepare for this inevitability.

news-AI-gel-image.jpg

How the US and China are building different AI systems

The global discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) frames the US and China as fierce rivals racing toward the same technological goal, but the reality is more nuanced. An RMIT expert explains.

Show more
aboriginal flag float-starttorres strait flag float-start

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

More information