Senate committee recommends major changes to federal housing support for ACT

A Senate committee has recommended that the federal government increase housing assistance flowing to the Australian Capital Territory after an inquiry found ACT residents receive less Commonwealth housing support per capita than any other jurisdiction, despite the territory having the highest median rents in Australia and a growing population unable to access the private rental market.

The committee found that the Commonwealth's National Housing and Homelessness Agreement distributes funding to states and territories using a formula that undercounts the ACT's housing need, with the territory receiving approximately $180 per capita annually compared with a national average of $240 per capita. The difference, representing approximately $38 million per year, is compounded by the ACT's inability to build social housing on Commonwealth land in the Parliamentary Triangle and inner areas of Canberra.

ACT Greens Senator David Pocock, who sits on the committee, described the per capita funding gap as an anomaly that had been overlooked for years and urgently required correction. "Canberra has the highest rents and the lowest federal housing support in Australia. That is perverse, and this committee is right to call it out," he said.

Labor committee members supported the recommendation for a formula review while stopping short of endorsing any specific revised funding level. The federal government's response to the committee's recommendations is expected within the standard three-month timeline.

The ACT government submitted to the inquiry that a corrected funding formula would generate approximately $45 million in additional annual housing investment, enough to fund an additional 120 social housing dwellings per year in the territory.

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