Federal Campaigns

Australia’s current housing crisis affects people differently at different stages of life and no age group or generation is immune to these challenges. While the data on wealth distribution across age groups, stagnant wages, rising housing costs demonstrate that housing situation for renting and home ownership is much worse now compared to what it was a few decades ago, this narrative of ‘boomers vs millennials’ risks misdirecting both public debate and policy responses on housing. The Australian housing market has been materially distorted by the concentration of property investors and policies that favour them coupled with decades of declining government investment in public and community housing.

Read our submission to the Inquiry into Intergenerational Housing Inequity

The lack of consistency across States and Territories, especially in relation to adoption of Liveable Housing Design Standard (LHDS) creates inequitable housing outcomes for people who need accessible housing including older people. Therefore, as part of streamlining the code, it is imperative that there are mandates introduced through the NCC to ensure national consistency in relation to minimum standards for construction. Considering the impact this framework would have on existing and future constructions, it is critical that people with lived experience or their representative advocacy bodies are part of the governance and advisory structures.

Read our submission here

As an organisation that delivers housing and related support services to older people experiencing homelessness and housing stress, we see first-hand how the unequal housing system impacts on the health and wellbeing of older people. We support policies that reduce inequality, strengthen economic security, and ensure all people have access to safe, decent and affordable housing.

HAAG welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Treasury through the pre-budget submission process. This submission is based on our experience delivering housing and related support services to older people, research and lived experiences of older people experiencing housing stress or homelessness in Australia. We especially acknowledge the contributions to this submission made by members of HAAG’s lived experience advisory groups including National Alliance of Seniors for Housing, Retirement Accommodation Action Group (RAAG), LGBTQIA+ reference group and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) reference group and NSW Lived Experience Advocacy Group (LEAG).

HAAG is concerned that the current Capital Gains Tax discount settings are contributing to widening inequality, worsening housing affordability, and undermining Australia’s long-term social and economic wellbeing. We believe significant reform is necessary.

Read our submission here

This report by Swinburne University of Technology, commissioned by Housing for the Aged Action Group, explores the multiple, often overlapping forms of housing precarity experienced by mid- life and older people in Australia, focusing on private renter households and mortgaged households. The report combines measures of housing affordability stress and housing quality and conditions, offering a new lens on multidimensional precarity for ageing Australians.

Read the full report

Read the summary with Federal recommendations

Read the summary with Victorian recommendations