Housing assistance in Australia 2021

Quick facts

• At 30 June 2020, there were around 436,300 social housing dwellings, similar to June 2019.
• The majority of social housing dwellings were public housing stock (69% or 300,400 dwellings) at 30 June 2020; a decrease from 341,400 (84%) in 2006.
• The number of community housing dwellings more than tripled from 32,300 dwellings in 2006 to 103,900 in 2020; in part due to the transfer of ownership or management of public housing dwellings to community housing organisations.
• The greatest proportion of social housing dwellings were separate houses and 3 bedroom dwellings.
• The vast majority (69%) of all dwellings were located in Major cities.

There is considerable diversity in the number and characteristics of dwellings offered by the main four social housing programs in Australia (public housing, state owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH), community housing and Indigenous community housing). Over time, the number of available dwellings can change due to sales and purchases of stock and redevelopment or refurbishment, to ensure stock is safe and suitable for occupants.

Social housing dwellings

At 30 June 2020, there were around 436,300 dwellings in Australia’s major social housing programs. Of these social housing dwellings (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.1):

• 69% or 300,400 dwellings were public housing
• 24% or 103,900 dwellings were community housing
• 3% or 14,600 dwellings were state owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH)
• 4% or 17,400 dwellings were Indigenous community housing.

Changes over time

Between 30 June 2006 and 2020, Australia’s social housing stock increased by 27,500 dwellings (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.1).

There has been considerable change in the social housing stock across the four programs, particularly with the transferring ownership and/or management of public housing stock to community housing organisations.

From 2006 to 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.1) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.1):

• There was a decrease in the number of public housing dwellings from 341,400 in 2006 to 300,400 in 2020.
• The reduction in public housing stock has been partly offset by an increase in the number of community housing dwellings; from 32,300 to 103,900 dwellings over the same period.
• There has also been an increase in the number of SOMIH dwellings from 12,900 to 14,600.
• There was a decrease in the number of Indigenous community housing dwellings from 22,200 to 17,400.

Figure DWELLINGS.1: Dwellings, by social housing program, at 30 June 2006 to 2020

There have also been changes in the management of dwellings between the Indigenous community housing, public housing and SOMIH programs (Figure DWELLINGS.1) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.1). To summarise:

• For community housing, the number of dwellings increased from 82,900 in 2017 to 87,800 in 2018 and to 103,900 in 2020.
• In 2018, a large number of dwellings were transferred from public housing and/or SOMIH to community housing in South Australia and New South Wales.
• Between 2008 and 2010, around 5,000 dwellings were transferred from Indigenous community housing to NT remote public housing.
• In 2017, these 5,000 NT remote public housing dwellings were transferred into the SOMIH program. These changes have driven most of the fluctuations in the numbers of SOMIH and Indigenous community housing dwellings over this time.
• Since 2017, the number of SOMIH dwellings has remained stable just under 15,000 dwellings.

Location of dwellings

The location of social housing largely reflects the geographic population distribution of Australia, with large concentrations seen in urban centres in the south-east and east coastal areas. Considering the four different social housing programs, the location of dwellings managed by each program reflects their differing target groups.

The location of social housing is an important component of suitability. Location is often associated with employment opportunities, health services, transportation services etc. (AIHW 2019). For further information on the suitability of social housing in terms of location, see the latest National Social Housing Survey 2018: Key results.

States and territories

At 30 June 2020, there was considerable diversity in the social housing profiles of the states and territories (Figure DWELLINGS.2) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.2).

• New South Wales had the largest number of public and community housing dwellings (96,900, and 49,500 dwellings respectively).
• For Indigenous community housing, Queensland (5,200) had the most dwellings. For SOMIH, the Northern Territory (5,200) had the most dwellings.
• For Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, the majority of dwellings were public housing (69% to 80%) followed by community housing (16% to 26%).
• Nine in ten (92%) dwellings in the Australian Capital Territory were in public housing; the remainder were in community housing (8%).
• Tasmania had the same proportion of public housing (49%) and Community housing (49%) dwellings.
• In the Northern Territory, 42% of dwellings were SOMIH dwellings and 15% were Indigenous community housing.

Changes over time

Overall, the proportion of social housing program dwellings in the state and territories has remained stable over time. Between 2014 and 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.2) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.2):

• The proportion of dwellings in public housing in Victoria was stable at 80%; in contrast, the proportion in South Australia decreased from 82% to 69%.
• The highest growth in the proportion of community housing dwellings was in New South Wales (increasing from 18% to 32%) and South Australia (12% to 26%).

Note that not all states/territories have all housing programs. For example, Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory do not have a SOMIH program. The Australian Capital Territory also does not have an Indigenous community housing program.

Figure DWELLINGS.2: Dwellings, by social housing program and states and territories, at 30 June 2014 to 2020

Remoteness

The location of social housing overall reflects the geographic population distribution of Australia and the different target groups of social housing, with large concentrations seen in urban centres in the south-east and east coastal areas.

The proportion of social housing dwellings varied across remoteness areas. At 30 June 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.3) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.3):

• The most public and community housing dwellings were in Major cities (75% and 65% of dwellings in each social housing program type, respectively).
• The most SOMIH and Indigenous community housing dwellings were in Very remote areas (31% and 53%, respectively).

Changes over time

Over time, the number of available dwellings can change due to sales and purchases of housing stock, the redevelopment or refurbishment of dwellings and the transfer of dwellings between social housing programs. From 2014 to 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.3) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.3):

• The greatest change in the number of Indigenous community housing dwellings was in Very remote areas; increasing from around 5,600 in 2014 to 7,000 in 2020.
• Similarly, the largest change in the number of SOMIH dwellings was in Very remote areas, growing from 900 in 2014 to 4,500 in 2020.
• The largest change in the number of dwellings in public housing was in Major cities, decreasing from 238,600 in 2014 to 226,200 in 2020.
• The greatest change in the number of dwellings in community housing dwellings was also in Major cities, increasing from around 45,000 in 2014 to 66,200 in 2020.

Figure DWELLINGS.3: Dwellings, by social housing program and remoteness area, at 30 June 2014 to 2020

Occupancy

Occupancy describes whether a dwelling is occupied under a formal tenancy. In social housing, occupancy rates are influenced by tenancy turnover, housing supply and demand as well as the need for the redevelopment or replacement of dwellings. At times, major maintenance work needs to be completed before dwellings can be allocated to a new household.

At 30 June 2020, public housing (97%) had an occupancy rate higher than SOMIH (95%), community housing (95%) and Indigenous community housing (93%) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.4).

States and territories

The occupancy rates in the social housing programs varied across the states and territories. At 30 June 2020 (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.4):

• For public housing, the highest was in Tasmania (99%) and the lowest was in South Australia (95%).
• The highest occupancy rate for SOMIH was in Tasmania (100%) compared with the Northern Territory which had the lowest occupancy rate (91%).
• For community housing, the highest occupancy rate was in New South Wales (98%); in contrast, the lowest was in the Australian Capital Territory (80%).

Tenantable status

The tenantable status of a dwelling relates to whether it provides a certain level of basic amenity and that maintenance is completed to the required minimum level.

At 30 June 2020, almost all public housing dwellings were tenantable (99% or 296,400); higher than the proportion of SOMIH (97% or 14,200) and community housing dwellings (95% or 98,900) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.6).

At 30 June 2020, 3,300 (1%) public housing dwellings were not tenantable and 800 (0.3%) were undergoing major development. For SOMIH, over 400 (3%) dwellings were not tenantable and around 40 (0.3%) were undergoing major development. A similar proportion of community housing dwellings were not tenantable (2% or 2,100) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.6).

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling type

At 30 June 2020, there was a relatively even spread of public housing dwellings that were a separate house (37%), flat, unit or apartment (35%) or semi-detached, townhouse, etc. (27%). By contrast, the vast majority of SOMIH dwellings were a separate house (82%), with a further 14% a semi-detached, townhouse etc., which may partially reflect the location of these dwellings. Community housing dwellings were more likely to be a flat, unit or apartment (49%), followed by a separate house (32%) (Figure DWELLINGS.4) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.7).

Changes over time

Overall, the proportion of dwellings in different dwelling types varied over time in the three main social housing programs. At 30 June 2012 to 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.4) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.7):

• There was an increase in the proportion of public housing dwellings that were a flat, unit or apartment, from 32% in 2012 to 35% in 2020. In contrast, there was a decrease in the number that were a separate house, from 39% to 37% of dwellings.
• There has been an increase in the proportion of flat, unit or apartment type dwellings in community housing since 2012; from 43% of dwellings in 2012 to 49% in 2020.

Number of bedrooms

The size of social housing dwellings differed across program types. At 30 June 2020 (Figure DWELLINGS.4) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.8):

• Public housing dwellings were most likely to be 3 bedroom dwellings (36% or 108,900 dwellings), followed by 2 bedroom dwellings (31% or 93,800).
• The majority of SOMIH dwellings were 3 bedroom dwellings (59% or 8,600 dwellings), with very few 1 bedroom dwellings (2%).
• Community housing dwellings were most commonly 2 (35% or 33,700) or 1 bedroom (32% or 30,900) dwellings.
• Around 2 in 5 Indigenous community housing dwellings were 3 bedroom dwellings (43% or 6,500) and a further 21% (or 3,200) were 4 bedroom dwellings. Similar to SOMIH, few were 1 bedroom dwellings (3%).

Over time, the proportion of public housing dwellings that have 3 bedrooms has declined from 39% in 2012 to 36% in 2020. This is also the case for SOMIH dwellings (down from 62% in 2012 to 59% in 2020). In contrast, the proportion of community housing dwellings with 3 bedrooms increased from 25% in 2012 to 28% in 2020.

Figure DWELLINGS.4: Dwelling type and number of bedrooms by social housing program, at June 30 2012 to 2020

Dwellings managed by providers

Community housing and Indigenous community housing dwellings are managed by non-government providers. There is some diversity in terms of how many dwellings these two providers manage.

Community housing providers

At 30 June 2020, there were just under 500 community housing providers across Australia with the majority (343) managing less than 50 dwellings.

New South Wales (145 organisations) had the most community housing providers, and the majority of these providers managed less than 20 dwellings (87). Similarly, Queensland (97 organisations) had a high number of community housing providers; again, most managed less than 20 dwellings (38). New South Wales also had the highest number of community housing providers that managed 200 or more dwellings (29 organisations) (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.9).

Indigenous community housing providers

At 30 June 2020, most (137 organisations) Indigenous community housing providers were managing less than 50 dwellings. New South Wales had the highest number of Indigenous community housing providers (over 100 organisations), with (67) managing fewer than 20 dwellings (Supplementary table DWELLINGS.9).

Glossary