Australia’s shortage of public and social housing continues to worsen, new data shows.

The Productivity Commission has released the 2025 edition of its Report on Government Services.

In terms of housing, the report showed that the shortage of public and social housing is getting worse.

Across the nation, average wait times for public housing increased from 8 months in 2021/22 to 9 months in 2023/24.

Over that same period, average wait times for social housing blew out from five months in 2021/22 to almost one year (11 months) in 2023/24.

For some households, wait times are longer.

All up, the report shows that one quarter of all households need to wait an average of almost three years (35 months) for public housing and a staggering four-and-a-half years (53 months) for social housing.

Results vary across locations.

Whereas average wait times for public housing stand at as little as three months in New South Wales, those in Tasmania and the Northern Territory stand at almost two years (23 months) and almost three years (34 months) respectively.

Not surprisingly, the rise in wait times is leading to a growing problem of homelessness.

All up, the number of homelessness services clients who are experiencing persistent homelessness has blown out from 30,306 in 2019/20 to 37,729 in 2023/24.

Elsewhere, the report found that there are a mix of positive and negative trends.

On the negative side, the report found that:

• The condition of and public and social housing stock is deteriorating. Over the nine years from 2014 until 2023, the proportion of public housing dwellings that were not in acceptable condition increased from 20.4 percent to 24.4 percent. Over that same period, the proportion of community housing dwellings that were not in acceptable condition increased from 10.7 percent to 15.6 percent. However, the proportion of public/state owned indigenous housing (SOMIH) dwellings that are in acceptable condition has improved.
• Tenant satisfaction is on the decline in public and social housing but is on the rise for SOMIH. In 2014, tenant satisfaction rates for public housing, community housing and SOMIH stood at 72.7 percent, 79.3 percent and 58.3 percent. In 2023, satisfaction rates for the three housing types stood at 66.7 percent (down 6.0 percent), 74.5 percent (down 4.9 percent) and 67.6 percent (up 8.4 percent) respectively.

More positively, however, the report also found that:

• Housing is generally being effectively allocated to those in greatest need. Across all forms of social housing (public housing, community housing and SOMIH), between 79.9 percent and 87.4 percent of housing was allocated to ‘priority’ households.
• Most dwellings are suitable in size for the households that were allocated to them. All up, overcrowding is evident in less than five percent of all public and community housing. However, overcrowding is evident in almost one quarter (24.2 percent) of aboriginal housing in SOMIH.
• Most dwellings adequately meet the needs of tenants in terms of location and amenity. Across the three housing types, tenant satisfaction in terms of location and amenity ranged from 79.4 percent to 92.7 percent.
• Most tenants who are in social housing reported greater wellbeing, social connection and economic participation as a result of living in social housing. Across the three social housing types, reported levels of improved wellbeing and social/economic participation as a result of living in social housing ranged from 91.2 percent to 98.98 percent.

The report comes as Governments around Australia are beefing up investment in social housing as part of commitments made under the National Housing Accord.

At a national level, the Commonwealth established the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund in 2023 to support delivery of 30,000 new social and affordable homes over its first five years.

That same year, the Government announced a new $2 billon Social Housing Accelerator to enable states and territories to commence construction on new homes and to refurbish existing social homes immediately.

As this has happened however, spiralling costs in the private rental market along with broader cost of living pressures have led to a growing number of people becoming reliant upon social housing.

In the December quarter edition of its quarterly Rental Review report, research firm CoreLogic reports that the average rents across Australia have increased by 36.1 percent since COVID.

This has added an extra $171 per week or $8,884 per year to average rental bills.

As a result, households on average incomes now need to spend 33 percent of their annual pre-tax incomes in order to service a median priced rental. This represents the lowest rate of rental affordability since CoreLogic began tracking affordability in 2006.

Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said that the data reveals a crisis around the nation.

“The data paints an alarming picture,” Colvert said.

“Wait times for public housing have blown out to nearly 17 months (refer Sourceable note below), while social housing wait times have more than doubled in just two years. This is forcing vulnerable people to live in crisis situations for extended periods while they wait for housing.

(Sourceable note: Sourceable believes that the ’17 months’ to which Colvin’s comments refer actually relate to Western Australia, where average public housing wait times are now 17 months. Australia-wide, average public housing wait times stood at nine months in 2023/24.)

“Nearly a quarter of public housing and 15.6% of social housing is now in unsatisfactory condition, while 40% of Aboriginal public housing is in poor condition. This reflects decades of underinvestment in maintaining these critical social assets.”

“We’ve seen a 25% increase in persistent homelessness over five years, with 37,779 people now experiencing extended periods without a home.

“When over 10% of people return to homelessness even after finding housing, it’s clear we need both more housing and better support services to help people maintain their tenancies.”

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