Legal and Non-Legal Responses to Housing Affordability in Australia

Legal and non-legal responses to housing affordability in Australia have been largely limited in their effectiveness due to issues such as a poor resource allocation, low accessibility and an inability to meet society’s needs. Legally, both State and Federal Governments are restrained, with the constitution giving power to the states to create legislation for housing. However state governments are constrained by the lack of funding with the necessity to negotiate with federal treasuries to obtain enough funds for projects – although the Federal Government does provide support to citizens through transfer payments and rent assistance – with house prices continuing to soar and a lack of law reform in taxation regarding negative gearing andcapital gains tax being another major issue. Non-legally, many non-government organisations (NGOs) have been limited by issues such as an inability to keep up with demand and not enough funding to meet the demands of society.

Housing NSW is a legal response by the NSWGovernment and is authorised by the Housing Act 2001(NSW). It provides social housing as well as financial programs such as Rentstart, which provides assistance in the form of bond loans, advance rent and rental arrears. Housing NSW is limited in its effectiveness due to the limited amount of housing it can provide due to high costs. Accessibility is limited as there are strict conditions you must meet before being able to receive any assistance meaning that some will be locked out of the system, even if they are experiencing housing stress. Due to the limited supply of social housing, there are many people still waiting to receive housing with an estimated 240000 people still awaiting social housing placement across Australia, with NSW specifically having more than 59,534 people on Housing NSW’s waiting list, suggesting that the system isn’t completely resource efficient, limiting its effectiveness.  It is not completely ineffective however, as it does protect those whom are providing housing, by providing a guaranteed payment of rent (through advance rent payments and subsidies) and  already paid for bonds, balancing the rights of those whom are providing shelter and those whom are seeking to secure shelter. 

The National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA), by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), is a combined agreement between state and federal parties that aims to address the issue of housing affordability and supply in Australia. It has provided over $6.2 billion worthof housing assistance packages towards state programs.  The agreement however has had limited effectiveness due to different states running their own programs, with different political agendas, leaving no clear policy response to housing affordability and supply. Programs such as the National Rental Affordability Scheme, were phased out in the 2014 budget, due to poor resource allocation as the scheme was “slow indelivering affordable homes and has failed to achieve its delivery targets”. This suggests that the program itself is limited in its effectiveness due to the inability to increase affordability for renters and first homebuyers, due to poor resource efficiency and not meeting society’s needs. It is also limited in its effectiveness due to the long processes taken for states to secure funding for their program due to continual negotiations and applications for funding, reducing its responsiveness. 

Organisations such as The Salvation Army Australia provide housing directly as well as providing them with services and programs to allow them to integrate into the labour force and slowly transition themselves to becoming able to afford housing – meaning that the other issues related to affordability and securing shelter, such as a continuous income and stable employment, are tackled directly as well. This has generally been effective, particularly for those whom are homeless and in dire situations. However, such responses are limited in their effectiveness due to the inability to house everyone who is experiencing homelessness or struggling to pay rent, with only 20% of those whom are homeless living in supported accommodation, as well as only being able to support those at the lowest percentiles, meaning that accessibility is limited to being those in dire situations. This is because of a lack of funding and an over-demand caused by rising homeless populations in Australia, with now more than 105,000 people homeless inAustralia, meaning that they are unable to meet society’s needs. However, they are not completely ineffective either, with a system still in place to achieve justice for those whom are homeless or undergoing housing stress and protecting individual’s rights to shelter through, crisis, short-term and long-term accommodation. 

The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) advocates for housing affordability in Australia, promoting and advocating for better policy in both state and federal governments by releasing policy developments and publications such as the “An Affordable Housing Reform Agenda:Goals and Recommendations for Reform”and through lobbying. ACOSS, to a large extent, is very effective at promoting the issues of homelessness, due to a long-term influence in policy advisory as it tries to promote and subsequently uphold the rights of those trying to obtain affordable housing and shelter in Australia. In addition, through community consultation and research, it is generally accessible to the people whom they represent, providing community members with a voice to the government, allowing them to achieve justice, further emphasising this effectiveness. However, it is not completely responsive due to the long times needed for community consultations/focus groups as well as research to be undertaken, limiting its effectiveness. In addition, its research and community representation is unenforceable, meaning that it is still up to the government to enact any suggestions that are made, further limiting its effectiveness. 

Overall, legal and non-legal measures have not done enough to achieve justice for those whom are struggling in the housing market, with prices continuing to soar and programs unable to keep up with society’s needs, limiting the effectiveness of measures undertaken in response to the situation. Further law reform and efficient programs need to be enacted to increase the effectiveness of responses.

Sources:

1.  “3.1 What do governments do and who does what?’, in Australian Government – National Commission of Audit, March 2014, viewed 24^th June 2015, http://www.ncoa.gov.au/report/phase-one/part-a/3-1-what-do-governments-do-and-who-does-what.html
2. J. Michael, ‘Australia’s housing market problems laid bare’, in ABC News, 13^th October 2014, viewed on 21^st June 2015, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-10/private-surveys-lay-bare-australian-housing-market-problems/5805196
3. ‘Rentstart’, in NSW Government – Family and Community Services, Housing Pathways, 1^st July 2014, viewed on 21^st June 2015, http://www.housingpathways.nsw.gov.au/Ways+we+can+Help/Private+Rental+Assistance/Rentstart.htm
4. P. Milgate; D. L. Cornu; S. Hawke; A. Miller; T. Kelly; K. Steed; P. Webster; Cambridge Legal Studies – HSC Third Edition, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2013, Chapter 16 p. 10
5. ‘Expected Waiting Times For Social Housing 2014 – Overview’, in NSW Government – Family and Community Services, June 2014, viewed 22^nd June 2015, http://www.housingpathways.nsw.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/9C300EE3-F53A-46C9-A43B-48A8CBA05003/0/EWTOverviewJune14.pdf
6. ‘National Affordable Housing Agreement’, in Australian Government – Department of Social Services, 7^th of November 2014, viewed on 21^st of June 2015, https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/housing-support/programmes-services/housing-affordability/national-affordable-housing-agreement
7. W. Danika, ‘It’s too simple to argue lack of supply pushes up house prices’, in The Conversation, October 1^st 2014, viewed on the 21^st June 2015, http://theconversation.com/its-too-simple-to-argue-lack-of-supply-pushes-up-house-prices-32278
8. ‘National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) Questions and Answers Outcome of applications for incentives through NRAS Round 5’, in Australian Government – Department of Social Services, 13^th June 2014, viewed 22^nd June 2015, https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/housing-support/programs-services/national-rental-affordability-scheme/national-rental-affordability-scheme-nras-questions-and-answers-outcome-of-applications-for-incentives-through-nras-round-5
9. ‘Homeless & Accommodation Services’, in The Salvation Army Australia, viewed 24^th June 2015, http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/find-help/Homeless-emergency-accommodation/
10. ‘About Homelessness – ABS Statistics’, 2011, in Homelessness Australia, viewed 24^th June 2015, http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/index.php/about-homelessness/homeless-statistics
11. ‘Housing & Homelessness’, in Australian Council of Social Services, viewed 24^th June 2015, http://www.acoss.org.au/policy/housing-homelessness/
12. ‘An Affordable Housing Reform Agenda: Goals and Recommendations for Reform’, by Australian Council for Social Services, March 2015, viewed June 24^th 2015, http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Joint_housing_paper_March_2015_final.pdf
13. ‘Sydney home prices are growing five-times faster than wages’, in Australian Financial Review, Apr 28^th 2015, viewed on 21^st June 2015, http://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/sydney-home-prices-are-growing-fivetimes-faster-than-wages-20150428-1muxfo

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