Safer and More Affordable Housing
Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund
Anthony Albanese was raised in public housing by a single mum on a disability pension. Having access to a safe and stable place to grow up meant he could get a good education and a start in life. He knows the security that having a roof over your head can bring. We need to build more social housing, upgrade existing housing, and make sure that the promise of home ownership is extended to all Australians.
We want every Australian to know the security of having a roof over their head. Labor will create the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years, and create thousands of jobs.
Each year investment returns from the Housing Australia Future Fund will be transferred to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) to pay for social and affordable housing projects.
Over the first 5 years the investment returns will build around:
- 20,000 social housing properties – 4,000 of which will be allocated for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness.
- 10,000 affordable homes for the frontline workers like police, nurses and cleaners who kept us safe during the pandemic. This will mean they can live closer to where they work, and it will mean better services for everyday Australians.
This will directly support 21,500 full-time jobs across the construction industry and broader economy, per year, over 5 years, nationwide – and one in 10 direct workers on site will be apprentices.
In addition to this, a portion of the investment returns will be available to fund acute housing needs on an ongoing basis.
In the first 5 years these investment returns will fund:
- $200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing in remote Indigenous communities, where some of the worst housing standards in the world are endured by our First Nations people.
- $100 million for crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness.
- $30 million to build more housing and fund specialist services for veterans who are experiencing homelessness or at-risk homelessness.
A total of $1.7 billion dollars will be allocated to women – $1.6 billion for long term housing, and an additional $100 million for crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence, and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness.
This housing will be constructed in accordance with principles of universal design which enable access for people with disability.
