‘A dead and broken system?’: ‘insider’ views of the future role of Australian public housing

Abstract

The Australian government has recently made explicit its intent to reduce its funding commitment to public housing and instead resource the community sector to provide new low-cost rental housing. This article explores the causes and future implications that arise from this policy switch based on analysis of interviews with senior policy-makers and professionals working in the sector within the Australian federal system of government. The focus of the article is on their understandings of the problems facing the public housing system and the opportunities and constraints they identify as important in their work aimed at continued provision of public housing and its improved viability. The article provides a diagnosis of the public housing problem, a discussion of the conduct of government and the future options for the sector, including stock transfer and a new regulatory framework. In the conclusion, the example of Australia is discussed in the light of recent international literature on government reforms shaping public housing provision. We argue that recent developments in Australia aiming to diversify the existing housing stock is best understood in the context of wider shifts in governance and welfare reform.

Keywords:

• public housing
• Australia
• welfare reform
• non-profit housing

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) for funding the initial research project. We would also like to express our gratitude to Rowland Atkinson and Val Colic-Peisker for granting us permission to draw upon their research. Finally, we thank Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Vivienne Milligan and the anonymous referee whose insightful comments helped us improve an earlier version of the article.

Notes

¹The interviewee is referring here to the Commonwealth Government's macro-economic stimulus program following the global financial crisis of 2007–08.

²Commonwealth Rental Assistance is the term used to denote a non-taxable payment provided by the central government to support eligible low-income households in the private rental market.